10 MMA Fights That Created Instant Legends

7. Chael Sonnen Vs. Anderson Silva - UFC 117

Having put together a trio of unanimous decision victories – including a title eliminator fight against Nate Marquardt at UFC 109 – Chael Sonnen managed to get himself a crack at Anderson Silva’s Middleweight Championship at August 2010’s UFC 117.

In the build to that UFC 117 fight, Sonnen took his hype game to a whole other level. Cutting the sort of pre-fight promos that would make the biggest names in pro wrestling jealous, The American Gangster became a hated figure who people were dying to see get his ass kicked. And whenever you have people wanting to see you take a beating, that usually means they'll be happy to pay to see just that.

What Sonnen managed during that fight, however, is he turned the crowd in his favour. Despite the majority of the Oakland, California crowd cheering on the seemingly unstoppable Silva, Chael managed to slowly win the watching audience over. That was down to the fighter’s sheer determination and the fact that he was dominating The Spider in a way rarely seen.

Going into the fifth and final round, Sonnen was up on all scorecards and looked set to do the unthinkable. Unfortunately, Silva would somehow pull out the W with a triangle armbar submission. But still, Chael Sonnen had put himself on the map in a huge way.

Even though Sonnen would only win five out of his next 11 fights before calling time on his career, he’d cemented himself in the hearts of fight fans and even became known as The People’s Champion due to his ridiculously entertaining persona.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.