Chael Sonnen, one of the most beloved figures in the UFC, would consistently grab the limelight with his brash and extremely confident persona, his skills as a fighter, and his scuffles with Brazilian fighters.
One of Chael’s landmark fights is his bout against the legend, Anderson ‘Spider’ Silva. Although it was one of his best performances in his career, he suffered a devastating loss that night.
Chael Sonnen teaches his son a lesson
Recently, a video surfaced online that fans found extremely amusing. In the video, Chael Sonnen is playing chess with his son and having a conversation with someone, saying, “You feel the belt slipping away.” It was then that his son made an unwise decision by throwing a personal jab at his father, saying, “Hey, at least I didn’t fight Anderson Silva and lose.”
Fans hilariously noted the disappointed look on Sonnen’s face as his son made such a comment. As a form of punishment for the mistake, Chael is then shown playfully tapping his son with a belt, likely to deter such comments in the future.
Chael Sonnen's son: "At least I didn't fight Anderson Silva and lose" pic.twitter.com/jreWU3oYL0
— Oscar Willis (@oscarswillis) February 25, 2024
Revisiting Chael Sonnen’s iconic match with Anderson Silva
On the night of August 7, 2010, at UFC 117 held at the Oracle Arena, Chael Sonnen delivered the performance of his lifetime against his toughest foe to date at that time, Anderson Silva. When this fight was announced, no one imagined seeing what transpired that night at UFC 117.
In fact, Sonnen was an underdog leading up to the fight, with not many giving him a chance to defeat Silva. To everyone’s surprise, right from the starting bell, Chael put a harsh beating on Anderson, dominating him like he had never been dominated before.
‘The American Gangster’ continuously took Silva down at will, inflicted vicious ground-and-pound, and even held his own in the striking department. Chael was walking through Anderson, but shortly after, something no one expected occurred.
As the final round unfolded, Chael kept doing what he had been doing the entire night, being only a few minutes away from realizing his lifelong dream of capturing UFC gold. However, in the last minute of the fight, as Sonnen took Silva down again, he got caught in a triangle submission out of nowhere, and the crowd began to erupt. In the final 30 seconds, Chael tapped, losing the biggest fight of his life.
