Stephan Bonnar (Front), cringes after taking a knee from Anderson Silva – Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images via ESPN.com
This past Saturday night (Oct. 13, 2012), UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva proved again why he is the world’s “pound-four-pound” best fighter in the world by finishing opponent Stephan Bonnar with a knee to the body in the main event of UFC 153 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
When the end came for Bonnar in the first round, Silva appeared to have had enough of his opponent’s striking attempts bringing his attack to ‘The American Psycho’. After Bonnar bounced off the cage after a failed trip attempt by Silva, ‘The Spider’ would connect with a flying knee to Bonnar’s midsection, sending him helpless to the mat. A few more punches from Silva would end the fight as ‘The American Psycho’ lay motionless.
Bonnar took to Twitter (@StephanBonnar) on Sunday to tell fans that he felt “paralyzed” by Silva’s knee and was only starting to function just as referee Marc Goddard stepped in.
Thanks to everyone for the support, I’m so sorry I lost. I feel so bad for letting my fans down, but I promise to make it up to you. Not injured, just caught with a perfect knee to the solar plex and it paralyzed me, was just getting movement back when fight was stopped.
Bonnar flew back to the States following the UFC 153 event in Brazil, to be with his wife who is close to giving birth to their first child.
Before last Saturday’s match Bonnar had never previously been finished inside the Octagon and had promised to keep moving forward in the fight to pressure the 185-lbs kingpin.
In the end, ‘The American Psycho’ was merely another plaything for ‘The Spider’ as the Brazilian merely stood in front of his opponent, hands down, merely dipping and ducking all of Bonnar’s best shots.
Once Silva had had enough, he turned up the heat throwing his own punches, and after a failed trip, landed the fight ending knee as Bonnar bounced off the cage. The end came at 4:40 of the first round.