UFC 109 proved to be big nights for several competitors. Two men in particular, Paulo Thiago and Chael Sonnen. Both men won decisive victories over their opponents and moved their way up the ladder closer to a championship opportunity.
Paulo Thiago made his UFC debut in shocking fashion by dropping welterweight contender Josh Koscheck in the first round of their UFC 95 bout. Thiago went on to go three grueling rounds with another contender in Jon Fitch in which he lost. He was able to pick up another win over Jacob Volkman at UFC 106 and was then set up to have a rematch against Koscheck before an injury force Kos out of the fight.
Mike Swick steps in for Kos and Thiago finds himself in familiar place, as an underdog to another AKA team member.
On this night Thiago steps in and goes toe to toe with a great striker in Swick. Thiago showed that he has a good chin and that his punching power is for real. Thiago dropped Swick in second round of their bout and quickly applied a d'arce choke to a stunned Swick putting him to sleep at 1:54 of the round. Thiago was impressive on this night and rightfully so should get moved up the ladder.
Chael Sonnen got people's attention before UFC 109 with a few outlandish comments during some interviews leading in, but it was his down right nasty win over Nate Marquardt that got people's attention.
Marquardt was arguably the number 2 middleweight going into the fight on Saturday. Sonnen used his superior wrestling to control Nate on the ground and take him down almost at will. Sonnen did not allow Marquardt to get anything going on his feet or on the ground. He showed great wrestling, was patient and controlled the fight.
Sonnen made a great case to break into the top 5 at middleweight. Marquardt was clearly frustrated by Sonnen's attack and just was not able to do anything to hinder Sonnen's take downs. Whether Sonnen gets a title shot or not remains unclear, however he made a strong case by defeating Marquardt.
With both Thiago and Sonnen bringing in wins, it is just another arrow pointing to depth the UFC has in both the welterweight and middleweight divisions. An eventual rematch with Josh Koscheck likely awaits Thiago, while in my opinion, a title fight with the winner of Anderson Silva - Vitor Belfort should be in Sonnen's future.
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