At UFC 300, a momentous announcement was made. The first epic clash between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen from UFC 117 is set to etch its name in the annals of UFC history. This legendary bout will be enshrined in the prestigious UFC Hall of Fame, joining the elite ranks of the Fight Wing.
Taking place as the main event of UFC 117, the contest took place on August 7, 2010, at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, and saw Silva defend his UFC Middleweight Title against Sonnen. Going into the fight, Silva (28-4) was considered one of the best fighters in the world. He won the UFC Middleweight strap in 2006 at UFC 64 by knocking out Rich Franklin. He had already successfully defended it against Nate Marquardt, Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, Patrick Cote, Thaies Leites and Damain Maia. Silva was favoured over Sonnen, but no previous challenger to Silva had ever trashed talk of “The Spider” like this. He came into the fight with a 26-10-1 record and was fresh from a win over Nate Marquardt, which was named the UFC 109 Fight of the Night.
The Silva/Sonnen contest was the Fight of the Night, with Silva successfully retaining the championship by submitting Sonnen in the fifth round via a triangle armbar. It was an instant classic, and even in defeat, Sonnen was cemented as a star. Although Sonnen never won a title in the UFC, he did participate in several main events.
Silva successfully defended his UFC Middleweight Title twice more, winning against Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami before defeating Sonnen again at UFC 148. It was not until 2013 that he lost his championship when he was knocked out by Chris Weidman at UFC 162.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen for this impending accolade.
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We thought it prudent to let you know what we have been working on and what you can expect over the next 60 days here at Notinhalloffame.com.
We will soon be adding names to our futures sections on the Hockey and Baseball sections, allowing you to vote and comment on many new entries who will be Hall of Fame eligible in the coming years.
Afterward, we will begin tackling the revisions of our Notinhalloffame Football list of the top 300 former players to consider for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Simultaneously, we will tackle the Notinhalloffame Basketball List for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Notinhalloffame list for the WWE Hall of Fame.
We will update you on our progress as we go, and as always, we thank you for your support.
After leading Louisville to victory in the 2013 Sugar Bowl, Teddy Bridgewater was drafted by Minnesota as the last pick in the first round. He became the lead quarterback after Matt Cassel's injury and for a brief period, the Vikings thought they had found something special.
Bridgewater's best season as a sophomore was when he went to the Pro Bowl and threw for 3,231 yards. However, he tore his ACL in the training camp of 2016 and only played one game in 2017 when he returned from the IR. He later signed with New Orleans, where he saw limited action, but he was a starter for Carolina in 2020. During that season, he threw for a career-high of 3,733 yards, but only 15 TDs, and won four games. Bridgewater started for Denver in 2021 but could not lead his team to the playoffs. He then concluded his career as a backup for Miami and Detroit, ending his career with 15,120 passing yards and 75 TDs.
This will be a massive test for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
When you speak of players who have ten Pro Bowls, an All-Decade, three Super Bowls, and did it all with one team, you would say automatically that this is a Hall of Fame lock. Not so fast.
The man in question is Matthew Slater, son of Hall of Fame Lineman Jackie Slater, but his position was Special Teams.
More specifically, the younger Slater was a Gunner, and no player, including Steve Tasker, whose career was defined by non-kicking/punting Special Teams has ever made it to the Hall. This includes Steve Tasker, who did receive consideration, but arguably, Slater has the better resume.
So, what happens? What will they do with the best player at what he does? This is one of our most fascinating cases for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.