Chael Sonnen stuck rigidly to his gameplan tonight at Bellator NYC as he outwrestled Wanderlei Silva for three rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory over his rival.
Round One:
The main event of the evening is underway in New York City!
Sonnen with a leg kick and then is into a quick takedown and lands it. He’s posturing up over Silva in his guard looking to plants some early ground and pound.
Sonnen connecting with a few solid right hands. He stands over his rival and drops down more offense.
If Silva can’t find a way out it could be a long night for him here. Sonnen keeping up a good pace here on the mat.
However, just past the half-way mark in the round Silva manages to kick Sonnen away and stand up.
Sonnen trying to remain in the clinch, but Silva gets back to striking range soon after.
Suddenly Silva launches a knee that just misses, but a right hook connects and Sonnen’s legs buckle and he falls to the mat!
Now it’s Silva’s turn to get on top. However, it’s not long before Sonnen is able to scramble and now it’s he who is on top and pops his head free from a guillotine choke.
Sonnen in Silva’s half guard and landing some elbow strikes as he attempts to improve his position, and that’s where the round ends.
Round Two:
Sonnen with a flying knee to start. Silva bites down on his gumshield and lands a left hand that hurts Sonnen, but the wrestler’s immediate reaction is to go for a takedown and he lands that.
Silva trying for a guillotine choke and there’s a bit of a stalemate from this position as Sonnen just hangs out there, not in particular danger. Eventually the ref stands them back up.
Sonnen wants nothing to do with Silva’s striking though, so he immediately moves in and lands another takedown.
Sonnen in Silva’s guard and back to working solid ground and pound as he did in the first round. This is exactly where he wants this fight to take place.
Sonnen staying just busy enough to keep the ref at bay for now, but not landing anthing too damaging, and that’s the way it continues until the end of the round.
Round Three:
Sonnen misses a leg kick. A knee then a right hand from Silva. Sonnen in for that inevitably takedown and lands it. So far Silva has made no real attempt to defend against these and that’s a huge problem.
Sonnen operating from half guard in the center of the cage. He lands a few elbows to soften up Silva as he tries to pass to a more dominant position.
Sonnen thinking about a kimura now, but decides against it for fear that Silva will scramble out and get back to his feet.
He resets his position and then tries for the kimura again. He lets it go. Less than two minutes of the round remaining and a third attempt at the kimura is underway.
Finally that submission attempt distracts Silva long enough for Sonnen to move to full mount. interestingly, Sonnen opts to slide over to side control in the final minute.
Now he moves into full mount again, but he’s happy to just hang out there for now. A few body shots land, but that’s it.
The final round comes to an end and Silva shoves Sonnen off him and gestures angrily at him, clearly frustrated with how the fight went for him.
Decision:
No doubt about the winner here. Sonnen was clipped by Silva a few times, but other than that ‘The American Gangster’ dominated his bitter rival on the mat for the vast majority of the fight and it’s not surprise to see him earning a clean sweep on the scorecards (30-26, 30-27 x2).
