2 reason for Sonnen losing to Silva
Date: 2010-07-25 00:00:00
Source: http://www.fighters.com/07/25/2-reasons-why-chael-...
Submitted By: MMAFightsDump
Some are actually picking Chael Sonnen to upset Anderson Silva. Of course, this is MMA, so anything can happen. After all, Sonnen is a very good fighter. But I have something to say on this that’s pretty profound. Well, maybe not so profound, but it’s something nonetheless. Here it is. Drum roll please…. Chael Sonnen will lose to Anderson Silva at UFC 117 for two main reasons, one of which he caused. So here goes. Reason #1: They start each round on their feet. Let’s look at the past for reinforcement. Remember that Dan Henderson went into his match up with Silva with a great wrestling background, similar to Sonnen. Then he did what a lot of people thought he might be able to, given that Silva’s one relative weakness in MMA is his wrestling. Henderson took Silva down in the first round. Then what, though? Well, Henderson had trouble doing much damage to his adversary because of those long limbs of his coupled with that black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. So then the second round started…. Yep, you got it- on their feet. The bottom line is that Silva made Henderson look confused there, and Henderson is a good stand up fighter. Eventually, this translated to Silva nailing him with a knee and following him to the ground where he ended things via a rear naked choke. Sonnen’s stand up has improved immeasurably, but it’s not as good as Henderson’s was. And Silva isn’t a one trick pony with this stuff, either; it happens all the time. Heck, you can go all the way back to PRIDE 25: Body Blow on 3/16/03 and see the same thing. On that particular night, Silva fought Carlos Newtown, a ground fighting superstar at the time. Newton was controlling things by taking Silva down and pounding away while looking for submissions. But then the two were stood up for a moment. And that’s when a Silva flying knee suddenly and viciously ended Newton’s night. Yep, just like that. Since Sonnen isn’t a great submission fighter; in other words, he’s probably not going to end things on the canvas if he gets “The Spider” there, the fact that they start each round on their feet just gives Silva, arguably the greatest MMA striker of all-time, too many chances. Remember, it just takes a second. Reason #2: Sonnen is doing too much talking. Admittedly, Sonnen is the best interview in MMA. He’s smart, and his quick wit is translating to a ton of fun media coverage. There’s certainly the argument that Sonnen has gotten into Silva’s head, and this will make the UFC middleweight champion press in their fight. But there’s also another argument to be made that may hold more merit. Sonnen is motivating Silva. And that’s a dangerous thing. If you watch Silva in many of his recent fights, it seems as if he’s been simply going through the motions against fighters that he knows he’s more talented than. But look at the fights where you know he was motivated. People were saying that Forrest Griffin would finally really fight him, that he could challenge the middleweight king. Instead, Griffin got knocked out in embarrassing fashion in round one. People wondered if Chris Leben could even be knocked out in Silva’s debut. Leben went down like a sack of potatoes before even a minute had gone by. Then there were the two Rich Franklin fights, Nate Marquardt, Travis Lutter, and James Irvin (first foray into the 205 pound class). All stoppage victories against tough opponents that likely motivated him coming in. Now comparing the black belt that the Nogueiras gave Silva in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to “a toy that you get in a happy meal,” as Sonnen has done, sounds like fighting words, no? And those are usually the kind of words you don’t want to throw at “The Spider” before facing him. Thanks to Sonnen, Silva will be motivated coming into their UFC 117 encounter. So there they are- the two reasons that Silva should defeat Sonnen at UFC 117. Looking forward to an interesting main event in August.
