For the better part of five rounds, Chael Sonnen did exactly what he said he was going to do to Anderson Silva, but in a split second, the middleweight king turned the tables.
Stuck underneath the gritty Sonnen, Silva secured a textbook triangle choke and submitted the challenger 3 minutes, 10 seconds into the fifth round of their UFC 117 main event Saturday at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. Sonnen tapped only once, but it was enough to get the attention of referee Josh Rosenthal, who moved in and halted the bout.
"I don't have any excuses. Chael had a hell of a fight tonight," said Silva, who improved to 12-0 inside the UFC. "I knew that I was losing the first four rounds, but, you know, not to make any excuses, about a week and a half ago, I hurt my ribs. The doctor asked me not to come in and fight, but for you guys and for the UFC, I came in here and put it all out on the line."
Sonnen clearly won the first four rounds and started with a bang, as he rattled Silva with a straight left hand mere minutes into the match. From there, he controlled the embattled champion with stifling top control and wide-ranging strikes on the ground: punches, hammerfists, elbows and slaps to the ears.
An All-American wrestler at the University of Oregon, Sonnen secured takedowns in three of the five rounds and wound up in top position in all five. He absorbed his share of damage, as Silva picked his spots with elbows from the bottom, one of which cut Sonnen badly above the left eye. As the two middleweights entered Round 5, the heavily favored champion found himself in an unfamiliar state of desperation, needing a stoppage to retain his title.
With his foe grinding away on top, Silva deftly slid the choke into place. Sonnen tried unsuccessfully to counter the hold but, with no means of escape, surrendered with less than half a round remaining in the fight.
"It was a tough fight," Sonnen said. "He's a tough guy. I came in second. There's nothing I can say. They gave me my opportunity, and I came up short."
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