Anderson Silva produced another remarkable win tonight at UFC 153, toying with Stephan Bonnar before becoming the first fighter to ever TKO him.
Bonnar came charging out the gates in this fight looking to pressure Silva, and while his initial series of strikes missed their target they did force Silva to stumble as he moved out of the way.
Capitalizing on that slight mistake Bonnar moved in and clinched with Bonnar against the cage.
Bonnar was attempting to work for a takedown, but Silva’s defense was excellent and snuffed those attempts out.
At one point Silva was even able to make Bonnar drop to the mat, though he got straight back up.
Then things got strange in that special way that only Silva can do as rather than attempt to break away and strike with Bonnar he deliberately moved back against the cage with his hands dropped at his sides.
That encouraged Bonnar to come in with strikes, but just as Silva had done with Forrest Griffin a few years ago, he started dodging out of the way of the punches that came his way.
A few did land, but Silva just shaked his head as if they didn’t hurt, and he certainly didn’t appear to be. Bonnar attempted a spinning kick and Silva casually stepped aside.
Silva was just toying with his prey at this stage, but with a minute to go he suddenly changed gears and tripped Bonnar to the mat.
Bonnar gets up just as Silva rushes in with a huge knee that connects with his solar plexus and drops him.
He’s obviously badly hurt as he just covers up as Silva rains down blows and the fight is over with just 20 seconds of the first round remaining.
Yet again Silva looked like he was on another planet compared to his opponent tonight.
Admittedly no-one pre-fight had really gave Bonnar a chance in the first place, but Silva gave him ample opportunity in that first round to shock the world before suddenly flicking a switch and becoming the first fighter to finish him with the greatest of ease.
Remarkable stuff, and the likes of GSP and Jon Jones have their work cut out for them if they ever want to top this man’s legendary career.
