UFC 117 - Anderson Silva v. Chael Sonnen

[Epiffani]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

I dont think he "showed what he was made of". He worked for 4 rounds to pull a triangle, armbar or kimura out. His standup was dissapointing the first 4 rounds. He showed pathetic takedown defense. He showed pathetic ground defense until the last 2 min of the fight. I was calling GSP the pound for pound #1 for months and I think this fight proved it.

Showed what he was made of as getting jaw jacked in the first and as in winning the fight in the final round after losing the previous four by being taken down repeatedly and controlled. Sonnen is known for getting caught in submissions, but he made the mistake and he paid for it. Given his position (largely at the bottom) what else was he going do from the bottom besides go for multiple submission attempts? Silva definitely wasn't as explosive as people are use to seeing from his stand up, and he got caught in the first, but he did hurt Sonnen in the stand up game before being wrestled to the bottom again.

I don't care who's considered #1 pound for pound right now, the fact is I just witnessed one of the greatest comebacks ever.

[Phillmattic]

When you're fighting a wrestler of Chael's ability, you should expect to be put on your back. You hear about this take down defense stuff all the time, but when you're fighting a guy who's wrestled from a kid all the way to up olympic level competition all that goes out the window. Chael fought the perfect fight, and Aderson beat him the only way he probably could when you have a wrestler that good being that aggressive.

What was really surprising in that fight was Anderson getting rocked by Chael while they were standing.

Props to both fighters, they both came out big winners.

[Sandman42]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlueNGold

If anyone knows where I can watch the post-fight press conferences that would be great. I'd love to hear what Dana thought of this fight. Man this card was great.

http://modulesorigin.ufc.com/live/

Should be starting in a few minutes.

[BlueNGold]

Quote: Originally Posted by The Chef

Im not gonna address the first part of your post since your stay here at OS wont last long insulting people. Bringing Koscheck into your argument is pointless, and Anderson getting completely dominated for 4+ rounds certainly has to be taken into consideration if we are still talking about a p4p best in MMA. IMO, I cant elevate Silva to the p4p best after getting dominated for 4+ rounds because in my mind, seeing Silva's takedown defense, I see no way GSP couldnt take Anderson down as easily but the difference is, I feel that GSP could finish it and for that reason alone, I keep GSP #1 with Fedor and Silva at #2 each. Its just my opinion, not right or wrong, just what I think.

I think Sandman mentioned this a few pages back but wasn't that part of the reason Fedor was considered P4P best?

Anyways, I really shouldn't have even brought up the P4P debate. That was stupid on my part. I was just a little crazy after that finish. I've taken a deep breath now.

EDIT: Thanks for the link, Sandman.

[XFactah416]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlueNGold

I don't know about that. Now that Silva's been dominated like he just was, I think he might feel the need to come out and try to dominate like he has in past fights.

Anderson dominates opponents if they go after him. Ask Rich Franklin (twice), Forrest, Leben, Nate, and Hendo. He is a counterstriker. I mean, he also dominated Cote, Leites, and Maia (for 3 rounds), but he wasn't lighting them up like he did to previous opponents which is why people were upset obviously.

Vitor is a counter striker as well.

It will be a boring dance-off snoozefest that will anger almost everyone if the fight happens. Anderson isn't gonna engage Vitor, and Vitor won't engage Anderson. The limited striking exchanges (ie. Anderson throwing like a karate kick or something) will be won by Anderson and he will win a 50-45 decision.

[chicubsfan20]

Silva may have been on his back all match, but he did a lot more striking damage then Sonnen. Sonnen didn't show great striking power, and when he did get strikes off, he didn't connect cleanly on all of them, or they weren't good striking power via his positioning. He did in the first and second rounds get some clean licks on Silva. Had him rocked right away in the first round and again in the second round. Silva looked like he was gonna be done after one round; but he held his own.
I knew all night long, even if Sonnen has Silva on his back, Silva is still deadly. After Silva realized Sonnen was gonna take this to the ground no matter what, I knew Silva was going to try for submissions. Silva got it finally, thank god.

Sonnen did throw and connect a lot of punches, and he deserves credit, he damn near won that much with just holding Silva to his back and throwing punches. Most of his punches were just for the points from the judges. Silva did a lot of striking damage with his elbows and you could see it after the 4th round with his face pretty bloody.

Card was very, very good. From start to finish. The ending was nice, with Silva being able to finish it off with the victory.

[jmood88]

Quote: Originally Posted by JerseySuave4

to me it sounded like they booed him when he said that he had hurt ribs and shouldnt have been fighting. Some might have thought he was trying to use it as an excuse to why he got dominated most of the fight. I feel bad for these guys that can't speak english well because you have to imagine a lot gets lost in the translator. You dont get the word for word from the fighter, they give you the main point of what theyre saying. And if they try to speak english its so broken and they aren't that great so their answers are simple and often sound retarted. So its harder for them to get the crowd through words like the guys that speak english can. Even the best athletes have to overcome adversity. You don't always win pretty but you win. Silva is still the p4p best because he was able to overcome losing a fight and find some way to win. Thats why the fight is 5- 5 minute rounds. Not 4 & 1/2 rounds, Silva proved that. You can't say Fedor is p4p best when he just lost and hasn't really been fighting the top heavyweights. Its either Silva or GSP at this point because they dont lose. I'm sure Fedor would rather have been losing for 4 & 1/2 rounds and come away with a win than have that loss. Doesnt matter what Chael did tonight, Silva still has that belt.

They started booing him as soon as he started talking. That crowd was terrible the whole night.

[JerseySuave4]

Quote: Originally Posted by The Chef

Im not gonna address the first part of your post since your stay here at OS wont last long insulting people. Bringing Koscheck into your argument is pointless, and Anderson getting completely dominated for 4+ rounds certainly has to be taken into consideration if we are still talking about a p4p best in MMA. IMO, I cant elevate Silva to the p4p best after getting dominated for 4+ rounds because in my mind, seeing Silva's takedown defense, I see no way GSP couldnt take Anderson down as easily but the difference is, I feel that GSP could finish it and for that reason alone, I keep GSP #1 with Fedor and Silva at #2 each. Its just my opinion, not right or wrong, just what I think.

but GSP hasnt been able to finish fights lately either. Its been takedown and control the fight on the ground. Not to mention GSP is a big guy for that division fighting guys he can just dominate. His last 2 fights have went the distance and were basically him controlling smaller guys on the ground.