UFC challenger dominates Silva before suffering devastating loss

Sonnen’s fame, and earning potential, likely grew exponentially after he backed up all of his trash-talking and pummeled the man regarded as the best fighter in the world for nearly five full rounds in the UFC 117 main event at Oracle Arena.

Instead, the 33-year-old former All-American wrestler at Oregon focused on having fallen short of his goal. Far ahead of champion Anderson Silva on all three scorecards with less than two minutes remaining, Sonnen fell into a triangle choke and was forced to tap out.

"I can’t sugarcoat it. My heart is broken," he said. "It was the two best guys in the world out there. He’s No. 1 and I’m No. 2. It hurts. My heart is broken, because that’s not what I came here for, to finish second. Anderson is a great fighter and he did what he had to do. Give that to him."

The statistics illustrate how dominant Sonnen was before getting caught in the submission. He set an all-time CompuStrike record for a mixed martial arts fight with 289 strikes landed. Silva had been hit only 208 times in his previous 11 UFC bouts combined.

The stats also show that nearly 21 minutes were spent on the ground, almost entirely with Sonnen on top of Silva. In fact, 270 of the 289 shots landed by Sonnen were ground strikes.

Silva landed only 29 strikes.

"At the end of the day, you either get your hand raised or you don’t," Sonnen said. "And I didn’t and I’m devastated. But I’ll live with it."

The challenger led comfortably on all the scorecards. Entering the final round, he held margins of 40-35, 40-36 and 40-37, as he had earned several 10-8 rounds.

Still, Sonnen said he wasn’t really considering trying to stall to preserve the victory.

"I didn’t know how much time was left. I heard someone reference there was about (1:50) left. I didn’t know that and, frankly, you even get lost about what round it is," he said.

Sonnen also declined to take back anything he said leading up to the fight. His trash-talking reached the level of bizarre as he chose to rip on just about everything about the UFC’s longest-reigning champion.

"I’m not Dog the Bounty Hunter. I don’t issue apologies and you’re not going to be the first person to get one out of me," he said. "I don’t apologize for anything and I’m not backing off my stance. If I ever did, I would send myself a pink slip and move on in life. I have one goal in life and that is to be the world champion. I am not backing off that goal because of tonight’s decision."

Silva insists he was never bothered by Sonnen’s words.

"I really don’t have anything against Chael," Silva said. "Outside the ring what he said is in the past. I don’t hold any grudges."

Vitor Belfort might have been the biggest loser in the fight. The former UFC light heavyweight champion was believed to be next in line to fight for the middleweight belt, but Sonnen might be granted a rematch based on his performance Saturday.

Belfort, who trains at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, earned the title shot last September with a first-round knockout of Rich Franklin. He had two bouts with Silva postponed, first because of an injury to Silva and then his own injury.

Belfort recently returned to training, but a rematch between Silva and Sonnen would delay his potential title opportunity even further.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.