UFC Hall of Famer Stephan Bonnar Dies at Age 45

[pwaldo]

https://www.theepochtimes.com/ufc-ha...tm_campaign=gp

Former fighter Stephan Bonnar, who played a significant role in the UFC’s growth into the dominant promotion in mixed martial arts, has died, UFC announced. He was 45.

Bonnar, who was inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame in 2013, died Thursday from “presumed heart complications while at work,” according to a statement from UFC on Saturday. No further details were released.

He was a contestant in 2005 on the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” the UFC’s long-running reality competition show. He reached the competition’s finale, where he had a spectacular, bloody brawl with Forrest Griffin.

Griffin won the decision, but the viral attention gained by the highly entertaining bout is widely credited with exposing the little-known sport to a larger worldwide audience online and on Spike TV, which broadcast it.

“Stephan Bonnar was one of the most important fighters to ever compete in the Octagon,” UFC president Dana White said in the statement. “His fight with Forrest Griffin changed the sport forever, and he will never be forgotten. The fans loved him, related to him and he always gave them his best. He will be missed.”

[WilyWestbrook0]

So young -- my husband is that old!

I haven't followed the UFC since GSP's last fight in 2017, but I remember well when Bonnar's and Griffin's fight launched UFC into the mainstream. My family and I had already been following it years before that, but that was definitely the turning point when UFC started to be seen as more "acceptable" by a larger audience. The rules changes and marketing had come a long way since the days of Gracie.