Stephan Bonnar has no clue how best to prepare to face arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history on three weeks’ notice. But he’ll find out soon enough when he steps into the cage against Anderson Silva in the main event at UFC 153 in Brazil.
The match, which is due to take place on October 13, was hastily put together when the title fight between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar collapsed due to an injury to Aldo.
Silva stepped in to fight at light heavyweight against an unlikely opponent—Bonnar.
The latter spoke to MMA Junkie about his final weeks of preparation.
“I’ve been on the shelf since my fight 10 months ago,” said Bonnar. “I haven’t put the big gloves on and sparred in that whole time, until last week. It’s quite a challenge. What a challenge I have in front of me… I put in a good week last week. I didn’t get injured. (During) your first hard week, you always worry about that more than anything. So yeah, I made it through that and didn’t get injured, but I’m sore as hell.”
Bonnar was all but retired since his fight against Kyle Kingsbury in November last year. Until the announcement of the Silva match, Bonnar said he had no desire to get back into the cage unless he was given a big-name opponent.
But, as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. Silva is the reigning UFC middleweight champion with a record 10 title defences. He’s stepped up to 205 lbs twice in his UFC career and both times finished his opponents in the first round without breaking a sweat.
To pit Bonnar against a man who’s just come off the biggest fight in his career—against Chael Sonnen in July—seems hardly fair and few bookmakers or fans are giving the “American Psycho” much of a chance. And Bonnar knows this.
He told MMA Junkie that all he can do is “fight my ass off.”
“I can’t help but just give it everything I’ve got. If I’m not sleeping, I’m going to keep coming. I know no other way.”
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