Some fights define a career. They are the fights that live on in memory. They're the fights talked about for years or decades to come. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen will be one of those fights. It's not even about how Anderson Silva performed. In fact, he was dominated for the better part of twenty-five minutes at UFC 117 back in 2010. He was controlled by Chael Sonnen in a way that no man had ever controlled the Spider. In fact, it made Sonnen something of a hero amongst fans, even though, at the last moment, Silva sunk in a choke and made the challenger tap. The point was, Silva was challenged - really challenged - for the first time in his UFC career. He was beat up, badly. He was made to look average. And despite that, he still found a way to win. That's what champions do. Chael Sonnen became Lex Luthor to Anderson Silva's Superman. The two would have one of the best rivalries in MMA from this point up to their 2012 rematch. Sonnen would always be remembered for being a self-promoter on par with P.T. Barnum, and Silva finally had a career defining moment. Ignore everything that happened after this fight in both fighter's careers, and you'd have the perfect end to both their stories, an almost Hollywood moment. It's not that what came after was entertaining, for all sorts of reasons - but this fight was the pinnacle.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
