Current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva isn’t known to be on the receiving end of unbelievable finishes, but that was just what happened when he fought Ryo Chonan in 2004.
The fight took place at Pride Shockwave 2004, which featured a stacked card from top to bottom with standout fighters Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva, Takanori Gomi, Dan Henderson and Mirko Flipovic.
Silva and Chonan met in one of the earlier bouts of the evening, and it turned out to be the most memorable moment of the card.
Silva entered the bout with a 14-2 record, having just won the Cage Rage middleweight championship three months before. Chonan came in with a 7-4 record and was coming off a victory over Carlos Newton.
The first two rounds were fairly competitive despite Josh Barnett’s comments in the video. Silva had his advantage on the feet while Chonan was able to get “The Spider” down and control him from top position. It came down to the third round to determine who would win the fight, but Chonan had no intentions of letting it go that far.
The end came at the three-minute mark on the third and final round when Chonan dropped down for a flying scissor into a heel hook submission. Silva immediately tapped, and the fight was over.
Despite the setback, Silva would find himself in the UFC less than two years later fighting for the UFC middleweight championship against Rich Franklin. He defeated “Ace” by TKO in the first round to win the belt.
Silva would go on to defend that belt eight times and also win five non-title fights. His next fight will come against Yushin Okami at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Chonan never found much success outside of this victory. He eventually found himself in the UFC but would go 1-3 before being dropped by the promotion. His record stands at 19-12.
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