Why was Sonnen jumping back into Silva's guard?

Yes, that's along the line of what I thought. Since Sonnen wasn't going for subs he probably felt more confident of keeping control if in Silva's guard. Still doesn't explain why he tried to pass it a few times just to jump back in it...

This was my point exactly on another thread. It didn't make any sense at all. If he wanted to mount...Ok...fine, if he wanted side control to do something..ok...fine.. But if he wanted all that..why did he crawl into his guard. If he liked guard better...why the charade? Why all the work to get there? You can be busy in someones guard punching..you don't have to pass guard...you can stay there an punch.

It didn't make sense and added to the weirdness of the night. Why did anderson let go of a locked kimura while controlling sonnens legs....just to go to a heel hook..that he had...and then let go off without ever really attempting to go for?

Why did Sonnen gift wrap armbars...two at a time sometimes.. only to have Anderson pretend they were silly snakes that he wanted to avoid? who knows?
 
Watching the fight, I thought it was just a really bad mount attempt...
 
Yes, that's along the line of what I thought. Since Sonnen wasn't going for subs he probably felt more confident of keeping control if in Silva's guard. Still doesn't explain why he tried to pass it a few times just to jump back in it...

Yeah but if you're a wrestler who doesn't like subs, why not just go for that thing Roy Nelson did to Kimbo, minus the belly flop
 
For a fighter with his reputation for being sub'd I am shocked his corner was content to let him sit there in the final round.

He could (and maybe should) have sit in Silva's guard while playing it safe and instead of delivering his wild GnP, just picking his shots.
He tried TOO hard to finish throughout the whole fight. Props to him, but that cost him the fight.
Had he played a safe (some say "boring") GnP ala Fitch or Guida for ONLY the last 3 minutes of the fight, he would've won the decision (like both Fitch and Guida did).

I feel sad for Sonnen, getting caught like that must suck big time. But he delivered an awesome performance and even in loss has made the MW division much more interesting. The rest of the middleweights have seen the *****s in Silva's armour, and they won't be losing their fights against the champion before they even get in the ring with him.
 
It didn't make sense and added to the weirdness of the night. Why did anderson let go of a locked kimura while controlling sonnens legs....just to go to a heel hook..that he had...and then let go off without ever really attempting to go for?

Sonnen was defending the kimura by grabbing his tigh. Plus Silva was in that weird leglock position, it would've been hard to finish the kimura from there.

My interpretation of Sonnen's passing strategy was that he wanted to keep Silva guessing, trying to defend the guard pass to distract him from the strikes. But he never really wanted to move to side control or mount.
 
So he passed the guard to score points and then jumped back in to be in his "safe spot"? I wouldn't think he would need to do that. He was clearly winning every round, even if not doing too much damage to Anderson.

I was not referring to the 3 points you get for passing the guard.

I was talking about the JJ philosophy which is ingrained in the BJJ point system.
tkd, pass the guard, dominant position for the finish.

If you stay long enough in someone's guard, you will get submitted.

Obviously, his game plan is just about staying in someone guard for the gnp.

What if just decided to do it the JJ way, to the mount for the finish instead?

Oh wait, he is a republican.
 
It didn't make sense and added to the weirdness of the night. Why did anderson let go of a locked kimura while controlling sonnens legs....just to go to a heel hook..that he had...and then let go off without ever really attempting to go for?

Yeah I saw that heel hook attempt too and I didn't understand why he let it go. Maybe I have to watch the fight again to see why he didn't have it, but it looked like it was there for the taking.
 
Sonnen was defending the kimura by grabbing his tigh. Plus Silva was in that weird leglock position, it would've been hard to finish the kimura from there.


I only watched it once so its possible I missed something..but like you said..it might of been hard to finish it(and I don't even think it would of been hard, just weird to..it was a weird angle..but he had it) ...or at least attempted too. But anyway, when the kimura was locked..it was passed his thigh at one point...and just needed a cranking..I remember seeing it and then looking at his legs to see if he had one of sonnens legs locked to get the leverage. I remember seeing him have his leg trapped too (although not in a traditional way, he had it locked where he could of cranked) and as this all was happening..he just let go...and went for the leg lock..so I was like ok, hes going for the heel hook.....ok any second now he'sssssssssssssssssssss....goooooooinnng fooooooooooooooooooor.....hes gooooing foooorrrrrrrrrrr it....man..he never went for it. lol

My interpretation of Sonnen's passing strategy was that he wanted to keep Silva guessing, trying to defend the guard pass to distract him from the strikes. But he never really wanted to move to side control or mount.

Hmmm maybe, but still a little weird to me. You can only do that once or twice before I would realize what your doing. I don't know..from a 3rd person perspective..it was a weird fight..but I know that only THEY know whats really going on..sometimes what it looks like aint what it is. How many times have we had some one yell at us what to do while grappling...but they can't feel the pressure or the grips or the leverage like we can.
 
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My thought was that its because Sonnen seems to get caught up in his pattycake during fights and forgets to keep up his defense. Allowing Silva to reguard was stupid since Side Control is a stronger position where the wrestler can assert control and not worry about offense from the bottom.
 
I wondered if the passing was mainly designed for the referee to see he was "trying to improve position", so he wouldn't get stood up, but could keep dropping back to guard where he really wanted to be...
 
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