UFC veteran and long-time fan favorite Stephan Bonnar has an interesting proposal for UFC President Dana White. The Ultimate Fighter Season One finalist hopes to return to the show as a coach in its 16th season.
Who would he want as the other coach? None other than the man who defeated him in the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 1, Forrest Griffin.
Their first fight is regarded by many as the greatest fight in mixed martial arts history and White regards it as the most important fight in UFC history. According to MMAjunkie.com, Bonnar wants to make the magic happen again.
“I won’t go for any takedowns, Bonnar said. “I won’t block any punches. I’ll just be moving forward. I’m serious I would just go and slug it out and try to top our first one. What the hell do I have to lose? I want to give the fans a good one.”
Bonnar is currently riding a three-fight winning streak in the UFC’s light heavyweight division, but his past two victories have been uncharacteristically technical performances from the once-brawler.
“I’ve had a couple nice technical wins now without much damage,” Bonnar told MMAjunkie.com. “But now I’m actually missing the damage.”
After his most recent win over Kyle Kingsbury in San Jose, Calif., fans went so far as to boo Bonnar’s performance.
“It’s kind of flattering to have such high expectations,” he said. “People expect a barn-burning-type of back-and-forth bloody fight. This time I found some holes in his game and fought a real smart technical fight and showed superiors skills on the ground.
“I was proud of myself. Then I get up and everyone is booing. They expected me to bleed all over the place. Sorry I didn’t give you the paint-the-canvas-in-my-blood kind of fight.”
At 35-years-old, Bonnar is likely nearing the end of his MMA career and it seems he would really appreciate this coaching position to bring things full-circle.
“That’s what I want more than anything,” he said. “I probably won’t get what I want, but I’ll ask for it anyway.”
Dana White has yet to weigh in on the possibility of the Bonnar and Griffin coaching the Ultimate Fighter’s next season.
Stay tuned to Bleacher Report as more on this story develops.
Andrew Barr is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a stand-up comedian. Check him out on Twitter @AndrewBarr8.
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