Anderson Silva shakes off a slow start and uses a triangle choke to get Chael Sonnen to tap out in the fifth round of their championship bout in the main event of UFC 117.
View full sizeAnderson Silva, right, gets Chael Sonnen to submit in the fifth round to retain the UFC middleweight title Saturday in Oakland, Calif.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Anderson Silva didn't exactly endear himself to UFC president Dana White the last time he defended his welterweight championship. This time, Silva made the boss proud despite taking one of the worst beatings of his career.
Silva shook off a slow start and used a triangle choke to get Chael Sonnen to tap out in the fifth round of their championship bout in the main event of UFC 117 on Saturday.
Silva was behind on all three scorecards before locking Sonnen's arm into the submission hold with 1:50 remaining in the fight. It was Silva's seventh title defense of the belt he has held for nearly four years.
"The fight that happened tonight is the stuff that makes legends," a beaming White said. "This guy got roughed up and beat up for almost five full rounds but finds a way to win."
White, who has called Silva the best pound-for-pound fighter in the past, wasn't happy with Silva's previous title defense against Demian Maia at UFC 112. Silva spent much of that fight dancing around the octagon and refusing to engage Maia, leading to criticisms from fans and White.
Against Sonnen, Silva (27-4) was struggling until locking the challenger's left arm up and getting him to tap out.
"I've been training jujitsu for a long time and out of respect to (Antonio) Nogueira I wanted to finish this fight by a submission," Silva said through an interpreter. "I had a bad injury to my rib. The doctor told me not to fight but I believe the show must go on. It's not an excuse. I wanted to come in and put it on the line, and that's what I did."
Sonnen, who spent the days leading up to the fight criticizing and belittling Silva, controlled the bout and was the aggressor most of the night. He repeatedly took the champion to the mat and landed numerous unanswered punches to Silva's head, but was unable to finish the job.
In the UFC's first appearance in the Bay Area, Silva seemed content to fight from his back while Sonnen stayed aggressive, furiously punching the champion in the head and body throughout the first four rounds.
Silva, who nearly had Sonnen's left arm locked in a submission move near the end of the second round, stayed on his back trying to avoid Sonnen's flurries but couldn't get much going. He landed a straight right early in the fourth round but ended up on the mat again while Sonnen continued his steady onslaught.
But with the upset seconds away, Silva grabbed Sonnen's arm and locked it in until the challenger tapped out.
"I'm devastated," Sonnen said. "At the end of the day you either get your hand raised or you don't, and I didn't. I can't sugarcoat it. I'm heartbroken."
Before the fight, Sonnen (26-11) was explicit and outspoken in his criticism of Silva, calling the champion "clueless" and saying he had no fans.
The crowd at Oracle Arena, though, seemed very much in Silva's corner. He entered the ring to a loud chorus of cheers during pre-fight ceremonies while Sonnen was resoundingly booed.
For all the pre-fight talking, Sonnen stared solemnly downward when the two fighters met for instructions, while Silva looked directly at his opponent.
Earlier, Jon Fitch beat Thiago Alves by unanimous decision in the co-main event.
Neither fighter landed many blows in the lackluster fight and they spent most of the bout grappling on the mat. Fitch, who grew up in nearby San Jose, won 30-27 on all three scorecards.
Fitch (26-3) is now in line for a possible rematch against welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.
It was Alves" first fight following a 13-month layoff, but was hardly the showcase bout he was looking for to use as a springboard to a possible tight fight. He was unable to make weight at Friday's weigh-in and had to forfeit 20 percent of his purse.
Alves (22-6) didn't do much to help himself in the fight, either.
Fitch was content to keep the fight on the mat. He repeatedly took Alves down in the first two rounds but each time the Brazilian escaped.
Alves tried to open things up in the third round and landed a kick to the right side of Fitch's head. It turned out to be the hardest blow of the fight.
Fitch, who defeated Alves by a second-round TKO in 2006, took Alves down again and the two fighters remained locked up on the ground for nearly all the final few minutes. Alves stood up for the final 10 seconds but wasn't able to land anything.
The fight was postponed twice after originally being scheduled for UFC 111. The second delay came after doctors found an abnormality in Alves" brain which required surgery.
In an earlier fight Junior Dos Santos outlasted Roy Nelson to continue his climb into contention in the heavyweight division. Dos Santos (12-1) repeatedly stunned Nelson (16-5) with a series of right uppercuts in the first round but couldn't put away the 265-pound Nelson and won by decision.
Matt Hughes (45-7) choked out Ricardo Almeida (12-4) 3:15 into the first round of their welterweight bout. It was Hughes" first since being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame this past May. Clay Guida (27-8) won his lightweight match against Rafael Dos Anjos when Dos Anjos (14-5) tapped out in the third round because of a possible broken jaw.
All five bouts on the main card featured Brazilian fighters against Americans.
The crowd at Oracle Arena included former light heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and MC Hammer.