News has broken this Christmas Eve concerning UFC middleweight division veteran and The Ultimate Fighter 1 season finalist, Stephan Bonnar, who sadly passed away this earlier this week at the age of 45.
Bonnar, a native of Hammond, Indiana, competed on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter back in 2005, reaching that season’s finale against fellow finalist, former undisputed light heavyweight champion, Forrest Griffin.
The UFC confirmed the passing of Stephan Bonnar in a statement tonight
Inducted into the Fight Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame back in 2013 along with finalist, Griffin, the promotion confirmed this Saturday night that Bonnar had passed away at the age of 45.
“The UFC family is saddened by the passing of UFC Hall of Famer Stephan Bonnar,” UFC tweeted this Saturday night. “We send our sincerest condolences to his family and friends.”
Boasting a 15-9 professional record, Bonnar most recently competed at Bellator 131 in September 2014, dropping a split decision loss to former UFC light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz.
Competing 15 times separately under the banner of the Dana White-led UFC, Bonnar managed to amass an 8-7 promotional record from 2005 to 2012.
In eight of those promotional victories, Bonnar managed to defeat Sam Hoger, James Irvine, Keith Jardine, Mike Nickels Eric Schafer, Krzysztof Soszynski, Igor Pokrajac, and Kyle Kingsburg.
A nine-year veteran of the UFC, during his tenure with the organization, Bonnar suffered defeats against former or future promotional champions, Jon Jones, Mark Coleman, Anderson Silva, and Rashad Evans.