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buddahga69's News & Fitness Blog - Can Chael Sonnen.....Walk the Walk ?
By:
buddahga69
On:
8/4/2010 10:10 PM
Posted To: MMAJacked
UFC 117 brings Anderson Silva back into the octogon after what many considered to be a lackluster performance in Abu Dhabi back in April of this year.
He will be facing the very outspoken and motivated challenger Chael Sonnen
Usually when I break down a fight, I try not to show any bias, but with this fight, everytime I talk about, or write about it I find myself disliking Sonnen more and more. It seems that so many people have turned against Anderson and say he is disrespectful, and a bad sport and so on. Yet, in all this build up for this title fight, the only person showing a lack of respect is Chael...This guy isnt missing a chance to talk smack about the current champ. He has gone so far as to call Silva "britney silva"...and he is going on and on about how he is going to retire the champ...and beat holes in his face, and stop him early. Obviously, you dont want to walk into a fight thinking you are already beaten...and you want to have confidence that you can beat the other guy...but lets break this down looking at it from the outside looking in. I am gonna just cover 4 years since Sonnen says he has been calling out Anderson Silva for that long. Lets compare the 2 fighters last 4 years and see if what he claims even makes sense.
First a look at the challenger: Chael Sonnen (24-10-1)
Chael is coming off 3 straight wins on his second tour of duty in the UFC...Sonnen fought in the UFC in 2005 and 2006, going 1-2. He was triangled by Babalu, then beat Trevor Prangley by decision and then was submitted again by Jeremy Horn(who has beaten Sonnen 3 times).
After this loss to Horn, Chael made a 5 fight winning streak in Bodog Fights and another smaller promotion. These wins were over Tim Creduer,Alexey Oleinik, Tim Mckenzie, Amar Suloev, and Kyacey Uscola. This run of wins got him a a fight back in the WEC for the middleweight title against Paulo Filho. This fight ended in the second round by armbar.
Sonnen came back and won 2 fights, one against Bryan Baker, and the next against Paulo Filho...this fight ended up not being a title fight due to Filho coming in over-weight. Both these wins came via U Decision.
Chael debuted in the UFC for the second time against Demian Maia, losing in the first round via triangle choke.
Since his debut, Chael has put together 3 wins over Dan Miller, and top rated fighters Yushin Okami, and Nate Marquardt. All three of these wins came by way of U. Decision. His fight with Marqaurdt was a battle with Chael surviving 2 very deep chokes by Nate. Chael was able to use his wrestling and ground and pound to grind out a win and earn his title shot against Silva.
So to sum up Sonnens last 4 years, he is 11-3 overall...and 5-2 since stepping up into top level competition(WEC, and UFC). Since coming to the WEC and UFC, all of Sonnens' wins have come by way of decision. And his 2 losses by way of submission.
Now a look at the last 4 years of Anderson Silva's career.
UFC Middleweight Champion: Anderson Silva (26-4) (former Shooto Middleweight Champ, former Cage Rage Middleweight Champ)
Silva started the last 4 year run with a loss to Yushin Okami...while Okami was in Anderson's guard, Silva threw a kick to Okami's head. Yushin was given time to try to recover but did not return to fight, so Silva lost by way of DQ. Silva was winning the fight before the illegal kick. Silva came back from this loss with a first round ko win over Tony Frylund at Cage Rage 16.
Silva made his debut in the UFC against Chris Leban on June 28, 2006...which started the Silva Era. He stopped Leban in devastating fashion just :49 seconds in the first round. Leban had never been ko'd before that fight or since.
Silva then went on to beat Rich Franklin for the Middleweight title...completely dominating Franklin like nobody had ever been able to do before.
Silva went on afer winning the title to defend the belt against Nate Marquardt, Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, and also had a win over Travis Lutter that would have been a title defense but Lutter came in overweight, so it was made a non-title fight. Anderson won all these fights by way of first or second round stoppage. Choking out Dan Henderson, and putting Lutter in a triangle...all other wins by way of TKO.
Anderson Silva then stepped up to fight at 205 against noted striker and Ko artist James Irvin. Most felt this was going to be a huge test for Silva, but he ended the fight in 1:01 of the first round, without even breaking a sweat. Silva went back down to defend his title again at 185 against Patrick Cote winning by TKO in the 3 round, marking the first time Silva had been past the 2nd round since coming to the UFC.
He then went on to defend his title again against Thales Leites, this win marked Silva's 9th consecutive win, breaking the previous record. But he caught alot of flack after this fight for letting it go to a decision. I personally think everyone had gotten spoiled by all his super impressive wins before this fight. Leites was content to butt scoot and not try to engage the whole fight. The picture below says it all.
Silva went back up to fight at 205 against Forrest Griffin at UFC 101. At this point it seemed like everyone was too intimidated to engage Silva, but Griffin has always been known for his willingness to engage with anyone. Anderson came into this fight and completely dominated the former light heavy weight champ. Winning by way of KO in the first round, in what many called the most embarring knockout in UFC history. Silva made Forrest look like a rookie in that fight, taughting him, and knocking him out with a walking away punch.
After this win, Anderson defended his title against Demian Maia. He won via U. Decision breaking the record for most consecutive title defenses. This fight started alot of controversy for the champ. He danced around and taunted Maia for the first 2 and a half rounds, and then slowed down and didnt engage much for the remainder of the fight, still clearly winning the fight with ease.
So to sum up Anderson Silva's last 4 years: He is 12-1 with only 2 of those wins coming by decision...and his only loss by way of DQ. Also, out of the 13 fights...8 of those fights were title fights, and 2 of those fights were at 205.
So now comparing the two fighters the way I see it:
you got a top level wrestler in Chael, who has been ko'd before, submitted by every top level bjj fighter he has faced(Filho, Horn-2 times,Prangley, Forrest, Babalu,and Maia)...Sonnen has not stopped anyone in his WEC or UFC careers. Thats right....no wins by stoppage, yet he is gonna retire the most dominant champ in UFC history.
Anderson has won fights everyway possible since coming to the UFC...he has wins by ko from punches, kicks, knees, elbows...he has wins by submission and wins by decision....
And he has beaten the best of every style that people thought would stop his winning streak...he beat the best wrestler(Dan Henderson, who is a much better wrestler than Chael)...he beat the best BJJ artist(Demian Maia, who submitted Chael)...and top level strikers(Forrest, Irvin, Franklin).
They have a common win over Marquardt....but Silva has a win over Sonnen's Krytonite, Jeremy Horn, and made maia look like a kid in the cage...the same maia that choked out Chael with ease..... I think that Chael only has one way to win this fight, takedowns and control for 5 rounds. I dont think he can do that personally. And Anderson on the other hand can win this fight anywhere it goes...he has the best striking of anyone in the UFC, he has top level BJJ, and he has plenty of gas to go 5 rounds if necessary. The odds just aren't in Sonnens' favor.
I think Anderson Silva is going to make a statement in this fight. He has remained pretty quite during all the pre-fight hoopla that Sonnen is stirring up. I think he is going to do his talking in the cage. We may see the Anderson that we have been waiting to see again. Could Chael Sonnen have woke the sleeping beast...I for one hope so.
I had to update this after seeing this picture UFC 117 press conference...Chael dont look like he is that confident here...I feel the same as Thiago in this picture...LMAO
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