No one, I mean absolutely no one, thought that Sonnen could hurt Silva on his feet. But in the first round, Sonnen did the unthinkable, connecting with a hard left hand that rocked "The Spider" before beating him up with uppercuts and then some serious ground and pound on the canvas. Though Silva survived that initial stanza (barely), for the next three rounds things could basically be described as a Sonnen ground and pound show. The Team Quest fighter repeatedly took his opponent down at will, controlled him, and pounded away. So going into the 5th, most believed that Silva's days as middleweight champion were numbered.
But then at the 3:10 mark in what will forever be considered one of the greatest endings of all-time, Silva caught Sonnen in a triangle choke. Along the way, he also grabbed an arm. It looked like Sonnen tapped.
He did.
Given its status, back and forth nature, and crazy stoppage from the jaws of defeat, Silva vs. Sonnen takes home fight of the year in 2010.
