At UFC 139 Stephan Bonnar issued two apologies. One was to Josh Koscheck about a shirt he had made that had offended the welterweight fighter.This was warranted as no matter how much it might have been silly for Koscheck to be offended by the shi…
At UFC 139 Stephan Bonnar issued two apologies. One was to Josh Koscheck about a shirt he had made that had offended the welterweight fighter.
This was warranted as no matter how much it might have been silly for Koscheck to be offended by the shirt, it still is up to Bonnar to mediate such disagreements instead of possibly being sued over them, as Koscheck had threatened.
The other apology was to the fans for not making an exciting fight.
This one was not necessary at all and should never have been made because honestly, the fans shouldn’t expect such fights from Bonnar every time.
Fans have a belief about the “American Psycho” and that is that he will just brawl with technique and thoughts of winning coming second.
And that is ridiculous.
Bonnar’s job is to win fights. Being exciting and winning bonuses for fight of the night might keep him in the cage a little longer, but it comes down to being the best in the cage. To do that, sometimes you can’t put on a thrilling performance. Just a dominant one.
Bonnar is at a stage where this might be his last run in the cage. If he doesn’t prove himself to be dominant force, he won’t get a shot at being champion.
With his commentating for the company and his post-Ultimate Fighter shows that appear on the website, it’s safe to say he will always have a place in the UFC, but it will not always be in the cage.
Instead of an apology Bonnar should stop doing what he did in his pre-fight promo. He came off as a fighter who just wanted to swing for the fences, but at the same time came off as fake macho persona.
Instead of trying to appease the fans and give them what they want Bonnar should just tell them that he is going to dominate while trying to look for the knockout or submission if he can get away with it. That he wants to be a champion before he retires because that is why he got into fighting to begin with.
It sends a false message to the fans and it continues to give fans a fake reason to watch Bonnar. They should be willing to watch him because he is a talented fighter who can not only win fights, but do it emphatically.
And as for the fight he had at UFC 139?
It actually was thrilling from a technical standpoint with him using a bit of technical boxing and quite a bit of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to win.
That may help him to lose some casual fans, but only the ones that are never happy unless it ends up being a toe-to-toe war, even when it doesn’t need to be.
And if Bonnar wants to win, he doesn’t need that—and he shouldn’t be sorry about it.
A win for either fighter could easily launch them back into the title mix, and given Rampage earns title shots almost as easy as Urijah Faber, if he is able to finish Bader impressively, I am going as far as to predict that he leapfrogs Rashad Evans for another crack at Jones.
UFC 144 goes down February 26th at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
You know the deal, who you got for this one, Potato Nation?
“With great power comes great responsibility.” This line from the movie Spider Man was proven true last weekend at UFC 139 when we saw fan-favorite Stephan Bonnar booed by UFC fans for the first time. Bonnar managed to notch a one-sided …
“With great power comes great responsibility.” This line from the movie Spider Man was proven true last weekend at UFC 139 when we saw fan-favorite Stephan Bonnar booed by UFC fans for the first time.
Bonnar managed to notch a one-sided victory over The Ultimate Fighter cast member Kyle Kingsbury. But although the fight ended in a one-sided fashion in favor of Bonnar, the audience still seem to dislike the way the fight unfolded, as the majority of the battle occurred on the ground.
Even though Bonnar, who is also a former cast member of the reality show The Ultimate Fighter, showcased a lot of skills on the ground, the fans seem to prefer to see him banging on the feet because of his past performance against Forrest Griffin.
The question after the fight: Do fans expect too much from Bonnar?
Luckily, he’s not alone. Here are my list of fighters who seem to have a responsibility to please the audience.
At UFC 139, Stephan Bonnar earned his third straight victory with a lopsided decision over Kyle Kingsbury. After the match, Bonnar called out former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Dana White revealed that Jackson …
At UFC 139, Stephan Bonnar earned his third straight victory with a lopsided decision over Kyle Kingsbury.
Following his UFC 139 victory over Kyle Kingsbury Saturday night, Stephan Bonnar wasted no time in planting the seed for his next fight. “The Ultimate Fighter 1” runner-up, who has racked up a recent three-fight winning streak, told reporters that he would love a step up in competition.
“I’ve always wanted to fight [Quinton] ‘Rampage’ [Jackson],” Bonnar said. “You know, I’ve got a few wins now and maybe (I can) get a big name [next].”
Earlier in the week, “The American Psycho explained to Heavy.com that facing Jackson would be his “dream fight.”
“He’s good, he’s a big puncher, he’s tough. But he does have holes in his game,” Bonnar pointed out. “He’s really famous. ‘The A-Team’ movie, talk shows – everyone knows who he is. Fighting him, it’s going to be a huge fight. Forrest [Griffin] got a close win over him, [Keith] Jardine fought a good fight with him. I feel like I could fight him good.”
(“I’m gonna puke…I’m gonna puke.”)
Following his UFC 139 victory over Kyle Kingsbury Saturday night, Stephan Bonnar wasted no time in planting the seed for his next fight. “The Ultimate Fighter 1″ runner-up, who has racked up a recent three-fight winning streak, told reporters that he would love a step up in competition.
“I’ve always wanted to fight [Quinton] ‘Rampage’ [Jackson],” Bonnar said. “You know, I’ve got a few wins now and maybe (I can) get a big name [next].”
Earlier in the week, “The American Psycho explained to Heavy.com that facing Jackson would be his “dream fight.”
“He’s good, he’s a big puncher, he’s tough. But he does have holes in his game,” Bonnar pointed out. “He’s really famous. ‘The A-Team’ movie, talk shows – everyone knows who he is. Fighting him, it’s going to be a huge fight. Forrest [Griffin] got a close win over him, [Keith] Jardine fought a good fight with him. I feel like I could fight him good.”
According to UFC president Dana White, Rampage is down for the match-up as well.
“Rampage texted me tonight and said he wants to fight him too,” White said at the post fight press conference. “I don’t know, we’ll see.”
If the fight does happen, and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t considering how most UFC fighters who call out an opponent usually get their wish, it will likely go down at UFC 144 since White told him following his disappointing UFC 135 loss to Jon Jones that he would be on the card.
The rumored UFC 144 fight card to date is as follows:
UFC 144 February 25, 2012 Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Japan
Lightweight Championship Bout
Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson*
Quinton Jackson vs. Stephan Bonnar* Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields
Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch
Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon
Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski*
Cheick Kongo vs. Mark Hunt*
The suits on Wall Street keep whispering about a ‘Halloween indicator‘ and how now is not a time to sell; rather we should sit back and let our riches mount. Call it what you will, but millions watched UFC on FOX and UFC 139 and concluded the same thing: Most fighter’s stocks are rising steadily. Even if you’re not sure which is the true Fight of the Year from this weekend — Dan Henderson vs. Marucio Rua or Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler — you’ll know how to safeguard your hypothetical MMA portfolio’s worth after playing another round of ‘Buy, Sell, Hold’.
Stephan Bonnar: Buy
It’s hard to believe that any TUF veteran could take nearly a year off from the sport and return with the engine firing on all cylinders, but Stephan Bonnar did just that. The BJJ schooling he dished out was almost as surprising as his apology to Josh Koscheck for making those damn shirts. Even that wasn’t the most unexpected thing to happen; one judge gave the ‘American Psycho’ a 30-25 victory. Grab hold of any unclaimed stock before he starts getting big fights and Dana declares him “in the mix.”
(In a way, we were all the “Screaming PRIDE Lady” that night. / Photo courtesy of Esther Lin, MMA Fighting)
The suits on Wall Street keep whispering about a ‘Halloween indicator‘ and how now is not a time to sell; rather we should sit back and let our riches mount. Call it what you will, but millions watched UFC on FOX and UFC 139 and concluded the same thing: Most fighter’s stocks are rising steadily. Even if you’re not sure which is the true Fight of the Year from this weekend — Dan Henderson vs. Marucio Rua or Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler — you’ll know how to safeguard your hypothetical MMA portfolio’s worth after playing another round of ‘Buy, Sell, Hold’.
Stephan Bonnar: Buy
It’s hard to believe that any TUF veteran could take nearly a year off from the sport and return with the engine firing on all cylinders, but Stephan Bonnar did just that. The BJJ schooling he dished out was almost as surprising as his apology to Josh Koscheck for making those damn shirts. Even that wasn’t the most unexpected thing to happen; one judge gave the ‘American Psycho’ a 30-25 victory. Grab hold of any unclaimed stock before he starts getting big fights and Dana declares him “in the mix.”
Kyle Kingsbury: Sell it like a dog with fleas
When Kyle Kingsbury comes to mind, so does the letter ‘O’ – as in Outclassed, Outworked, and Oxymoron. Not once did this guy look like he belonged in the Octagon despite his four-fight win streak since losing his UFC debut against “Filthy” Tom Lawlor at the Ultimate Fighter 8 finale. Do not let critics scare you into keeping an underperforming stock by calling you a prisoner of the moment. After all, this is mixed martial arts where you’re only as good as your last fight.
Martin Kampmann – Buy
While some would argue that Martin Kampmann should be riding a five-fight win streak right now — with his previous decision losses to Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez falling somewhere between “questionable” and “straight bullshit” — the truth is that the Hitman was one pitch away from being struck out. Just like baseball, MMA has its own set of unwritten rules, one of which is ‘three losses and you’re cut’, unless you’re Dan Hardy. Thankfully for the Danish fighter, he decoded the opponent’s signals, managed to hit a solid line drive, and made it on base. Keep your eye on this guy; big things are on the horizon.
Rick Story – Hold, Please
There are still a few chapters yet to be written about Rick Story‘s mixed martial arts career. What seemed at first to be a low comedy is now looking more like a familiar tragedy. The hype train derailed after Story was dominated by late replacement Charlie Brenneman at UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry. Being fully aware that Story took that fight a little less than a month after defeating Thiago Alves, I still don’t like this investment at the moment because everything has to go right to make the stock go to the next level, and that’s a very tough call in this particular environment. Maybe he should listen to Joe Rogan going forward; at least he could tell Rick that giving up your back in the third round is not the wisest decision.
Urijah Faber – Buy it like they’re giving it away from free
Dominic Cruz will defend his Bantamweight title against “The California Kid” in a rubber match after Urijah Faber took out top contender Brian Bowles via submission. If it seems like we’re experiencing deja vu it’s because these two took Fight of the Night honors this past summer at UFC 132, a mere four months ago. Faber methodically picked his opponent apart and managed not to break his hands in the process. Kudos are in order. It won’t matter if he beats Cruz this time around just as it won’t matter if he never wins a belt in the UFC. People love this guy and so should you. TCKUF is MMA’s version of MEG.
Brian Bowles – Dump it like a Kardashian
Brian Bowles‘ calm acceptance of not being “one of the cool kids” is like me being okay with not being nominated for Journalist of the Year in the sense that any other reaction is complete nonsense and no amount of objection to the contrary would do a damn bit of good. The fear of breaking his hands again alone is enough to make the former champion hesitant and uncomfortable fighting the same style that lead to him headlining fight cards. I doubt he will ever be a legitimate contender again; for this reason I’m dumping all BB stock I own and suggest you do likewise.
Cung Le – Hold
I find it difficult to fault the Hollywood action star/three-time Wushu World Championships bronze medalist/2007 Kung Fu Artist of the Year/Former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion/lover of many slashes for coming up short in his UFC debut. Those pesky Octagon jitters are real, knowmsayin? Questionable stoppage or not, Cung Le was not going to win that fight. It just wasn’t meant to be, which leads me to the rest of the fighters on the UFC 139 PPV…
Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, and Shogun Rua – Buy, Buy, Buy
Three former champions from PRIDE, Strikeforce, and UFC, all of whom are future Hall of Famers, looked defeat in the eyes and declared that they would not go down without a fight. “The Axe Murderer” got clipped, went down, and came back to welcome the aforementioned Cung Le to the big show the proper way — by punching and kneeing him into a bloody pulp. There’s a certain country in the Pacific Ocean that is just dying to see Wanderlei Silva return to the Land of the Rising Sun that will undoubtedly yield massive short term dividends.
Immediately after, Dan Henderson and Maurico “Shogun” Rua battled it out in what Dana White says is one of the top three fights in MMA history. Despite the initial reaction of the masses after seeing undefeated Michael Chandler choke out Eddie Alvarez for the Bellator lightweight championship, Hendo vs. Shogun is quite possibly the single best fight anyone has ever had the privilege of watching. Both men were rocked, bloodied, and generally pretty banged up entering the final round, one that never would have happened if Josh Rosenthal had his way. Henderson may have got the ‘W’, but both are winners in the eyes of the fans, even if some insist the fight should have been ruled a draw requiring an immediate rematch.
Load up on these fighters’ stock if you want to avoid being beaten with a stick — or worse! Until next time….
At UFC 139 Stephan Bonnar issued two apologies. One was to Josh Koscheck about a shirt he had made that had offended the welterweight fighter.
