The UFC has had significant moments throughout its history that have been milestones for growth and development. Purchasing the likes of Strikeforce and Pride, merging with the WEC and so on are all ways the UFC has built itself up. With a new FOX deal fresh and already successfully underway, this sport continues to grow exponentially each year.
But one moment seems to stick out more than the others. It was not purchasing another company, or signing some deal. Rather, it was a single fight, and that was Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar.
Of course, the whole first season of The Ultimate Fighter was significant in its own right, but it was the war that was waged between these two men that made a huge difference in the success of the sport. Often called one of the best fights in UFC history, Griffin vs. Bonnar took place in April of 2005, just under seven years ago. Now we are in a new age of UFC and MMA, and both men have had different career paths in the UFC.
What doesn’t necessarily need to happen, but what would be a fantastic business move, would be to have the two pitted against each other for a third time. Both fighters have had their ups and down in their careers since fighting in 2005, and then again in 2006, but both are at a point where fighting each other would be significant and a good matchup. While Forrest has won the first two meetings by decision, it is a fight that Bonnar wants nonetheless.
Bonnar sat down recently with UFC Fight Club members for a Q&A video chat, during which he described how he wants to fight “guys who are popular.” He suggested Griffin as one of those people, saying, “I want to fight a guy with lots of Twitter followers…100,000 followers, I want to fight you…if a guy has 200,000 followers, I’ll fight him for free!”
While joking, he does signify he wants fights that will build his name and his career in the right direction.
Bonnar also stated that, in the occurrence they do fight again, “…I promise not to go for a takedown!”
Not only would a fight with Griffin again be a good fight to take next by itself, but it would up the ante if the UFC decided to have Griffin and Bonnar as opposing coaches on the next The Ultimate Fighter. To MMA fans, this is a great fight, maybe more so for nostalgic reasons, but an exciting concept nonetheless. Having the two winners (officially Griffin) from the first season come back and be coaches seven years later would be great to see.
As a business move, the UFC could use this as a huge card to market. Having the history of these two and where they have come from since the first fight is a promotional gold mine. Both fighters are not washed up by any means, but both seem to be sort of taking on a very small gatekeeper role in the division.
Bonnar has won his past three, which is notable, but he’s correct in his decision to take on more “popular” guys at this point in time.
Griffin just recently lost to Shogun and is expected to fight Ortiz again in a rubber match possibly sometime this year.
In the count of which weight classes have been covered the most, it is a three-way tie with LW, WW and MW, with five seasons of TUF covering them. LHW has three, HW and FW with two and BW with one. Ostensibly, they would not put Griffin and Bonnar coaching flyweights, but they might make another heavyweight season.
Regardless of the route the UFC chooses to take, a rematch with Griffin vs. Bonnar would be a welcomed fight to have. A couple New York Times bestselling books and a comical clothing line later, these two men are still ready and willing to show the world a great fight.
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