Fight fans have seen the last of Stephan Bonnar.
Bonner, who recently suffered a lopsided first-round knockout loss at the hands of Anderson Silva at UFC 153, had his fate sealed by UFC President Dana White late Tuesday night.
“Yes, Bonnar will be retiring now,” White revealed midway through an online MetroPCS chat with fans.
Bonnar later confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani.
For all intents and purposes, Bonnar was unofficially retired before being coaxed back into action by the surprise, late-notice offer to fight Silva. Immediately following the loss, which snapped a three-fight winning streak stretching back to 2010, Bonnar was non-committal regarding any potential return.
Bonnar ends his mixed martial career sporting a 15-8 record, having lost only to champions or former champions Forrest Griffin, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Jon Jones, Mark Coleman, and Silva, barring a controversial TKO loss to Krzysztof Soszynski.
Bonnar’s legendary brawl against Griffin on the finale of the first Ultimate Fighter is widely credited with helping save the UFC and is often mentioned among the greatest fights in MMA history.