Chael Sonnen showed why he deserved a title shot but Anderson Silva showed why he is the champion at UFC 117. Chael Sonnen was able to assault Anderson Silva with some effective strikes that wobbled the champion in the first round. Chael Sonnen pounced on Silva and managed to keep Silva on the defensive and on his back by using his wrestling ability to keep “The Spider” grounded. Sonnen was on top of Silva in the final round and looked to be on his way to becoming the new champion, when Anderson Silva applied a triangle choke. Sonnen tried to escape the hold and gave up his arm in the process, allowing Silva to lock in an arm-bar and force the submission. The UFC awarded a $60,000 fight of the night bonus to Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva and an additional submission of the night bonus for Silva.
Jon Fitch won a unanimous decision over Thiago Alves in the co-main event, using his wrestling ability to earn a win that has become typical for Fitch. UFC president Dana White said he’d like to see Thiago Alves compete at middleweight after failing to make the 170lbs. weight limit for his welterweight bout with Fitch. Jon Fitch is expected to face the winner of the Georges St-Pierre-Josh Koscheck welterweight title match expected to take place in December.
Roy Nelson took a beating from Junior Dos Santos but managed to stay conscious for the entire fifteen minutes of their bout. Junior Dos Santos did come away with a unanimous decision win and will move to face the winner of the Brock Lesnar-Cain Velasquez heavyweight title match taking place in October. Clay Guida broke the jaw of Rafael Does Anjos early in their fight and inadvertently scored a submission win after putting pressure on the jaw of Dos Anjos with his shoulder.
UFC Hall of Famer, Mat Hughes scored a big victory over Ricardo Almeida with an arm-triangle choke submission in the first round. Hughes was asked about a possible run at the UFC welterweight title but said he would take the rest of the year off to hunt and re-evaluate in early 2011.
Main Card Results for UFC 117
Anderson Silva def. Chael Sonnen via submission (triangle choke-arm-bar) after 3:10 in Round 5 to retain the UFC middleweight title
Jon Fitch def. Thiago Alves via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Clay Guida def. Rafael Dos Anjos via submission (jaw injury) after 1:51 in Round 3
Matt Hughes def. Ricardo Almeida via submission (arm-triangle choke) after 3:15 in Round 1
Junior Dos Santos def. Roy Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Preliminary Card Results
Rick Story def. Dustin Hazelett via TKO (punches) after 1:15 in Round 2
Phil Davis def. Rodney Wallace via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Johny Hendricks def. Charlie Brenneman via TKO (punches) after 0:40 in Round 2
Tim Boetsch def. Todd Brown via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Stefan Struve def. Christian Morecraft via TKO (punches) after 0:22 in Round 2
Dennis Hallman def. Ben Saunders via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
