Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen had one of the most memorable rivalries in mixed martial arts (MMA) history.
When Silva was wreaking havoc on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight division, he turned in some stellar performances. Unfortunately, he also had some bizarre outings. It started with his title defense against Patrick Cote at UFC 90. Cote blew out his knee in the third round, but up to that point Silva was only interested in toying with his opponent and not really pressing the action.
Then at UFC 97, he had a dreadful match-up with Thales Leites. The bout was very low on action and even prompted fans to chant, “bullsh*t.” Silva won the fight by unanimous decision.
Fans and UFC President Dana White were at their wits’ end after “The Spider’s” bout with Demian Maia. Silva successfully defended his title once again, but it was the third time he chose to clown around instead of giving his best efforts. White was so infuriated that he said Silva didn’t deserve a super fight with Georges St. Pierre.
Instead, Silva would defend his title against Sonnen. What followed was a slew of trash talk from the West Linn native. Sonnen even fired shots at Silva’s coaches and walked a thin line when it came to talking about Brazilians.
To the surprise of fans and analysts, Sonnen backed up his trash talk for most of the fight. He knocked down Silva early and controlled him for four and a half rounds. In a dramatic turn of events, Silva locked in a triangle choke to force the tap in the final round and retained his middleweight title.
The stage was set for a rematch when Sonnen defeated Michael Bisping and told Silva, “you absolutely suck.” The official YouTube channel of the UFC posted the full rematch. Watch the outcome for yourself above.
