1. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
Sonnen essentially talked his way into a middleweight title fight with Anderson Silva at UFC 117 in 2010. Fans couldn’t get enough of it. But for all the stinging verbal jabs he threw at the living legend, there would come a time when he’d have to back it all up inside the Octagon.
Remarkably, against the odds, Sonnen did just that for four-and-a-half rounds against one of the greatest fighters of all-time. At times, Sonnen appeared to have Silva in trouble on the feet. No one had seen that coming. Yet it was his superior wrestling that seemed to have the champion’s number. Sonnen continually got ‘The Spider’ to the mat and kept him there for extended periods. Silva simply couldn’t get his striking game going. When he was taken down yet again early in the final round, it appeared his long reign as champion was finally about to come to an end against a bitter rival.
Then something remarkable happened.
With less than two minutes remaining, Sonnen’s concentration lapsed for just a second on the mat. Before he knew where he was, Silva caught him in a triangle choke from his back and added an armbar to the move, forcing ‘The American Gangster’ to tap out in what still rates as the most memorable UFC title fight comeback victory of all-time.
