I mean really? He took a Beating all night and didn't even look like he had a paper cut...? And BTW Sonnen definitely tapped. I think is was one of those "Ouch he's gonna break my arm, ooops, I mean, oh wait... I'm not done yet." It was actually worth watching(though I'm in Daytona beach and didn't pay a dime for it, watched it right on the street.), and all and all, Silva showed a lot of class we haven't seen in a long time. Kind of glad he won...
He got punched alot, but none of them were really hard. As I said before I am glad they fought...which is more than I can say for his last few fights.
I think in the heat of the battle, Chael didn't want it to be over... but as soon as he cleared his head you never saw him argue the point that he tapped. I and everyone in the house we were watching from (about a dozen of us gathered) were EXTREMELY disappointed that Chael got sloppy and left his arms extended in Anderson's guard... I mean, really -- that was almost the ONLY thing he had to watch out for at that point. SO close. Oh well, like you said... he made Anderson have to fight. Maybe this'll break him out of his amatuerish, pathetic prancing around and hiding behind the refs for a while...
Agreed, we were actually saying all he needs to do now is avoid....tap tap tap damn, he just needed to avoid being submitted. He may have revealed a ***** in the armor, the lack of heart for silva, he just laid there and got slapped around. Can you see a franklin, penn, liddel, hughes just laying there and getting slapped around while they were in there prime...I don 't think so. Silva was almost content to lay there until the bell and try to end it at the beggining of each round standing up, once he got taken down, he just laid there, but chael never seriously pounded or tired him...IMO
Man I am pissed that Sonnen got sloppy and let that fight get away after dominating Silva for 4.5 rounds. He blew it. Simple as that. He beat Andesons ass all night like he said he would then to get caught in the 5th was ridiculous. I would have rather seen Anderson just beat him up than for Chael to lose like that. I knew Sonnen's style, conditioning and will would test Silva. Sonnen fights a lot like Randy. I will finish my disgust and say, Silva is LUCKY Sonnen got sloppy, because he knows he got his butt handed to him all night long, Silva didnt deserve to win that fight.
That was a crazy fight... I was cheering for Silva the whole way through and to be honest, I was never concerned about Sonnen getting a knock out or a submission. Sonnen came out with a game plan, but the ONLY thing Sonnen did to score points was get take downs and keep Silva on the ground. He didn't do any damage to Silva and it was evident in the fact that Silva looked un-phased at the end of the match and Sonnen looked like his face went through a cheese shredder. Yes, Sonnen would have won the fight on points... but lets face it... he did no damage at all. The big fight for me was Big Country vs. Junior. Big Country was absolutely pounded and I was amazed that he made it to decision. That guy has some heart and he took probablly a dozen knock out shots. How bout Skyscrapper? He got insanely lucky in that fight.. I thought the doctors weren't gonna let him go back in after the 1st.
Methinks you were watching the fight with a bit biased eyes, my friend. Chael did FAR more than lay and pray; he's one of the busiest fighters from the top in MMA, and he was again last night... Several ringside reporters thought that Josh was leaning in at times in thought of stopping the fight -- though I don't think it ever came that close, it shows how busy Chael was. He dropped some serious bombs on Anderson but to his credit he shook them off. But to say the only thing he did was take him down and keep him there is a far cry from reality; there was a reason they never got stood up even with Chael gaining the takedown with as much as four minutes left in some of the rounds -- he stayed very busy. Unfortunately for him, it was that desire to "stay busy" that left him vulnerable, as he could have just done the lay and pray the last two minutes if that was his style -- he was WAAAAAY ahead on all the cards, with a couple of the judges giving him two 10-8 rounds earlier in the fight.
He stayed busy Greg, but he wasn't exactly posturing up and inflicting damage. If he was actually doing damage, the fight would never have made it to the fifth round. If Sonnen had some power on the ground instead of just the ability to stay busy he would be holding the belt right now.
Sonnen definately hurt Anderson, he dropped him early in the fight, he hit him with big shots on the ground at times re-watch the fight. What that night showed me is Anderson Silva has a hell of a chin, can take a beating and still like a sneaky snake tap you out at any time. Anderson got tested and like a champion found a way to sucker Sonnen into a submission after almost 5 rounds. After watching all the post fight interviews both Sonnen and Anderson were very respectful of each other. Sonnen had 0 excuses. The truth is Sonnen is very smart and did a "great" job of selling that fight with all of his antics and backed them up too boot. Go to UFC.com and watch the post fight interview with them both. Anderson is so beat up he sits and wences and moves around very uncomfotably the entire time, he is having a hard time breathing. Sonnen has a cut on his eye from a great elbow by Anderson and Sonnen even says he got kicked and hit hard by Anderson. I think both Sonnen and Anderson now have a greater respect for each other. I can't wait to see the rematch. I think they BOTH will go into trying to finish it much eariier. In the end I actually respect Anderson a lot more after this fight, I feel like he showed he could take a beating and come out on top, kinda like Brock did with Carwin. I also know now forsure Sonnen is a tough S.O.B. I can see why guys duck him and don't want to fight him. He's coming at you for 5 rounds straight. Greg hit it on the head when he said, "sonnen staying busy versus just burning the clock like wresters can do, lost him the fight" Dana said the exact same thing in the post fight interview. All in all a great fight, I am still disgusted Sonnen gave it away, but have to tip my hat to Silva, for weathering a hell of a storm and catching him.. Most guys are not good enough to catch someone in a submission that late in a fight when everyone is greased up and bloody like that. I want to see a rematch..
I agree Troy.... no matter who you were cheering for, both guys had to increase their respect from fans. They put it all on the line for more than 20 minutes and while not a flashy fight, it wasn't boring either. I was suprised by several of the fights, I never thought Big Country could take that type of pounding (even with the loss), and I really thought that Matt Hughes had no chance. I definetly didn't think the Fitch Alves fight would be so one sided, Fitch is on B.A.M.F
