Turd Ferguson
DA-DA Da Da Da Bah Da Da DADADA
For the UFC 117 card, I had to write the fighter spotlight on the guy who is going to be in the main event of the card. He'll be fighting for the Middleweight Championship against Anderson Silva... Chael Sonnen.
Chael Sonnen's been fighting for eight years and has finally seemed to hit his prime. He's a damn good wrestler and was an alternate for the Olympic Team. He had primarily been a light-heavyweight, but he's experienced the most success of his career since dropping to middleweight. He's currently on a 10-2 tear, and one of those losses is questionable as it is. Back when the WEC still had major weight-classes, Sonnen and Paulo Filho were the two top contenders in the company's middleweight division. In their first fight, there was a very controversial stoppage where Filho had Sonnen in an armbar. Sonnen never tapped, but the ref made the stoppage anyway. In their second fight, Filho was over the weight limit, so it was a non-title match. Filho also came into the fight literally on drugs, and Sonnen won by decision. Sonnen remains the only fighter to actually beat Filho though.
At UFC 95, Sonnen returned to the UFC (holding an 1-2 record in his first stint, consisting of submission losses to Babalu and Jeremy Horn... he decisioned Trevor Prangley), losing by submission to Demian Maia in a fight he was winning up until getting caught in a triangle. As good a fighter Sonnen is, his biggest Achilles Heel was getting caught in submissions. He stated that he worked with a sports psychologist in order to get past a mental hurdle he had when getting submitted. Rather than taking a calmer approach, he struggled to find a way out, which only tightened submissions. Getting submitted by Babalu, Horn, and Maia... there's no shame in that in the first place, but he has been in some sticky situations and hung on.
Since beginning his rise to the top of the division, Sonnen has defeated the class of the Middleweight Division. He decisioned Dan Miller at UFC 98, giving him his first loss in the UFC (and breaking his 10 fight win streak). Miller had Sonnen in a very tight Guillotine in the first thirty seconds, and he waited until Miiller gassed his arms out, followed by ground and pounding the bejeezus out of him for pretty much the rest of the fight. Miller had Sonnen in a couple other submission situations, and he got out each time.
At UFC 104, Sonnen took on Yushin Okami, who was looking very much like he was finally on the doorstep of a Middleweight Title shot. A lot of fans thought he woulld beat Sonnen and go on to get his rematch against Anderson Silva. Okami was the last person to defeat Anderson Silva after all (albeit by DQ), and he had only one loss in the UFC, and that was to Rich Franklin. He had a 7-1 record. Sonnen came into the fight and dominated Okami for three rounds. It was a very impressive performance, and possibly his best up to that point.
At UFC 109, the co-main event pitted Sonnen, who was impressively and quickly climbing up the ranks against Nate Marquardt, who had been on an absolute tear. He lost to Anderson Silva at UFC 73, and was looking for a rematch. He beat Jeremy Horn, lost to Thales Leites (only because he had two points taken away), and he ran through Martin Kampmann, Wilson Gouveia, and capped his impressive run by knocking Demian Maia out in 20 seconds. By this fight rolled around, Sonnen was making a name for himself not only by his impressive performances but because of his trash talking. He said that Marquardt would go by "Chief Go Home Lumpy" after the fight, and that Anderson Silva would get run out of his neighborhood for wearing pink shirts and crooked baseball caps. A lot of people thought Sonnen would lose because he pretty much came out of nowhere, and Marquardt had just destroyed the guy who made Sonnen tap out, Demian Maia. They fought, and it was the defining performance of Sonnen's career. He controlled Marquardt on the ground for much of the first couple of rounds (escaping from a tight Guillotine in the first), which also entailed him getting a HUGE cut on his forehead in a blow Marquardt gave him from the ground. In the third round, Marquardt, who has a very strong submission game, had Sonnen locked in a very deep Guillotine, in which Sonnen escaped from. He went on to get his unanimous decision victory, and become the #1 Contender to Anderson Silva. After the fight, Sonnen admitted that he was very close to going out from the Guillotine, but hung in there.
Between February and now, Sonnen has continuously been on the offensive on the champion Anderson Silva, talking some major trash about not only Silva himself, but his sleazebag manager/translator Ed Soares, and the rest of his fight camp (he equated getting a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Nogueira brothers to getting a toy in a Happy Meal).
Here's a hysterical video of Sonnen laying into Silva:
[YOUTUBE]iwRT_Fhd6_0[/YOUTUBE]
So here's the big question: Does Chael Sonnen have a chance against Anderson Silva?
I think he does, and despite me telling JMT225 that I think Sonnen will ultimately lose, I'm changing my mind. I think Sonnen will become the UFC Middleweight Champion on August 7. He has extremely good cardio, and has shown that he can wear his opponents down from the top. Anderson Silva gassed himself out from dancing when he put on that embarrassing to the sport fight against Demian Maia.
Silva is not a real threat to submit Sonnen either. Sonnen was locked in some real tight submissions against Dan Miller and Nate Marquardt (two very skilled submission fighters), and he got out of them just fine. Anderson Silva has one actual win via a submission hold.
Sonnen is an exceptional wrestler, who knows he doesn't have any type of a good standup game. Dan Henderson, who Silva previously defeated, has both, and interestingly enough, that was his downfall. He wrestled Silva in the first round, and would have won the fight if he stuck to that gameplan. Travis Lutter, of all people, also showed that Silva can be beaten via getting wrestled on. Hendo was arrogant enough to stand with Anderson in the second and that's what caused him to lose. Sonnen isn't going to be stupid enough to try that.
Confidence is not going to be an issue for Sonnen going into this fight. We all know that by now. He firmly believes he can defeat Anderson Silva on August 7th. Most of all, it's worth noting that Sonnen has NEVER been knocked out in his 35 fight career. He's an extremely smart fighter, and I think he's going to wrestle Silva for all five rounds en route to becoming the new UFC Middleweight Champion at UFC 117.
Chael Sonnen's been fighting for eight years and has finally seemed to hit his prime. He's a damn good wrestler and was an alternate for the Olympic Team. He had primarily been a light-heavyweight, but he's experienced the most success of his career since dropping to middleweight. He's currently on a 10-2 tear, and one of those losses is questionable as it is. Back when the WEC still had major weight-classes, Sonnen and Paulo Filho were the two top contenders in the company's middleweight division. In their first fight, there was a very controversial stoppage where Filho had Sonnen in an armbar. Sonnen never tapped, but the ref made the stoppage anyway. In their second fight, Filho was over the weight limit, so it was a non-title match. Filho also came into the fight literally on drugs, and Sonnen won by decision. Sonnen remains the only fighter to actually beat Filho though.
At UFC 95, Sonnen returned to the UFC (holding an 1-2 record in his first stint, consisting of submission losses to Babalu and Jeremy Horn... he decisioned Trevor Prangley), losing by submission to Demian Maia in a fight he was winning up until getting caught in a triangle. As good a fighter Sonnen is, his biggest Achilles Heel was getting caught in submissions. He stated that he worked with a sports psychologist in order to get past a mental hurdle he had when getting submitted. Rather than taking a calmer approach, he struggled to find a way out, which only tightened submissions. Getting submitted by Babalu, Horn, and Maia... there's no shame in that in the first place, but he has been in some sticky situations and hung on.
Since beginning his rise to the top of the division, Sonnen has defeated the class of the Middleweight Division. He decisioned Dan Miller at UFC 98, giving him his first loss in the UFC (and breaking his 10 fight win streak). Miller had Sonnen in a very tight Guillotine in the first thirty seconds, and he waited until Miiller gassed his arms out, followed by ground and pounding the bejeezus out of him for pretty much the rest of the fight. Miller had Sonnen in a couple other submission situations, and he got out each time.
At UFC 104, Sonnen took on Yushin Okami, who was looking very much like he was finally on the doorstep of a Middleweight Title shot. A lot of fans thought he woulld beat Sonnen and go on to get his rematch against Anderson Silva. Okami was the last person to defeat Anderson Silva after all (albeit by DQ), and he had only one loss in the UFC, and that was to Rich Franklin. He had a 7-1 record. Sonnen came into the fight and dominated Okami for three rounds. It was a very impressive performance, and possibly his best up to that point.
At UFC 109, the co-main event pitted Sonnen, who was impressively and quickly climbing up the ranks against Nate Marquardt, who had been on an absolute tear. He lost to Anderson Silva at UFC 73, and was looking for a rematch. He beat Jeremy Horn, lost to Thales Leites (only because he had two points taken away), and he ran through Martin Kampmann, Wilson Gouveia, and capped his impressive run by knocking Demian Maia out in 20 seconds. By this fight rolled around, Sonnen was making a name for himself not only by his impressive performances but because of his trash talking. He said that Marquardt would go by "Chief Go Home Lumpy" after the fight, and that Anderson Silva would get run out of his neighborhood for wearing pink shirts and crooked baseball caps. A lot of people thought Sonnen would lose because he pretty much came out of nowhere, and Marquardt had just destroyed the guy who made Sonnen tap out, Demian Maia. They fought, and it was the defining performance of Sonnen's career. He controlled Marquardt on the ground for much of the first couple of rounds (escaping from a tight Guillotine in the first), which also entailed him getting a HUGE cut on his forehead in a blow Marquardt gave him from the ground. In the third round, Marquardt, who has a very strong submission game, had Sonnen locked in a very deep Guillotine, in which Sonnen escaped from. He went on to get his unanimous decision victory, and become the #1 Contender to Anderson Silva. After the fight, Sonnen admitted that he was very close to going out from the Guillotine, but hung in there.
Between February and now, Sonnen has continuously been on the offensive on the champion Anderson Silva, talking some major trash about not only Silva himself, but his sleazebag manager/translator Ed Soares, and the rest of his fight camp (he equated getting a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Nogueira brothers to getting a toy in a Happy Meal).
Here's a hysterical video of Sonnen laying into Silva:
[YOUTUBE]iwRT_Fhd6_0[/YOUTUBE]
So here's the big question: Does Chael Sonnen have a chance against Anderson Silva?
I think he does, and despite me telling JMT225 that I think Sonnen will ultimately lose, I'm changing my mind. I think Sonnen will become the UFC Middleweight Champion on August 7. He has extremely good cardio, and has shown that he can wear his opponents down from the top. Anderson Silva gassed himself out from dancing when he put on that embarrassing to the sport fight against Demian Maia.
Silva is not a real threat to submit Sonnen either. Sonnen was locked in some real tight submissions against Dan Miller and Nate Marquardt (two very skilled submission fighters), and he got out of them just fine. Anderson Silva has one actual win via a submission hold.
Sonnen is an exceptional wrestler, who knows he doesn't have any type of a good standup game. Dan Henderson, who Silva previously defeated, has both, and interestingly enough, that was his downfall. He wrestled Silva in the first round, and would have won the fight if he stuck to that gameplan. Travis Lutter, of all people, also showed that Silva can be beaten via getting wrestled on. Hendo was arrogant enough to stand with Anderson in the second and that's what caused him to lose. Sonnen isn't going to be stupid enough to try that.
Confidence is not going to be an issue for Sonnen going into this fight. We all know that by now. He firmly believes he can defeat Anderson Silva on August 7th. Most of all, it's worth noting that Sonnen has NEVER been knocked out in his 35 fight career. He's an extremely smart fighter, and I think he's going to wrestle Silva for all five rounds en route to becoming the new UFC Middleweight Champion at UFC 117.