Silva vs. Sonnen 2 Results: Fight Recap and Analysis

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Anderson Silva (32-4) silenced all his critics with another comeback performance, successfully defending his UFC middleweight championship with a TKO win over Chael Sonnen (27-12-1) at UFC 148.

There was a lot of trash talk going into this bout, mostly stemming from the first fight and how dominant Sonnen was for four of those rounds.

In the next few slides, were going to analyze the striking and grappling statistics for this fight and what impact it had on the outcome.

Sonnen did most of the work, just like last time, but got caught with a huge error and it snowballed into a defeat.

UFC president Dana White says Silva isn't slowing down, despite being 37 years of age.

That's the thing, nobody ever thinks about, nobody ever talks about it. Nobody ever says 'Oh, this guys pushing 40'. He's an amazing fighter, an incredible athlete. The guy is an artist with his hands and feet, said White.

He didn't look like he was slowing down tonight. He fought a motivated, fired up, in shape, aggressive Chael Sonnen tonight. A Chael Sonnen who did what he said he was going to do, he put him on his back, he roughed him up like nobody else has, again, and he came out and he won in the second round. The guy is a freak of nature, I just think he's the greatest fighter of all time.

Let's take a look at the fight.

Striking

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Significant strikes definitely go in favour of Silva but in total strikes, Sonnen took the nod.

Sonnen landed a total of 87 strikes, including 76 of them in Round 1 after getting an early take down. He threw a total of 105 punches, a 61percent landing ratio.

It only takes one miss, however, and one of those missed strikes will now be the spinning back fist that Sonnen is going to be over thinking for a long time to come.

There's always some opportunities, said Sonnen. I feel like a doofus cause I fell down but we're on the mat, we're in the battle and parts out there felt really good and there were some parts that really hurt, including the end.

Silva landed zero strikes in Round 1. He did not look like the longest reigning UFC champion in the company today.

Round 2, Silva landed 16 strikes in Round 2 to seal the victory. He threw a total of 31 punches in the fight, averaging a landed punch every second time.

That's still not bad, but Sonnen takes the nod in striking totals.

Silva wins the significant strike category.

Grappling

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The grappling went to Sonnen in the fight. Silva attempted one when they were against the fence but that was about it.

Sonnen landed that huge take down within seconds of the fight beginning. It was the only take down necessary as it carried the round up to near its end.

Chael came prepared, came in 100% and he did what he did best and that's take me down," said Silva.

They trained us to be prepared for that and the difference this time was that I wasn't hurt this time and that I knew that I'd come back in the second round.

Sonnen also passed twice—once into half guard and then into full mount.

To be completely honest, who else had 10-8 Sonnen for Round 1?

Anyway, Silva survived the onslaught into Round 2.

I'm always trying to find that good shot that could change the fight and start to wear a guy down, make him think twice and yeah, I wasn't able to find it, said Sonnen.

The second-round grappling stats weren't in Sonnen's favour, as Silva continued to stifle Sonnen with take-down defence.

Sonnen went 0-for-3 in the grappling category in Round 2, and it started a snowball effect that led to his downfall.

Fight Overview

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A grappling clinic in Round 1 and a defensive striking beat down in Round 2. That's how the fight went.

Anderson carried those UFC 117 fears into this fight, knowing that Sonnen will not let him stop for even a breath.

Sonnen outfought Silva in that first fight, until Silva got the hooks in out of nowhere and got the triangle choke.

It was the same start as the first as Sonnen put the pressure on Silva, but Sonnen couldn't get the monkey off his back.

Sonnen isn't quitting and says he's not going to stop working towards his goals.

I don't need a vacation, definitely not. I like work, I like to get up early and go to bed late, he said.

It's tough, but unfortunately it's not my first athletic defeat man, it's tough but this sport, you got a 50 percent chance of failure and you go out there, bite down on that mouthpiece and you do the best you can but you gotta man up sometimes and deal with it.

Silva was just simply happy his fight looked good and that he got the victory.

I'm very happy right now that I was able to go in there and put on a great performance. Chael came in very well prepared and I was able to put on a performance to not only for everyone that was inside the arena but for everyone that watches UFC all over the world.

When asked if he had any ill will toward Sonnen, Silva simply shook his head.

We await a trilogy bout; it was an exciting fight.

 

Mark Pare is a Featured Columnist. You can follow him on Twitter, and don't forget to check out his sportswriter page.

All quotes courtesy the UFC 148 post-fight press conference.