UFC 148 Post Scriptum: Chael Sonnen rivalry gets the best out of Anderson Silva
Posted on July 8, 2012, 05:48 PM by Anton Gurevich“Champion versus icon, myth versus legend, Anderson Silva versus Chael Sonnen – the fake guy versus the bad guy, and only on pay-per-view.”
In some way, Anderson Silva needed the rivalry with Chael Sonnen to define his legacy as a fighter. Sonnen got the best out of Anderson Silva in two memorable encounters that instantly erased the memory of his arch nemesis’ embarrassing performances against Thales Leites and Demian Maia. The rivalry with Chael Sonnen is an important chapter in Anderson Silva’s career. It came in the most critical moment for the bored genius, who’s nothing but spectacular after his first encounter with the Oregonian at UFC 117.
Many fans forget that Anderson Silva spoke about retirement before facing Patrick Cote at UFC 90. Chael Sonnen in some way resurrected Silva’s career, and helped him to re-gain the passion for Mixed Martial Arts.
Inside the Octagon, Anderson Silva once again displayed an amazing ability to capitalize on his opponent’s mistakes. He’s an opportunist, and that’s exactly what makes him the best. Unfortunately for Sonnen, he learned that in a hard way. The Gangster from West Linn, Oregon, pulled the trigger too early with a spinning backfist that put him in the worst possible position.
So Who’s next for Silva?
Mark Munoz seems like a great contender, if he manages to defeat Chris Weidman at next weekend’s card in San Jose, California. Munoz is one of the most decorated wrestlers currently competing in Mixed Martial Arts, while his vicious ground and pound could make the difference against Silva. Michael Bisping is also in the mix, but personally, I think the Brit is still two fights away from a title shot.
The dark horse of UFC middleweight division is Hector Lombard. Former Bellator champ has a tremendous KO power in both hands, which could result in a very interesting match-up with Silva. Lombard will face Tim Boetsch at UFC 149 later this month, looking to prove he has what it takes to become a title contender in the UFC. One way or another, UFC middleweight division has more than enough options for "The Spider".
Comments
"In some way, Anderson Silva needed the rivalry with Chael Sonnen to define his legacy as a fighter." Really, Anton? Well, I had no clue.
I hope it's all good now.
what was wrong with the Thales Leites fight plz tell me??? everytime silva came in for a combo leites would fall to guard silva was trying to fight and leites was trying for a bjj match so if anyone should get the blame it should be leites
Completely agree. Ive never killed Anderson for that bout, and think its asinine for anyone who does. Leites wouldn't even fight after the third (it actually should have been stopped for lack of fighting in the fourth.
Plus, Thales could barely walk when the fight is over.
@sapizo80 Yes and No, Antons has a point because not only did Sonnen dominate Silva for five rounds he NEVER let him forget it. Sonnen talks a lot of bull,but when he said Silva needs that rematch more than him he was right. The question mark was still there even though Silva won, that's done and dusted now, sure a few people talking about short grabbing and illegal knees but the sensible mma folk like you and I can be happy the Hero won and the Villain lost that's how all story's should end.
Its fair to say that as an antagonist Chael Sonnen pushed Anderson to greater heights. It is undeniable that he was a threat. At the end of his career Fedor fought some cans. That didn't help his legacy. Anderson faced his biggest nemesis and beat him twice and looked great doing it.
Yes UnderdogGreatness, beating Chael twice was good for Anderson's legacy. Had he beat Forrest Griffin twice or the Sandman twice or Cody McKenzie twice who would care.
He beat Chael twice. That's something! Anderson is the man.
Congrats, Champ.
Anton, Bisping beat Sonnen and is next in line. He would have been in the ring last night if judges weren't so "special".
It doesn't really matter though because if Silva and Bisping do fight it will be a first round KO victory for Silva.
If you think Bisping beat Sonnen then you are "special" by the way....
Side note:
Walking around Vegas it was surprising that the only people who were Silva fans were Brazilians and scrawny white boys with gay haircuts and black and yellow as a fashion statement. "Wannabe Trendy/Swag Kids"
Sonnen fans all were normal guys just acting calm and cool. They werent trying to overly represent their fighter like Silva did.
I dont even understand how there are any sonnen fans at all...
the guy has good takedowns but NOTHING else.
ONE finish of eleven fights in the UFC. Is there even a Highlight reel with sonnen?? I could not even emagine that....
What do you like as a sonnen fan, I really wonder? his trashtalk? him holding down an opponent to the ground hoping for a decision win? or seeing sonnen get submitted by a Brazilian maybe??
The guy is just a Big looser and his mouth is the only weapon...
hahaha...
And yet as big a loser as he is he's still accomplished so much more than you. Hmm, what do you think that means?
how do you know what I accomplished bruce??
The fact that we don't know kind of says it for itself. Don't feel bad I'm in the same boat.
Agreed.
IMO Bisping biggest chance would be to mix in takedowns as often as possible.
The middleweight division has got to be the weakest, minus flyweight (barely any fighters). Truthfully there is little to do for Anderson at MW, i'm hoping either a move to 205 or just super-fights or catch-weights etc.
Featherweight is far weaker than middle weight, middle weight is actually one of the best weight classes right now, third best in my opinion.
The problem is not that there isn't enough high level fighters in the class, the problem is Anderson Silva is that much better than them.
Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, MIchael Bisping, Brian Stann, Alan Belcher, Rousimar Palhares, Hector Lombard, Yushin Okami and Mark Munoz all being at middleweight makes it one hell of a division.
If MW division was weakest, everyone wouldn't run from it.Look at damian maia being mediocre lately since anderson and he wins in under a minute in the hugging division.
Chael is a decent fighter, but only due to his wrestling.
Vitor is hot and cold. But can beat anybody if the stars align.
Michael is way overrated, everytime he gets mentioned in line for a title shot, it really shows how much the division lacks depth.
Brian Stann has some power, but his ground is poor.
Alan Belcher is actually a good fighter, i have nothing bad to say about him. But too slow for Andy.
Yushin is a lesser version of Chael.
Mark Munoz is mediocre at best, super slow, with O.K. MMA wrestling
Rousimar Palhares only has one trick, and no gas tank.
Hector Lombard is really untested, and his fight against Shlemenko was horrible. Silva would pick him apart in a couple of rounds.
Only reason these guys are in the top is because that's all there is. Although it is not their fault, but I've never seen anything "brilliant" from any of the fighters you have mentioned.
HW always will be the weakest division in MMA just because of how few big guys are actually well rounded, in good shape, and top tier. MW is usually next after that.
Its gotten a big influx lately (past 3 years) of talent so I'd put everything under 155 below it now.
I don't see anyone in LHW coming close to Jones guess he should move - If Dos Santos beats Cain for the second time I guess he should retire as the greatest GSP has beat out most of his Division guess he should move up.
What is the difference with all these scenarios and AS's? Nothing except people want AS to move up and all around because they want him to finally lose and when he responds with .. no. Everyone says " WHY NOT YOUR A PUSSY!"
I hope that is not directed at me, because there was no mention of me calling him a coward. Lets put it this way, Andy talks about his legacy a lot. What is going to benefit him more, keep beating up same fighters all over again? Or going up weight class and do super fights. What would you wanna see?
Chael has top 3 MMA wrestling with golden gloves boxing.
Vitor is one of the heaviest hitting fighters in MMA with a very good ground game.
Bisping is the most underrated fighter in the UFC, extremely well rounded with unrelenting cardio.
Stann has very good stand up but a poor ground game for the elite fighters.
Belcher is similar to Bisping, in being well rounded, but is more of a stop you there and then rather than break you down (Bisping style).
Okami is a top level grappler with underrated striking, just got caught by Boetsch after completely outclassing him.
Munoz has some of the heaviest ground and pound and is a very good grappler in MMA - great wrestling with excellent sub defense.
Palhares is a sub machine but if he can't sub you quickly he's done usually.
Lombard is a powerhouse with world class Judo but honestly yet to be seen if he is top 10.
I guess in all fairness this is a subjective view of top MW fighters. Personally it is my least favorite weight class, the only person that has ever impressed me at MW in the UFC has been Anderson.
Anderson was already the best fighter before the first Chael Sonnen fight but coming off that last chance submission really put Silva on another level, one that I don't think anyone else has reached yet in our young sport.
At this stage in the game, P4P I think he is unbeatable at his weight class and that is partly due to the rivalry with Sonnen.
Ariel Helwani noted that when performing on emotion most athletes go overboard or mess up somehow but there are those special, one of a kind humans that use their anger, fear and passion to fuel them to perfection.
Boxing has Muhammad Ali, Basketball has Michael Jordan and we have Anderson "The Spider" Silva.
Don't forget hockey has Wayne Gretzky and Wrestling had Ghulam Muhammad. Ultramarathoning has Scott Jurek....hmmm, who else...
Honestly, MMA doesn't have an Ali yet. Anderson would be closer to "Sugar" Ray Robinson or his idol Roy Jones jr.
Yea I was gonna bring up Lioneli Messi in Soccer, Lance Armstrong in Cycling, Roger Federer in Tennis.
Being Scottish, while I know of Gretsky, I have no idea if he was fueled by emotions to the extent that Ali and Jordan famously were.
Again being Scottish means I have a disadvantage when it comes to knowledge of wrestling but as far as i knew, isn't Aleksandr Karelin the best wrestler of all time by far?
Couldn't find Aleksandr Karelin when I clicked on your post and then went to the wiki. Check out Ghulam. 50 - 0 was his record I believe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Karelin
This is the beast that is Aleksandr Karelin.
Best wrestlers ever would either be Dan Gable, Karelin, Cael Sanderson, or Buvaisar Saitiev.
Thats pretty sick but Karelin went 10+ years without dropping a single point, he only lost in the Olympics final because he had a point deducted not the other guy scoring on him
And Lowkick has BruceLee ?
Yes.
sbond I think Silva has alot or talented fighters he has yet to fight. Lombard, Stann, Bisping, Munoz, Weidman, Belcher ...... Im not sure who I would put up against Silva at the moment but would like to see the stann vs bisping, lombard win his next fight and fight winner of munoz/weidman. Belcher i believe has a few more fights to go so I dont think he is quite in the title picture. And possibly Silva could fight Evans as he is a top class fighter and willing to drop.
Bisping would be by far the most tehnical striker Anderson has faced, but saying that, thats Silva`s strong point.
I don`t see Munoz or Lombard having the striking ability that Andy has if they can`t get it too the ground.
I would say technically Ace and Bisping are on the same level , but one of them has ko power ; )
Silva put in an unconvincing performance and was dominated in the first round and won because Sonnen blundered terribly. It seems people are happy to ignore the fact he was hopelessly outclassed by Sonnen in round 1 and its only due to Sonnen not being a clinical finisher that Silva survived. Someone who finishes better would have stopped Silva from the position Sonnen attained. yet keep deluding yourselves how great Silva is. Ignore the fact there's a massive hole in his game and call him the greatest. He is the greatest striker yes but far from the greatest fighter.
he won 2 for 2, he finished both fights (while Sonnen roided out for 1). And they are unconvincing?
you should stop watching MMA and watch WWE, as it is more convincing.
Theres always going to be ppl better than silva at striking/wrestling/grappling/bjj, but there is no one better than him in all areas. And there is no such thing as a weak weight class, just a weight class with lesser stars. The 125 lb class is "shallow" because there is no major stars, there is no household names.
if anything sonnen was outclassed by silva. he handled him like a punching bag! anderson's first punch that connected after sonnen not succeeding to take it to the ground almost knocked sonnen out. he threw it with his hands down. sonnen inflicted no damage at in the first. "someone who finishes better"...dude...silva is UNBEATEN in the ufc with 13 FINISHES and only two decisions. how can you still doubt he's the greatest?
Remember I said...back to littel leeges Sonan.DG1 said all thnigs right...Sonan sleep in 2st round and bye bye Sonan after lose ha! DG1 predict perfect ha! *facepolm* :-) =