I don't think the people in this thread watched the same fight that I did. What I saw was Sonnen laying on Silva for four rounds, barely able to keep up with Silva on his feet for more than twenty seconds or so. Silva simply kept Sonnen on top and allowed him to though pathetically weak and ill placed punches until he grew nice and tired.
Sonnen could barely stand in the fifth round, while Silva was as spry and limber as ever. Just as Silva was about to teach Sonnen what the standing game of a champion feels like, he slipped and fell (yes, slipped and fell, contrary to what Goldberg prematurely described as getting "rocked!"), allowing Sonnen to once again take the opportunity to lie on top and make weak hand gestures that strongly resembled masturbatory movements over Anderson's face.
With two minutes left in the fight, Silva decided he had experienced quite enough of this, and punched Sonnen in the face. Mind you, Sonnen was still on top of Silva, much like he was for the majority of the fight, when he received this punch. After receiving countless meager blows from Sonnen for nearly five rounds, Silva was able to completely disorient his opponent with one punch. While he was on his back. He then took this opportunity to set up a triangle that he combined with a arm bar to finally submit Sonnen.
While he may have been laying on top of Silva for close to the entirety of the match, saying he "dominated" the entire time is a stretch, at best. Silva was barely phased by a near constant battery of punches for four and a half rounds. Sonnen, on the other hand, was left bruised and bloodied by the end of the fight.
I could see some validity to the theory that Silva had placed bets on winning in the fifth round. However I doubt that's actually what happened. What's more likely is that Silva just wanted to put on the best performance possible, and toyed with his opponent until the very end of the fight. And that's exactly what he did. You could tell he was ready to end the fight in the fifth round, on his own terms. Had he not slipped, I'm sure he would have done just that, as Sonnen was visibly winded and would not have survived another standing attack.
Regardless, I'm glad Silva won. Sonnen ran his mouth for weeks before the event. I understand that it's important for fighters to hype up their fights, but a near constant stream of trash talk is never flattering. While he certainly faired better than the majority of Silva's previous contenders, he was definitely misguided in claiming that he was "the best."
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