UFC Hall Of Famer Stephan Bonnar Passes Away From Presumed Heart Complications At The Age of 45
Stephan Bonnar is more than just a UFC Hall of Famer, he is 1/2 of the reason why the UFC got its mainstream spotlight.
A pioneering competitor who introduced himself to UFC fans on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter in 2005, Bonnar fought Forrest Griffin at the show’s finale to produce one of the greatest fights of all-time, later earning it a place in the UFC Hall of Fame’s fight wing.
“I knew it was a good fight during the fight,” Bonnar once said of the epic three-rounder. “It hit me when everyone started stomping their feet and it felt like the whole place was shaking. And that was in the second round. I was like ‘oooh, this must be good.’”
The first Griffin-Bonnar fight may have saved the UFC as it led to another season of TUF and introduced the sport to a new generation of fans.
“Everything changed,” Bonnar said. “I didn’t think I’d have a UFC career. It was just a little hobby I was doing, so it changed everything. Almost overnight, I became like a celebrity. Everywhere I went, someone would recognize me, even in obscure places. I was traveling with TapouT and we were in a small town. I was jogging and someone in a pickup was going ‘Hey Bonnar.’ And everywhere you go, someone knows who you are. It was wild.”
Bonnar defeated the likes of James Irvin, Keith Jardine, Krzysztof Soszynski, Igor Pokrajac, and Kyle Kingsbury.
He also faced fellow Hall of Famers Griffin, Rashad Evans, Anderson Silva and Tito Ortiz before ending his career with a 17-9 record, and win, lose or draw, the affable Bonnar could always be counted on to leave it all in the Octagon on fight night, never resting in his laurels as one of the most important figures in UFC history.
“It was kind of a little lesson,” Bonnar said of his seminal fight with Griffin. “If you never quit, you really can’t fail. That was the perfect example of that. Give it everything you’ve got and something good will come out of it.”
BodySlam sends its sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Stephan Bonnar.
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