that knee reminded me of rashad-tito. When you throw a knee down like that you can generate even more power. It doesnt happen often, as your opponent has to be on the ground, but damn you see it hit the chest. That has got to really hurt.
You could see Anderson's style was different in this fight. He typically likes to pick his opponents apart, but he was throwing everything into all of his shots. It went how I expected the first fight to go. I knew Sonnen would be able to get him down near at will, but Silva would completely outclass him standing...
You could tell how hurt Sonnen was, he was backing up, when does he ever back up?
I wish the fight wasn't stopped when it was. Silva was on top and could have done a ton more damage. AS is the last fighter in MMA to go berserk and punch himself out. His GNP is actually very precise and he would have put Sonnen out eventually. I wish we got to see that. Sonnen is very strong on top, but when Anderson gets on top, he does damage... He was looking for that single leg, had he got it, he could have finished there as well.
As far as possible match-ups with guys like GSP or Evans. Both are very tough fights... not saying much seeing how Evans is the #2 LHW and GSP is #1 WW. They both have a better and more explosive shot than Sonnen, few can say that. The problem for them is that it is not that simple. They dont bull rush forward and throw caution to the wind like Chael does. He eats a decent amount of shots before he gets inside in most of his fights. I highly doubt GSP or Rashad are that durable... They also both fight very defensively because of past tko losses.
GSP gets clowned if he tries his ranged jabs, superman punches, throw in a few leg kicks with Anderson. He would get tko'd for sure, but he has that Excellent double leg that he can land at any second, so it would be hard to predict.
I have seen Rashad as AS's biggest threat if he actually went down to MW or could even make it. He clearly has the frame to make MW, but he loves to eat... he gets big in between fights and carries around a lot of muscle... possible some of it unnecessary... He has the speed to deal with AS and clearly the wresting to get him down... He actually has some good GNP when he gets it going, but he gets very chinny at times, and AS is the most precise striker in MMA.
As far as Sonnen goes. I will still be interested in seeing him fight. Cant stand the guy, but you cannot deny his skills (yes often overrated, but you cant overlook them either...)
He should go back up to LHW... I dont see any chance of him getting another shot as long as AS is the champ.
He should fight Lyoto or Rampage once he is healthy, or even Evans if the ufc likes that Match-up...
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