Anderson Silva defeated Chael Sonnen in the main event of UFC 117 in California on Saturday night and retained his middleweight title in the process.
Sonnen had been talking himself up in the week prior to the fight and dominated his opponent for the first four rounds, securing takedowns in three rounds and punishing Silva with a series of elbows, punches, hammerfists and slaps to the ears.
Three minutes into the fifth round, however, Silva executed a textbook triangle choke and forced Sonnen to submit with only half a round remaining in the fight.
In the other fights on the card in Oakland, Jon Fitch won by unanimous decision in a welterweight contest with Thiago Alves, Clay Guida forced the submission of Rafael dos Anjos in the lightweight division, Matt Hughes defeated Ricardo Almeira, also in the welterweight division and Junior Santos won his heavyweight bout with Roy Nelson.
