The thing is - while Sangheili are remarkable fighters, brilliant tacticians and compared to humans, a lot stronger physically, they are still inferior to Brutes in physical strenght and in numbers. So, assuming the elites were not prepared for the Jiralhanaes' betrayals, they would have been easily overwhelmed.
But tensions ran high and I'm actually pretty damn sure the Sangheili were more than a little cautious around them - and even though we never saw any live Elites in the game, I'm sure there were survivors fighting behind the scenes.
Posted by: digitalph33r780
i for one hate that idea because an elite could own a brute.
One on one fistfight, a Brute can own anything we've seen due to their remarkable stamina and physical strenght, augmented by their armor. But as the Halo 3 cutscene shows, in space combat elites are nigh-unbeatable unless against vastly superior technology (the Forerunner Dreadnought) coming on top with 3:1 odds against them.