OAKLAND, Calif. – UFC 117 lived up to all the hype on Saturday night at Oracle Arena and I’m sure fight fans were as surprised as I was 
to see a four-round, one-sided wrestling clinic put on by Chael Sonnen against Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva.
For the first time in his career an opponent manhandled The Spider with vicious ground and pound and relentless, unstoppable take downs. But the UFC middleweight champ demonstrated why he is one of the best fighters in the world, keeping his composure, looking for Chael to make just one mistake where he could utilize his Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Then it happened.
Silva came up with a triangle choke submission very late in the 5th and final round turning an incredible triumph into a heartbreaking defeat for Sonnen.
“I’m devastated,” Sonnen said at the post-fight press conference. “I worked hard and did everything I could do all that nice stuff, but at the end of the day you either get your hand raised or you don’t, and I didn’t.”
Sonnen did exactly what he said he’d do to the champion for twenty-three straight minutes. He took him down, beat him up, and seemed well on his way to a clear-cut, unanimous decision victory, if he could only avoid a knock out or submission in the final five minutes.
Late in the final round Sonnen postured up in Silva’s guard and threw a series of lazy body shots, and that’s when “The Spider” struck with a sudden triangle choke off his back. Sonnen tried to fall backwards and use his legs to help him defend, but seconds later he reached up and tapped Silva’s thigh once. Referee Josh Rosenthal jumped in to stop it at 3:10 of the fifth round, even though both fighters were reluctant to give up the fight right away.
“I’ve been training jiu-jitsu for a long time,” said Silva through his manager/translator, Ed Soares. “Out of respect to [Antonio Rodrigo] Nogueira, I wanted to finish this fight via submission.”
For Sonnen, it was an incredibly disappointing ending to what had been a near perfect night. For Silva, it was the narrowest of escapes.
After the bout the champion mentioned that he had injured his ribs in training and had been advised not to fight by his doctor, but decided to press on anyway. That injury kept him from being able to compete at his full strength, he said, though he insisted he wasn’t making excuses.
“I didn’t underestimate Chael. I never underestimate any of my opponents. He came in with a good game plan, and though I think that the way he promoted the fight was a little bit weird,” Silva said. “I get to go back home to my family and he gets to go back home to his family. It’s all good.”
According to White, Silva’s comeback win in the fight will help ensure that he’s remembered as one of the all-time greats.
“The stuff that happened tonight is the stuff that makes legends. This guy got roughed up and beat up for five rounds, and he found a way to win.”
The question on everyone’s minds after the surprise ending was, when’s the rematch?
UFC president Dana White insisted he hadn’t yet decided whether Sonnen would get another crack at Silva right away, or if Vitor Belfort would get the next title shot, saying “We don’t know what we’re going to do yet.”
When the question was put to Sonnen, his answer was slightly more direct:
“There’s a camaraderie that comes with this sport, but fighting Anderson Silva is a lot like eating Chinese food: twenty minutes after I do it, I’m going to want to do it again.”
In another bout of the night, Jon Fitch further solidified his standing as one of the top welterweights in the UFC with a dominant decision victory over Thiago Alves. It was not the most exciting or impressive win in his UFC career, but Fitch put his wrestling skills to good use, controlling and dominating Alves on the ground to win all three rounds on each judges’ scorecard 30- 27.
The Pitbull was not able to put any offense together to even threaten Fitch’s ability to take him down, with this fight looking a lot like Alves fight vs. GSP. In the post-fight press conference Fitch wouldn’t comment on a potential future fight with teammate Josh Koscheck who is slated to get the next shot at UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre, saying only that he was focusing on his wedding in three weeks, and hadn’t considered anything beyond that point.
“What you’re not hearing is no,” White pointed out afterwards. “You’re not hearing, ‘No, I won’t fight Josh Koscheck.’”
Matt Huges also took on Gracia Jujitsu fighter Ricardo Almeida In his first bout since being in the UFC Hall of Fame in May. Hughes got his third straight win in spectacular fashion, submitting Ricardo Almeida in the first round of their welterweight contest with an old school wrestling move, which I’m sure was surprising to all fight fans as very few fighter get submitted with a choke like that.
Almeida looked outstanding in the 1st round, using quick and efficient strikes and solid takedown defense to keep Hughes at bay. But the 36-year old former two-time welterweight champ didn’t get frustrated.
Instead, he kept moving forward, eventually clipping and dropping Almeida with a nice left hook. Hughes immediately moved in for the finish and got it, putting the Brazilian Jujitsu ace to sleep at the 3:15 mark with a choke that Hughes simply described as “an old wrestling move.” But whatever you want to call it, consider it another one of Hughes’ landmark victories.
With the win, Hughes ups his record to 46-7; Almeida falls to 12-4.
Finally, Brazilian striker Junior dos Santos became the No. 1 heavyweight contender after battering Roy Nelson for three rounds. “Cigano” seemed close to putting Big Country Nelson away in the first round with a big upper cut, but the Las Vegas native and veteran fighter hung tough and took huge shots for three rounds, never giving up only to eventually lose a unanimous decision.
“Man this guy is tough,” said Dos Santos, who had finished his previous five Octagon opponents. “Incredible.”
With the win, Dos Santos improved to 12-1; Nelson falls to 16-5.
Used with permission of the author.
Scott Medeiros is a Florida-based MMA fighter and sportswriter covering the sport. For a competitor/fan’s point of view and pre and post fight info, updates, and the latest buzz surrounding MMA, follow Scott on Sports Climax. In addition to contributing to Sports Climax, his material can also be found on American Top Team’s website. Email Scott @ skizberry@aol.com.
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