(Well, I found this on the Internet so it has to be true. Props: @sonnench)
With all the crap they’ve hurled at each other lately, it’s no surprise that Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva would eventually have to get into the Octagon and back up their slam poetry. But we definitely didn’t see this coming: As confirmed by UFC president Dana White on yesterday’s edition of FOX Sports Live, Sonnen and Silva will appear as rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3, which begins filming early next year. The American Gangster and the Axe Murderer will then face off at a 2014 event to be named later.
The reality-show booking is so unexpected because White previously said it wouldn’t happen — for Chael’s own safety. As White explained during a press-conference in Brazil last month:
“People keep asking me if they’re going to be the coaches (for TUF Brazil 3). I can’t have a Brazilian within 10 feet of Chael Sonnen in America. Imagine bringing Chael Sonnen here for six weeks. I don’t think he’d make it…I mean there’s situations in the United States where we had an event where a Brazilian fan started swinging at Chael Sonnen trying to hit him…Brazilians do not like Chael Sonnen.”
So, was White fooling us on purpose? Or did he have a change of heart and realize that, hey, Sonnen’s life isn’t that important anyway. And would any of the show’s Brazilian prospects want to be on Chael’s team? This has the potential to be all kinds of uncomfortable. For the first time in TUF history, a coach may be savagely soap-whipped by his own team. I’m telling you, these Brazilians do not respond well to motivational speaking.
(Well, I found this on the Internet so it has to be true. Props: @sonnench)
With all the crap they’ve hurled at each other lately, it’s no surprise that Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva would eventually have to get into the Octagon and back up their slam poetry. But we definitely didn’t see this coming: As confirmed by UFC president Dana White on yesterday’s edition of FOX Sports Live, Sonnen and Silva will appear as rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3, which begins filming early next year. The American Gangster and the Axe Murderer will then face off at a 2014 event to be named later.
The reality-show booking is so unexpected because White previously said it wouldn’t happen — for Chael’s own safety. As White explained during a press-conference in Brazil last month:
“People keep asking me if they’re going to be the coaches (for TUF Brazil 3). I can’t have a Brazilian within 10 feet of Chael Sonnen in America. Imagine bringing Chael Sonnen here for six weeks. I don’t think he’d make it…I mean there’s situations in the United States where we had an event where a Brazilian fan started swinging at Chael Sonnen trying to hit him…Brazilians do not like Chael Sonnen.”
So, was White fooling us on purpose? Or did he have a change of heart and realize that, hey, Sonnen’s life isn’t that important anyway. And would any of the show’s Brazilian prospects want to be on Chael’s team? This has the potential to be all kinds of uncomfortable. For the first time in TUF history, a coach may be savagely soap-whipped by his own team. I’m telling you, these Brazilians do not respond well to motivational speaking.
Tryouts for TB3 will be held on Nov. 11 in Rio de Janeiro, and will be open to middleweights, light heavyweights, and heavyweights. This will be the second Ultimate Fighter coaching stint for both men; Sonnen previously appeared opposite Jon Jones on TUF 17, which aired in the beginning of this year, while Silva coached on the first installment of TUF Brazil alongside Vitor Belfort in 2012. And in case you forgot, Sonnen already has a fight against Rashad Evans scheduled for next month at UFC 167. Must be nice to have job security.
Update: There are reports indicating that TUF Brazil 3 will feature a Brazil vs. U.S.A. theme, which makes a lot more sense. We’ll let you know when the UFC officially confirms this.
Friends and fellow UFC heavyweights Brendan Schaub and Matt Mitrione will finally fight one another this Saturday at UFC 165. Both men were celebrated athletes long before they ever got into MMA and the UFC, with extensive football backgrounds in the AFL and NFL, respectively.
When you get two athletes who hail from similar backgrounds in the cage, there is often an added element of rivalry to the match up. Randy Couture facing Mike Van Arsdale, for example, or “Minotauro” Nogueira vs. Fabricio Werdum.
It doesn’t work that way with football, though, according to Schaub. “Not really,” he tells CagePotato.
“I think Matt is the more decorated football player and that I am more the decorated mixed martial artist. I pride myself on being a martial artist. I have a strong work ethic and was born to compete and fight. Martial arts is my true calling. Who the better football player is doesn’t really matter to me.”
Alright, the question was a silly one. But one still has to legitimately wonder what it will be like for Schaub and Mitrione to go all out against one another in the Octagon. They are not “friends” in the generic, early Tito Ortiz/Chuck Liddell sense. Schaub and Mitrione have been close and in constant contact with one another since they were both participants on the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Friends and fellow UFC heavyweights Brendan Schaub and Matt Mitrione will finally fight one another this Saturday at UFC 165. Both men were celebrated athletes long before they ever got into MMA and the UFC, with extensive football backgrounds in the AFL and NFL, respectively.
When you get two athletes who hail from similar backgrounds in the cage, there is often an added element of rivalry to the match up. Randy Couture facing Mike Van Arsdale, for example, or “Minotauro” Nogueira vs. Fabricio Werdum.
It doesn’t work that way with football, though, according to Schaub. “Not really,” he tells CagePotato.
“I think Matt is the more decorated football player and that I am more the decorated mixed martial artist. I pride myself on being a martial artist. I have a strong work ethic and was born to compete and fight. Martial arts is my true calling. Who the better football player is doesn’t really matter to me.”
Alright, the question was a silly one. But one still has to legitimately wonder what it will be like for Schaub and Mitrione to go all out against one another in the Octagon. They are not “friends” in the generic, early Tito Ortiz/Chuck Liddell sense. Schaub and Mitrione have been close and in constant contact with one another since they were both participants on the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter.
“Me and Matt are good buddies,” Brendan says.
“We talk once every week. We had the same trainer for years. We talk a ton. He was my closest friend in the [TUF] house. Before a fight we would talk game plans – what I think he should do to win, etc.”
All that made finding out he was fighting Mitrione a bit awkward for Schaub. “The way I found out we were going to fight was I got a call from Matt around midnight one night. I’m thinking, ‘what the hell is he calling so late for?’ I ignored the call. Then, the next day I look at my phone and I had about twelve missed calls from him. So, the first thing I do in the morning is to text Matt, ‘what the hell do you want?’ I thought he had drunk dialed me,” Schaub remembers.
“He wrote back, ‘we have to fight each other.’ I told him, ‘whoa, what do you mean? You’ve got to be kidding me.’ What can you do? You don’t say ‘no’ to Dana White and Joe Silva. Otherwise it can get real ugly.”
A fight between two close friends who feel forced by professional circumstances to face one another doesn’t seem like a sure-fire formula for fireworks. Brendan admits that, conceptually, fighting a friend can be a tough thing.
In the end, however, he’s certain that the fighter in him will come out against Mitrione at UFC 165, friend or not. “I think when you are outside the Octagon maybe there is a risk of not ripping his limb off if you get the chance,” he says.
“But when the juice is flowing in front of millions of people…I feel that in every fight my reputation on the line. Now he’s a guy messing with my reputation and my progress getting to the belt. I’m not going to let anyone do that.”
In any case, let’s hope that the second incarnation of Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate — which is being billed as the biggest rivalry in ALL of MMA Rrrrrrrr *catfight sounds* Snap into a Slim Jimoh yeah! — lives up to the additional pressure it is stacking on the already weighed-down shoulders of WMMA. In the past few days, the champ has flipped off Tate during a staredown, labeled her an Anti-Armenian and allegedly threatened to “cram an entire Lincoln Logs set up her boyfriend’s asspussy.” Allegedly. Anything less than an in-ring decapitation or double KO will be an utter disappointment at this point and the show hasn’t even started yet.
Thankfully, the two were able to keep it together during a recent face-to-face appearance on SportsCenter to hype their upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. You’d think that these two have said all they can say about each other, yet Rousey is still finding new reasons to dislike Tate. Mainly, that smug look of (sexy) disinterest she is always wearing. If DW’s statements about how batshit crazy the both of them are this season have any truth to them, we should expect this conversation to play out several times over the course of TUF 18.
In any case, let’s hope that the second incarnation of Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate — which is being billed as the biggest rivalry in ALL of MMA Rrrrrrrr *catfight sounds* Snap into a Slim Jimoh yeah! — lives up to the additional pressure it is stacking on the already weighed-down shoulders of WMMA. In the past few days, the champ has flipped off Tate during a staredown, labeled her an Anti-Armenian and allegedly threatened to “cram an entire Lincoln Logs set up her boyfriend’s asspussy.” Allegedly. Anything less than an in-ring decapitation or double KO will be an utter disappointment at this point and the show hasn’t even started yet.
Thankfully, the two were able to keep it together during a recent face-to-face appearance on SportsCenter to hype their upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. You’d think that these two have said all they can say about each other, yet Rousey is still finding new reasons to dislike Tate. Mainly, that smug look of (sexy) disinterest she is always wearing. If DW’s statements about how batshit crazy the both of them are this season have any truth to them, we should expect this conversation to play out several times over the course of TUF 18.
Perhaps the most unique thing you can say about last year’s TUF: The Smashes was that it showcased the age old rivalry between England and Australia for fans who might not have known how deep-seated it truly went. It not only raised the stakes between teams to a new level, but it also played a role in the verbal (and allegedly physical) on set squabbles between coaches Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos, and culminated in a pretty damn entertaining fight when all was said and done.
And while TUF: Brazil 2 is currently playing LinkedIn to The Ultimate Fighter’s Facebook, there were at least a few of us who were excited to see which rivalry would be showcased on the next other, other version of TUF, which I guess you would label the MySpace of Ultimate Fighters, maybe? I dunno; management keeps telling us that we need to start writing to our key demographic (drunk, agoraphobic 14 year-olds) and I’m just trying to keep up with the times. *stares out window, finishes scotch*
In any case, MMAFighting has passed along word that the next international season of The Ultimate Fighter will showcase the epic rivalry between…Canada and Australia. I may have lost most of my long term memory in that scaffolding accident, but I can’t seem to recall any conflict every existing between the two –it doesn’t help the Wikipedia page for “Canadian military history” is completely blank.
Why the UFC decided to go with this rivalry (or another season of Australians, for that matter) is anyone’s guess, but here are a few rivalries we think would have better suited the next international season of The Ultimate Fighter…
(Yeah, we don’t get it either, buddy.)
Perhaps the most unique thing you can say about last year’s TUF: The Smashes was that it showcased the age old rivalry between England and Australia for fans who might not have known how deep-seated it truly went. It not only raised the stakes between teams to a new level, but it also played a role in the verbal (and allegedly physical) on set squabbles between coaches Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos, and culminated in a pretty damn entertaining fight when all was said and done.
And while TUF: Brazil 2 is currently playing LinkedIn to The Ultimate Fighter’s Facebook, there were at least a few of us who were excited to see which rivalry would be showcased on the next other, other version of TUF, which I guess you would label the MySpace of Ultimate Fighters, maybe? I dunno; management keeps telling us that we need to start writing to our key demographic (drunk, agoraphobic 14 year-olds) and I’m just trying to keep up with the times. *stares out window, finishes scotch*
In any case, MMAFighting has passed along word that the next international season of The Ultimate Fighter will showcase the epic rivalry between…Canada and Australia. I may have lost most of my long term memory in that scaffolding accident, but I can’t seem to recall any conflict every existing between the two –it doesn’t help the Wikipedia page for “Canadian military history” is completely blank.
Why the UFC decided to go with this rivalry (or another season of Australians, for that matter) is anyone’s guess, but here are a few rivalries we think would have better suited the next international season of The Ultimate Fighter…
#1 – Germany vs. Poland (The people of Poland can’t even type “invasio” into Google without reigniting their hatred for all things German.)
There ain’t nothin’ better than a good old fashioned Dubya Dubya Two rivalry*reaches for Copenhagen Snuff* and these two have already established a bitter hatred for one another in one of the wimpiest sports out there: Soccer. Prior to their EURO meeting in 2008, the Polish National Newspaper published an image of their country’s coach, Leo Beenhakker, clutching the severed heads of Germany’s team captains. And go figure, Germany had zero sense of humor about it. Suffice it to say, if the Germany/Poland rivalry can ignite that kind of anger in the world of this nonsense, just imagine how brutal the MMA rivalry could get.
Of course, you gotta have coaches, but that’s the easy part. Dennis Siver is set to face Cub Swanson at UFC 162. Currently, Swanson is listed as a 2-to-1 favorite, so let’s assume he takes the fight for the sake of argument. Siver becomes the head coach of Team Germany and Polish-American slugger Bart Palaszewski is appointed the head coach of Team Poland. Sure, Palaszewski is on a three fight losing streak, but he’s a veteran of the sport with a wealth of experience and one who almost always puts on entertaining fights. Besides, both Pearson and Sotiropoulos were coming off losses when they began TUF: Smashes, so can we just agree that TUF coach fights don’t really matter anymore?
#2 – Canada vs. Mexico
Talk about capitalizing on an opportunity; this happened at the World Baseball Classic this year, you guys. Aren’t those things, like, for charity?
Coaches: Welterweight Diego Sanchez and Rory MacDonald, because who wouldn’t want to see that three ring circus?
#3 – Scotland vs. Ireland
(Pictured here: How every Ireland vs. Scotland soccer match ends.)
You’d have to be a fool not to want to see this rivalry play out in the octagon, and if Conor McGregor has shown us anything, it’s that there’s a ton of untapped potential in that area of the world. Homeless, untapped potential.
Honorable Mention: Ireland vs. Jamaica: The Subtitles.
Coaches: Conor McGregor and 1-0 Scottish phenom Andrew Glenn. To level the playing field, the fight will take place at the Bushmills Distillery at 2 a.m. after Mcgregor is half in the bag.
#4 – The Ultimate Fighter: Paraguay vs. Uruguay – One Guay Out.
OK, this one’s not international per se, but just try and tell us that this isn’t must-see TV.
Let’s face it, reality television has been scraping the bottom of the barrel since it was pushed out as the afterbirth of sitcoms in the early aughts. There are no boundaries anymore, and if you don’t believe me, just ask that last sentence. But if there’s one issue that never ceases to pucker our buttholes, it’s race. Thankfully, Brad Paisley and LL Cool J ended racism last week, so no one should be offended by the concept of pitting the semi-racist North against the super-racist South moving forward.
Can you imagine it? A big line painted straight down the middle of the TUF house, forcing each team to choose whether they want to be able to use the bathroom or the kitchen for the next six weeks. White guys on Team South doing everything in their power to avoid coming off as racist to the television audience. Team-segregated water fountains at the gym. This show would break barriers, you guys.
Coaches: Oh…we are not going near that one.
Like it or not, The Ultimate Fighter has become more about finding enough young talent to fill the UFC’s ever-increasing amount of cards than it has about creating a rivalry between coaches. Sure, the supposed “hatred” between Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones was the lone reason they were booked opposite one another on TUF 17, but just look at how that panned out once the show actually got under way. Fucking excavators and tire pyramids, you guys. So being that we’re stuck with this one, tireless concept until the end of time, shouldn’t we start having a little fun with it?
Are there any other great rivalries that you think The Ultimate Fighter should have gone with? Let us know in the comments section.
With the recent announcement that Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin have been named as the coaches for the next installment of The Ultimate Fighter series, the MMA universe immediately launched into a full-blow orgasmic ticker-tape parade complete with tons of flying confetti and a marching band belting out death metal tunes. Once I heard the news, it was as if my life instantaneously turned into a beer commercial and the entire Potato Nation was invited. There was a rad pool-party, barbeque, a plethora of hotties, endless alcohol, and an overall quest for fun.
Well . . . . . actually, none of that happened. In fact, when word spread that Nelson and Carwin would helm the next season of TUF, it was officially filed under “WTF?” Judging from the comment section, most of the CP brethren didn’t care for the choices either. TUF is coming off a season that saw the ratings dip lower than they ever had, which could partially be blamed on the move to FX and the dreaded Friday night time slot. Regardless of the variables for the ratings drop, something drastic needs to be done, but is anybody really convinced that Carwin and Nelson are the answer to TUF’s slow and painful demise? Let’s start from the beginning and take a look back to see if this runaway train can be coaxed back onto the main rail.
The Season That Started it All
The inaugural season of TUF featured future Hall of Famers Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture as the competing coaches who would go mano y mano at the PPV after the season finale. For fans of the UFC, that was good enough for most to initially tune in for the Fertitta-funded experiment. It still remains the best crop of young talent and personalities to ever grace the show; future stars like Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar, Josh Koscheck, Chris Leben, Diego Sanchez, Mike Swick, Kenny Florian, and Nate Quarry were all complete unknowns vying for stardom in a fledgling sport. You mix in the whole “fatherless bastard” angle and the show was off and running even before the awe-inspiring climax between (pre TRT) FoGrif and The American Psycho. Even before that, we were treated to the greatest speech of all time that has since been condensed into a few words. “Do you wanna be a fighter?” Though there were other memorable moments from the seasons that followed, Zuffa should have quit while they were ahead because it would never be this good again. The unrefined personification of immature talent, undeniable aspirations and gonzo-sized balls oozed from the boob tube during every episode.
With the recent announcement that Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin have been named as the coaches for the next installment of The Ultimate Fighter series, the MMA universe immediately launched into a full-blow orgasmic ticker-tape parade complete with tons of flying confetti and a marching band belting out death metal tunes. Once I heard the news, it was as if my life instantaneously turned into a beer commercial and the entire Potato Nation was invited. There was a rad pool-party, barbeque, a plethora of hotties, endless alcohol, and an overall quest for fun.
Well . . . . . actually, none of that happened. In fact, when word spread that Nelson and Carwin would helm the next season of TUF, it was officially filed under “WTF?” Judging from the comment section, most of the CP brethren didn’t care for the choices either. TUF is coming off a season that saw the ratings dip lower than they ever had, which could partially be blamed on the move to FX and the dreaded Friday night time slot. Regardless of the variables for the ratings drop, something drastic needs to be done, but is anybody really convinced that Carwin and Nelson are the answer to TUF’s slow and painful demise? Let’s start from the beginning and take a look back to see if this runaway train can be coaxed back onto the main rail.
The Season That Started it All
The inaugural season of TUF featured future Hall of Famers Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture as the competing coaches who would go mano y mano at the PPV after the season finale. For fans of the UFC, that was good enough for most to initially tune in for the Fertitta-funded experiment. It still remains the best crop of young talent and personalities to ever grace the show; future stars like Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar, Josh Koscheck, Chris Leben, Diego Sanchez, Mike Swick, Kenny Florian, and Nate Quarry were all complete unknowns vying for stardom in a fledgling sport. You mix in the whole “fatherless bastard” angle and the show was off and running even before the awe-inspiring climax between (pre TRT) FoGrif and The American Psycho. Even before that, we were treated to the greatest speech of all time that has since been condensed into a few words. “Do you wanna be a fighter?” Though there were other memorable moments from the seasons that followed, Zuffa should have quit while they were ahead because it would never be this good again. The unrefined personification of immature talent, undeniable aspirations and gonzo-sized balls oozed from the boob tube during every episode.
Season 2
Season 2 saw Rich Franklin coach opposite Matt Hughes, and since both men competed at different weight classes, they were obviously not going to fight at the conclusion of the season. This was a prime example of the UFC throwing shit against the wall to see if it would stick by parading two somewhat charismatic champions in front of the camera with hopes of gathering ratings/fans for the upcoming UFC 56 PPV. Although it was undoubtedly a less thrilling season than that of its predecessor, it did introduce to another future light heavyweight champion in Rashad Evans, who won the contract competing as a heavyweight, as well as such names as Joe Stevenson, Melvin Guillard, and future pound-for-pound punching bag GOAT Keith Jardine. And if not for Jardine, the worldmay have never learned that “The Dean of Mean” would make no sense if his last name was Johnson, a valuable take home indeed.
Season 3
Season 3 is one of my personal favorites because of the preconceived notions about coaches: Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock. Tito was working the crap out of “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” gimmick and wore the black hat pretty damn well even though he desperately wanted to be accepted by everyone. On the other hand, Shamrock was the MMA legend who competed in the very first UFC tournament and was the founder of his own training facility – The Lion’s Den. Shamrock was supposed to be the more seasoned coach, but chose to bring in weight lifting specialists and opted to rewatch videos of his UFC fights instead of training during an infamous episode, among other baffling decisions. Tito, conversely, came across as a guy that was genuinely committed to making his team better fighters through technique (believe it or not) and some crazy conditioning drills involving piggyback rides and vacant floors of Las Vegas hotels. In the end, Tito TKO’d Ken in just over a minute and Michael Bisping began his quest to piss off everybody around the world en route to winning the LHW contract.
Season 4 – The Comeback
Season 4 came upon us with the familiar sound of a giant turd smacking against a cinder block divider. Luckily for the UFC, a Ram-Manesque New Yorker with a perfectly timed overhand right came along and the dookie kind of stuck. I am not exactly sure who came up with the idea of bringing back washed up fighters mixed with a few coulda-shoulda guys coupled with a blend of has-beens and never-weres, but I am certain it must have sounded phenomenal during the pitch meeting. This was the only other season that featured an abundance of talent (albeit fleeting talent) like the first season. Shonie Carter, Patrick Côté, Matt Serra, Travis Lutter, Jorge Rivera, Pete Sell, *cough convicted rapist *cough* Jeremy Jackson, Scott Smith, Din Thomas, Mikey Burnett, and (everybody’s favorite) Chris Lytle. All of these guys were waaaaaay professional for any of the usual drama to become too much of an issue, aside from Shonie’s batshit craziness, that is. There were no head coaches but instead guest coaches, and all the fighters shared instructors Mark DellaGrotte as their striking guru and Marc Laimon as the perceived submission specialist. Season highlights include a goggled Burnett self-concussing himself while running through some sheet rock (forgetting that code requires studs every 16 inches), Serra calling Laimon a pussy for never stepping into the real world of fighting and of course . . . . . this. After the season there would be a fundamental plummet to mediocrity.
Season 5, or, the Aforementioned Plummet to Mediocrity
Season 5 was back to a basic grudge match between BJ Penn and Jens Pulver. The session would have been pretty tense if Pulver actually won his “welcome back to the UFC” fight months prior. Instead, Jens got KTFO by a wild-eyed nobody (at the time) named Joe Lauzon. How do you remedy this issue? Make Lauzon a participant during the season and have BJ make the guys raise their hands if they did NOT want to be on Pulver’s team. We were also introduced to the unrefined, yet potent, skills of Nate Diaz (along with his brotherly inspired “Fuck You” demeanor towards Karo Parisyan) and some Ping-Pong skills that would make Forrest Gump puke. So, basically the entire thing resembled a trash can fire without the Doo Wop.
On the next page: Disgusting pranks, trans-Atlantic rivalry, and a pugilist named Slice.
Through the majority of their parallel UFC careers, Stephan Bonnar has played second-banana to Forrest Griffin. The relationship started with Griffin’s career-launching win over Bonnar in their classic brawl at the first Ultimate Fighter finale in 2005; a rematch the following year resulted in the American Psycho going home with another decision loss and a steroid suspension. While Griffin was winning the UFC light-heavyweight title in 2008, Bonnar was on the sidelines due to injuries, and though Griffin occasionally ate a humiliating loss, Bonnar’s losses were even more embarrassing.
But lately, the two men have begun to shift trajectories. A not-quite-motivated Griffin suffered an ugly knockout against Mauricio Rua in Brazil last year, and is now booked in a relatively needless trilogy fight against Tito Ortiz in July. With Forrest in a holding pattern, Bonnar is now riding a three-fight win streak, with W’s over Krzysztof Soszynski, Igor Pokrajac, and Kyle Kingsbury. In other words, Griffin might be heading down the mountain, while Bonnar is somehow reaching another peak in his career — which makes it an ideal time for the two rivals to meet one last time, perhaps at the end of an Ultimate Fighter gig that would bring their lives full circle. At least, that’s how Bonnar sees it. Here’s what he told MMAJunkie Radio:
(Best frenemies forever.)
Through the majority of their parallel UFC careers, Stephan Bonnar has played second-banana to Forrest Griffin. The relationship started with Griffin’s career-launching win over Bonnar in their classic brawl at the first Ultimate Fighter finale in 2005; a rematch the following year resulted in the American Psycho going home with another decision loss and a steroid suspension. While Griffin was winning the UFC light-heavyweight title in 2008, Bonnar was on the sidelines due to injuries, and though Griffin occasionally ate a humiliating loss, Bonnar’s losses were even more embarrassing.
But lately, the two men have begun to shift trajectories. A not-quite-motivated Griffin suffered an ugly knockout against Mauricio Rua in Brazil last year, and is now booked in a relatively needless trilogy fight against Tito Ortiz in July. With Forrest in a holding pattern, Bonnar is now riding a three-fight win streak, with W’s over Krzysztof Soszynski, Igor Pokrajac, and Kyle Kingsbury. In other words, Griffin might be heading down the mountain, while Bonnar is somehow reaching another peak in his career — which makes it an ideal time for the two rivals to meet one last time, perhaps at the end of an Ultimate Fighter gig that would bring their lives full circle. At least, that’s how Bonnar sees it. Here’s what he told MMAJunkie Radio:
“Everyone out there please harass Dana White on Twitter to let me and Forrest coach the next season (of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’). If he does that, I can guarantee a barn-burning slugfest…I won’t go for any takedowns. 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…I’ve had a couple nice technical wins now without much damage. But now I’m actually missing the damage…When you get into a couple of wars in a row, you’re like, ‘Screw this,’ but if we got to be coaches, I would be so thankful. I’d get hit a ton. I’ve ate plenty of his punches over the years.”
Promising to get hit in the face a lot is one of the most bizarre matchmaking pitches we’ve ever heard, and is perhaps evidence that Bonnar has already gotten hit in the face too many times as it is. But you can’t argue with the compelling symmetry of having the two light-heavyweight warriors coach against each other on the show that made them (and the UFC) famous seven years ago — and it seems like a perfect recipe to revive the interest in TUF.
Plus, let’s call a spade a spade, here: Griffin may be losing his edge in the cage, and Bonnar probably feels like he should pounce while he has some momentum, so he can balance out their rivalry. As Quinton Jackson demonstrated against Wanderlei Silva, the first two fights in a trilogy are just battles; the last fight truly decides the war.
