UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen
Date: Aug 07, 2010
Location: Oakland, Calif.
Venue: Oracle Arena
Broadcast: Pay-per-view

MAIN CARD

Anderson Silva def. Chael Sonnen via submission (triangle choke) - Round 5, 3:10 (retains middleweight title)
Jon Fitch def. Thiago Alves via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Clay Guida def. Rafael dos Anjos via submission (injury) - Round 3, 1:51
Matt Hughes def. Ricardo Almeida via submission (modified arm-triangle choke) - Round 1, 3:15
Junior Dos Santos def. Roy Nelson via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

PRELIMINARY CARD

Rick Story def. Dustin Hazelett via TKO (punches) - Round 2, 1:15
Phil Davis def. Rodney Wallace via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Johny Hendricks def. Charlie Brenneman via TKO (punches) - Round 2, 0:40
Tim Boetsch def. Todd Brown via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Stefan Struve def. Christian Morecraft via TKO (punches) - Round 2, 0:22
Dennis Hallman def. Ben Saunders via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

Overview

Anderson showed exactly why he is the best in the world. Silva got completly dominated by Chael Sonnen for 4 and a half rounds during their Middleweight title fight on Saturday night. Chael was winning in every aspect of the game the whole fight then, with less than 2 mintues to go in the fifth and final round. Out of nowhere, Anderson Silva slapped on a tight triangle choke with his legs. Chael tried with all his might to get out of the choke but to no avail. Sonnen tapped out and conceeded victory to the Champion. It was truly unbelievable. It even took the offical's looking at the replay to truly determine what exactly happen so quickly. The replays were conclusive and the victory was awarded to Anderson Silva. He is now a perfect 12-0 in the UFC, a feat no one else has been abled to do. He has also finished 9 of those 12 fights as well. Hard to argue that he isn't the best fighter in all of MMA right now.

While a rematch with Sonnen could be in order for Silva. There plenty of challengers left for him at 185 lbs. to match up against like Vitor Belfort, Yushin Okami, Alan Belcher and Wanderlei Silva. Personally, I want to see Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort in November or December.

Jon Fitch cemented himself as the #1 contender in the Welterweight divison again by defeating Thiago Alves via unamious decision. It was a solid performance against one of the top WW's in the game and Fitch controlled every minute of it. Fitch not lost since his last fight against Champion Georges St. Pierre which was two years ago. With his American Kickboxing Academy teammate Josh Koscheck set to face St. Pierre in December. Fitch's next move is uncertain. He has gone on record that he will move up to 185 if Koscheck defeats St. Pierre.

Clay Guida show us why he is one the best Lightweight fighter's in the game today. You can punch, kick, grapple, whatever you want to do to this guy and he'll come back stronger every time. Guida survived a high paced attack by Rafeal dos Anjos in the first round and wore him down until he could go no more. Guida broke dos Anjos's jaw sometime during the first round. In the thrid, Guida took his opponent down against the fence. As Guida tried to apply a submission hold, dos Anjos quickly tapped as Guida's shoulder was pressed against his jaw. Guida will probably face the loser of Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard which takes place later this month at UFC 118 in Boston.

UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes added another Gracie product to his list as he defeated Ricardo Almeida with a modified arm-triangle choke in Round 1. After a feeling out process and breif exchange on the feet by both. Hughes landed a hard punch on Almeida's chin that sent him to the canvas. Hughes quicly follow him to the mat and locked up "an old wreslting move" and put Almeida to sleep. He is 4-0 against fighter's from the famed Gracie camp. Hughes has said he wants to take the Fall off and should return to the Octagon sometime in early 2011.

In a bout that would determine who will face the winner of Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Valesquez next year. Junior Do Santos out struck and out lasted veteran Roy Nelson over the course of three rounds. Cigano used his superior boxing skills and gave Big Country all he could handle. In the end, it was clear who the winner would be. To his credit, Nelson took and gave a lot of shots back but in the end. Dos Santos won every round and is now 6-0 in the UFC and in line for a title shot.

Overall, I went 10-1 on my picks for this Event. I am thinking about placing some bets on-line because I have done so well over the last two PPV's. MMA is not an easy sport to pick winner's on. Next up...UFC 118 on 8/28/2010 from Boston, MA.