For too long, our writers’ hyper-specific arguments have been confined to the private corridors of the Internet. Welcome to The List, where we take their instant message bickerings, add a little polish, and make them public. Today, in the wake of Alexander Gustafsson’s courageous, if unsuccessful, bid for the UFC light-heavyweight title, we look at fights in which the loser didn’t really lose. * * * * 1. Chael Sonnen’s first fight with Anderson Silva, because he bloodied the god Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva, UFC 117 Steven Marrocco: To watch circa 2010 Anderson Silva get thrashed by Chael Sonnen was to see the facade of the sport’s best crack and almost crumble inside 20 minutes. Silva might have drawn the wrath of fans and the UFC for not performing to the best of his abilities a couple times prior to that, but until that August night, those abilities had never been cast into doubt in the octagon.
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