When Anderson Silva retires, his thrilling submission of Chael Sonnen on Saturday night might rank as his greatest victory. Long accustomed to dispensing beatings, it is precisely that he had to endure one himself that emphasised the win.
For four and a half rounds, Sonnen mauled Silva with relentless ground and pound. The champion was dumped onto the mat early in each stanza, and never once managed to reverse position or scramble to his feet.
For followers of Silva’s career, seeing the world’s best fighter pummelled, round after round, was shocking. More surprising still, Sonnen beat Silva at his own game, out-striking the Brazilian during the rare portions of the fight that took place standing.
Silva showed immense heart as Sonnen tirelessly rained blows from the top for almost the entirety of the bout. In any round, he could easily have turtled up to invite the referee to intervene.
Instead, he weathered a longer storm than he has faced in the rest of his career combined. With less than two minutes remaining, battered and bruised, he somehow mustered the composure to lock in a textbook triangle and pry victory from the jaws of defeat.
Sonnen for his part, was magnificent. Rarely, if ever, has a fighter’s stock risen so much in losing. Not only did his ceaseless trash talking hype the fight to a rumoured 1 million PPV buys (multiples of a typical Silva title defence), but he then fought the fight of his life before an audience he himself had largely generated.
Charismatic
Few had expected the charismatic All-American wrestler to be anything other than fodder to Silva. All doubters were silenced as he delivered upon the majority of his brash predictions. After six months of talking the talk, he most definitely walked the walk.
Unfortunately, the Achilles Heal that has dogged Sonnen throughout his career again proved his undoing. Of his eleven losses, eight have now come by submission, often in fights he’s been dominating.
“It’s devastating,” said Sonnen of Saturday’s loss. “I can’t sugarcoat it. My heart’s broken. It’s one of those moments I’ll think about for the rest of my life.”
The stoppage, when it came, was not without controversy. Many have accused Sonnen of executing a ‘quick tap’ – a ruse of last resort that seeks to con an opponent into relinquishing their submission with a tap subtle enough to escape the referee’s attention.
Certainly, Sonnen seemed to protest the stoppage, and confusion momentarily reigned. Others however, have accused Silva of maintaining the submission – which by now included an armbar – long after the referee had instructed him to release. Limbs can shatter under such duress, and many would view an unyielded submission as a far graver matter than a mere quick tap.
Thankfully, controversy hasn’t quelled the feting of a bout many are labelling a modern classic. UFC president Dana White labelled the tussle “legendary”, and according to veteran fight reporter Kevin Lole, “it’s likely to be remembered as the greatest match in UFC history”.
It was definitely epic, and deserves to be savoured. But the matter is far from settled. With Saturday’s embers still aglow, talks are already turning to a rematch. Frankly, it can’t come quickly enough.
Alan Murphy
