Anderson Silva once again proved why he is widely considered the best fighter of all time.
After a dismal start to the main event at UFC 148 which saw Chael Sonnen once again dominate from top position for the entire opening round, Silva came back and put a definitive finish to the long standing feud, winning by TKO at 1:55 of the second round.
Sonnen came out and immediately put Silva on his back and into deep waters early to start the bout. Silva effectively tied up Sonnen and managed to take limited damage early as he kept his rival from passing to side control. Sonnen broke free long enough to land to the body, and sneak in a few short, grinding elbows before finally moving to full mount with just under a minute to go in the opening round. Sonnen then went to work from the top and in the process took an early lead in the bout after one round.
Silva made the necessary adjustments to start the second round, shrugging off the initial takedown attempt of Sonnen against the cage. On the break, Silva landed a straight right hand that backed Sonnen up. The challenger wasted little time closing distance, but this time found himself in a slugfest with the champion in the pocket. Sonnen then attempted a wild spinning backfist that would mark the beginning of the end for the challenger. As Sonnen hit the canvas, Silva pounced, landing a brutal knee up the middle that connected to the body just under the chin. It appeared at first that the strike may have been illegal, landing to the face of a grounded opponent.
Sonnen would not recover as the champion swarmed, pouring on punches until the referee intervened and stopped the fight at 1:55 of the second round. A replay of the knee showed definitively that the strike was legal.
The win marks an unprecedented tenth-straight title defense for Silva (32-4 MMA, 15-0 UFC) as well as an unmatched 15 fight winning streak inside the octagon.