Just about a week after the completion of the card he was supposed to fight on, Stephan Bonnar has a new date for his return.
Bonnar will fight Kyle Kingsbury in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 139 in November. The UFC announced the fight on Tuesday.
UFC 139 is scheduled for Nov. 19 in San Jose and features a main event heavyweight title fight between champion Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.
Bonnar (13-7, 7-6 UFC) was scheduled to meet Karlos Vemola at UFC on Versus 5 in Milwaukee earlier this month, but had to pull out in June with a Grade II tear of his MCL. After a three-fight skid, Bonnar has won two straight. He won his rematch with Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 116 by TKO in a Fight of the Night performance. And he dominated Igor Pokrajac for a unanimous decision win at the TUF 12 Finale last December.
Bonnar, the TUF 1 light heavyweight runner-up to Forrest Griffin, has made some waves the last six months or so with a line of shirts started by his company, NGauge Inc., called Trash Talkin’ Kids. The shirts featured cartoon representations of UFC fighters, including Josh Koscheck – which Koscheck threatened a lawsuit over. The shirts have been shelved in favor of a new brand, Punch Buddies. But Bonnar and Koscheck, housemates on TUF 1, have traded barbs through social media. When Koscheck announced Monday he was moving to middleweight to fight at UFC 139, there was speculation that Bonnar might drop down to fight him. But instead, they’ll have to share the same card – just probably not the same locker room.
Kingsbury (11-2, 1 NC, 4-1 UFC), a product of Season 8 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” has won four straight in the UFC after losing his debut to Tom Lawlor at the TUF 8 Finale. His decision wins over Jared Hamman at Fight Night 22 and Fabio Maldonado at the TUF 13 Finale in June were both Fight of the Night winners.
The fight will be a homecoming for Kingsbury, who went to high school in the San Jose suburb of Cupertino, where he wrestled and played football. He was a walk-on for Arizona State’s football team. He lives and trains in San Jose.
UFC 139 will take place at the HP Pavilion and will be the UFC’s debut in the city, which is about 40 miles south of San Francisco. Aside from the heavyweight title fight and Koscheck’s return to middleweight, UFC 139 is expected to feature a bantamweight contenders bout between former champions Brian Bowles and Urijah Faber.