UFC 136 Results: Keys to Chael Sonnen's Victory over Brian Stann

It only took two rounds for Chael Sonnen to fully demonstrate his dominance over middleweight contender Brian Stann.

Sonnen came out looking to make the fight an ugly one, throwing himself at Stann and controlling him throughout the bout.

While Sonnen was the favorite going into the bout, few expected him to beat down Stann with the ease that he did, and he certainly got the attention of the MMA world with the impressive UFC 136 performance.

Wrestling

Everyone knew that the key to this matchup was Sonnen’s wrestling, and Chael almost immediately.showed his advantage in the area.

Stann stuffed his initial takedown attempt, but Sonnen got it to the mat at will every time thereafter, making Stann look like an amateur on the ground for the majority of the bout.

If Sonnen would have been unable to get the fight down he would have been in serious trouble, but he showed that he has some of the best wrestling in the UFC once again Saturday night.

Experience

Sonnen is only a few years older than Stann but he has over a decade of fight experience on him and it showed.

Stann could do nothing to stop Sonnen from imposing his will and looked lost at times when Sonnen was smothering him.

Sonnen had over 20 more fights on his resume going into the bout and completely outclassed the former WEC champion throughout the fight.

Motivation

Chael Sonnen has a legitimate problem with Anderson Silva, and he wasn’t about to let Brian Stann get in his way.

I’m not saying Sonnen didn’t want to win this fight, but he was simply hell-bent on getting another crack at Anderson Silva and earning his “12 pounds of gold,” going after Stann like he had stolen his lunch money.

It’s amazing how much a little added motivation can do to a fight, and it was showcased Saturday night in Houston.