11 Most Brutal Acts Of Revenge In MMA History

7. Anderson Silva Silences The American Gangster

Nobody in the history of MMA has been as influenced by the world of professional wrestling as Chael Sonnen. Whenever he could, Sonnen would constantly berate his opponents and take shots at them, their families, their countries, and anything else he could in an attempt to irk an opponent.

For Anderson Silva, The Spider is arguably the greatest fighter in the history of MMA. At one point, Silva embarked on a 16-fight win streak in the UFC, including becoming the UFC Middleweight Champion and holding on to the belt for a frankly ludicrous 2,457 days. But that record-setting run so nearly came to a halt three years prior to his defeat to Chris Weidman when Silva battled Chael Sonnen at UFC 117.

Sonnen spent the whole of the pre-fight build mocking Silva and his family, while never missing an opportunity to talk trash against Brazil as a whole. Even worse for Anderson, The American Gangster dominated the majority of their fight… before getting tapped out by Silva in the fifth round.

Anderson Silva’s revenge didn’t stop there, for he would go on to get a TKO victory over Sonnen two years later when the pair met again at UFC 148.

What was most brutal about this particular revenge is that Chael Sonnen came so, so close on two occasions to defeating the then-unstoppable greatest of all-time - but it was ultimately a case of 'so close, yet so far' for Sonnen in both fights.

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 and Presenter, 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 day job, his role as 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 and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.