3. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
UFC 117
Aug. 7, 2010 | Oakland, California
Sonnen spent months baiting Silva with insulting trash talk, vowing to expose “The Spider” as a fraud. He seemed to be spot on with his assessment for the better part of 20 minutes, as he took down Silva with ease and assaulted him with ground-and-pound. Sonnen effectively neutralized the Brazilian’s surgical striking skills and cruised to a four-rounds-to-none lead. A man on a mission, he was on the verge of ending Silva’s historic reign atop the 185-pound weight class. However, in the fifth round, Sonnen wandered too low into the champion’s guard, became complacent and wound up trapped in a triangle choke. He fought through Silva’s initial bid but had no way to defend the armbar that followed.
Referee Josh Rosenthal accepted Sonnen’s tapout 3:10 into round five, and with that, a career-defining victory was out the window.
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