10 MMA Fights That Created Instant Legends

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.