1. Anderson Silva (C) Vs. Chael Sonnen UFC 117
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e0w3vD18r4 Result: Silva defeated Sonnen via submission (triangle armbar) at 3:10 of round 5 Prior to his fight with the outspoken Chael Sonnen, Anderson Silva had scarcely even been hit in the UFC, let alone had his middleweight title put in major jeopardy. Very few people had given Sonnen a chance going into the fight Anderson had already triumphed over a NCAA Division 1 wrestler like Chael in Dan Henderson and had even fought in the light heavyweight division having cleared out all major challengers at 185-lbs. The night of UFC 117 came and Chael Sonnen seemed to have miraculously cracked the code of the greatest mixed martial artist to have ever fought in the Octagon. He gave Silva very little space to find his striking rhythm and kept persistently taking the Brazilian down at every opportunity. When on the mat, Sonnen would do everything in his power to rough the champion up; hed punch him in the face, drop elbows and send knees flying into his midriff. It wasnt pretty but it was Chaels type of fight. This gameplan was implemented to perfection by The American Gangster for four-and-a-half rounds the challenger had won every round decisively and just had to last half a round more to knock the undisputed king of MMA off of his throne. However, there is a reason Anderson is widely regarded as the best ever all it takes is a moments lapse in concentration or a minute mistake for him to finish a fight. This, unfortunately for the challenger, was the case at UFC 117 and The Spider rendered all of Sonnens hard work till that point invalid. Sonnen once again took the champion down but this time became entangled in the long legs that give Silva his nickname before long Chael was caught in a triangle armbar combination and was forced to tap. Chael is reported as saying it was the triangle choke which actually forced the tap typical! Despite being bloodied and bruised, Anderson Silva still had the killer instinct to see the opening for the submission, once again demonstrating his greatness.
Sam Heard
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Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
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