Stephan Bonnar Youtube Videos
Stephan Bonnar Bio
Stephan Patrick Bonnar (born April 4, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). His initial fame came as the runner up on season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV, a reality show which showcases mixed martial arts.
He is known for his iron chin, having his only TKO losses due to a cut and for never being submitted in MMA competition. He is a fan favourite due to his brawling nature. He holds notable wins over Keith Jardine and James Irvin and is known for his two closely contested fights with TUF 1 winner Forrest Griffin (0-2) and his two back and forth battles with Polish-Canadian standout Krzysztof Soszynski (1-1). Bonnar earned his Taekwondo black belt at the age of sixteen.
Mixed martial arts career
Due to his strong performance in the light-heavyweight finals, where he lost against Griffin by unanimous decision (29–28), Bonnar was awarded a contract to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Bonnar trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with the legendary Carlson Gracie, under whom he received his purple belt before Carlson's passing. This experience has led to most of his bouts ending by way of submission. Stephan now trains BJJ in Las Vegas under Master Sergio Pehna. However, he also has trained in Muay Thai during several trips to Thailand. Since the beginning of 2010 Stephan has been training Muay Thai in Las Vegas under Master One Kick Nick Blomgren at One Kick's Gym. Stephan is the Ironheart Crown Light Heavyweight champion and Total Fight Challenge Light Heavyweight champion 2002-04.
After his loss to Griffin, Bonnar became the staple of the regular UFC Ultimate Fight Night shows at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, defeating such notables as Sam Hoger, James Irvin and Keith Jardine before succumbing to Rashad Evans by way of majority decision. More recently, Bonnar lost a unanimous decision against Forrest Griffin in the long-anticipated rematch at UFC 62.
Bonnar was forced to withdraw from his fight against Matt Hamill at UFC Fight Night 13 due to a serious knee injury he suffered during training. He returned to action at UFC 94 against Jon Jones, which resulted in a loss via decision. In his next fight at UFC 100 Bonnar lost a unanimous decision to Mark Coleman.
Bonnar is a fan of the rock band The Who and uses their song "Eminence Front" as his entrance music to UFC fights.
Bonnar mentioned on the MMA Live Post Fight Show for UFC 101 that he was considering a drop down to middleweight after two disappointing losses at light heavyweight. Despite this, Bonnar next faced Krzysztof Soszynski on February 21, 2010 at UFC 110. Soszynski was victorious at 1:04 in the third round, due to TKO (Cut). The fight however, was overshadowed by video replays that showed that the cut was opened up by a clash of heads. Bonnar appealed the decision and it was announced on March 10 that he had lost the appeal and the result would stand as a TKO win for Soszynski.
At UFC 116, Bonnar won the rematch with a second round TKO against Soszynski after catching him with a knee. The win broke Bonnar's three fight losing streak, bringing his UFC record to 6-6. The fight earned Bonnar and Soszynski Fight of the Night honors alongside Yoshihiro Akiyama and Chris Leben's fight.
Bonnar fought Igor Pokrajac on December 4, 2010 at The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale. Stephan won the bout via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 29-26).
Bonnar was expected to face Karlos Vemola on August 14, 2011 at UFC on Versus 5. However, Bonnar was forced to withdraw from the bout due to an injury and was replaced by Ronny Markes.
Bonnar faced Kyle Kingsbury on November 19, 2011, at UFC 139. Bonnar defeated Kingsbury by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-27).
Bonnar has recently been campaigning for a spot as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter against Forrest Griffin going as far to state he would, " Not go for any takedown, not block any punches and always move forward." However, no official word has been issued.
Personal life
Stephan and his longtime girlfriend Andrea Brown were married on October 30, 2009 in Tuscany, Italy.
Outside of competition, Bonnar has done commentary work for televised MMA programming, notably serving as World Extreme Cagefighting's color commentator for most of 2010, calling 5 of their final 7 cards. He has also made appearances as an analyst on the ESPN2 series MMA Live and for UFC broadcasts on the FOX television networks.
Championships and accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- The Ultimate Fighter 1 (Runner Up)
- Fight of the Night (One time)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Fight of the Year (2005) vs. Forrest Griffin on April 9
Martial arts
- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
- Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
- Taekwondo
- Black belt in Taekwondo
Mixed martial arts record
Notes and references
External links
- Official website
- Official UFC Profile
- Ironheart Crown official site
- Professional MMA record for Stephan Bonnar from Sherdog
MMA Shirts
