Sherdog’s Top 10: Epic Fails

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2. Sonnen’s Spinning Backfist of Doom
UFC 148 “Silva vs. Sonnen 2”
July 7, 2012 | Las Vegas
Following his devastating, fifth-round submission loss to Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen spent the better part of two years trying to finagle his way into a rematch. A submission victory over brick-fisted Brian Stann and a contentious decision over Michael Bisping made his wish come true, and Sonnen got his second shot at the greatest of all-time at UFC 148.

Everything went according to plan in the first round. Sonnen easily took Silva to the mat with a beautiful double-leg, landed some shots, passed his guard and finished the round in mount. He started the second round fairly well, pushing Silva into the clinch against the fence and landing knees; that was when the trouble started.

Silva managed to stuff Sonnen’s first double-leg attempt and then his second. Sonnen switched to an under hook and attempted a hip toss against the fence, which Silva also stuffed. As they disengaged, Sonnen tried a straight left, which Silva slipped, and then the Oregonian tried to follow up with a spinning backfist.

It was a terrible idea, both in theory and in practice. Sonnen’s footwork was sloppy, and he managed to trip himself on Silva’s foot as he swung his arm around, dropping to a seated position against the fence. Silva immediately hit him with a legal knee to the body, Sonnen crumpled to the canvas and the barrage of punches that followed led referee Yves Lavigne to stop the fight.

It was an ignominious end to the rivalry between Silva and Sonnen. They quashed the beef, and the Brazilian invited Sonnen to his house for barbeque -- an invitation that does not seem to have been taken up. A long odyssey of title shots and positive drug tests has now led the popular Sonnen to a commentating gig with ESPN, so perhaps even a failure this epic has a silver lining.

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