# Stephan Bonner - Signs With Bellator



## Spite (Jul 7, 2009)

> Newport Beach, Calif. (August 27, 2014) – The Bellator Light Heavyweight division has seen a new arrival as fan favorite Stephan “The American Psycho” Bonnar (15-8) has agreed to terms on a new Bellator contract.
> 
> Fighting in front of millions on Spike TV against the likes of James Irvin, Keith Jardine, Rashad Evans and an iconic showdown with Forrest Griffin, Bonnar has established himself as one of the biggest personalities in the sport during his nearly fifteen year professional career. Last competing in 2012 against Anderson Silva, Bonnar is eager to get back to work, and has a good idea about who his first opponent should be inside the Bellator cage.
> 
> ...


Source

Thats a major signing for Bellator. He maybe at the end of his career but he's damn good commentator too, I remember him commentating for WEC.


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## OU (Sep 26, 2012)

I'd watch Tito vs Bonnar. Then maybe Bonnar can join the broadcast team.


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## Rauno (Nov 20, 2009)

I wish guys stay retired when they decide to hang the gloves but i'm not against Bonnar-Tito to be honest. Scott Coker is already doing more with Bellator than Bjorn Rebney did.


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## King Daisuke (Mar 25, 2013)

Wow, didn't see that one coming. :jaw:
(Not sarcastic)


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

So Stephan Bonnar is signing on to try and get a fight with Tito Ortiz and agrees to commentate fights too.....


I love this. What a hell of a move by Bellator. 

I'll watch this all day.. great addition absolutely!

I wonder what uncle Dana thinks about his boy Bonnar for this one..


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## TheNinja (Dec 10, 2008)

I like this move. Bonnar is tough as nails, only Silva was able to put this guy away in his entire career.


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## GDPofDRB (Apr 18, 2013)

Whatever, less new talent and development more tired talent and rewashing.


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## Spite (Jul 7, 2009)

GDPofDRB said:


> Whatever, less new talent and development more tired talent and rewashing.


More publicity to attract new/established talent, more money to develop them.


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## UKMMAGURU (Nov 15, 2009)

I really like Bonnar and actually think he looked the best he ever has in the fights leading upto the Anderson fight.

He will stop Tito and generally be a top-5 LHW in Bellator.


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## Rauno (Nov 20, 2009)

GDPofDRB said:


> Whatever, less new talent and development more tired talent and rewashing.





Spite said:


> More publicity to attract new/established talent, more money to develop them.



I'm with Spite. They need to have people talking about them and actually tuning in to promote new talent.


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## GDPofDRB (Apr 18, 2013)

Rauno said:


> I'm with Spite. They need to have people talking about them and actually tuning in to promote new talent.


People have been talking about Bellator for 5 years almost exclusively because of the unique manner in which they developed new talent. Plenty of people tuned in to see it for years. That was the identity, until about a year and half ago.
Curran is fighting Pitbull in a week in what is one of the best actual MMA fights that promotion or any promotion could actually book and the only discussion about Bellator in the past few months has been about the good fighters they've released and the relics they have signed.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

GDPofDRB said:


> Whatever, less new talent and development more tired talent and rewashing.


Bonnar was't talked down as tired talent when he was signed with the UFC. He was a great commentator when he called fights and he was an exciting brawler who has had some wars in the cage. 

He won 3 of his last 4 and his last fight was against Anderson Silva who at the time was the champion on a 17 fight win streak.

The UFC saw it fit to put Bonnar against their champion the last time Bonnar was in the cage.... I don't see at this point why he's washed and tired talent because of signing to a different organization....

He wants to beat up Tito and do some commentating.

Hell the UFC just signed Ben Saunders who couldn't hang with Bellators elite in his division and he got the warmest welcome from UFC fans.... there's too much of a double standard there....


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## GDPofDRB (Apr 18, 2013)

Anybody talking about the guys who beat Saunders up? They should be but instead the talk is about BFCs moves to compete with UFC by getting any halfway noteworthy name, regardless of their current fight ability, in their org. It's never going to work, as much as this is starting to emulate Pro wrestling in the late 90's, it's not going to do anything sustainable for BFC. Their future doesn't brighten because of the past, they have no end game in taking all the guys with any kind of name who were cut, fired or retired from where it was they made their name.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

GDPofDRB said:


> Anybody talking about the guys who beat Saunders up? They should be but instead the talk is about BFCs moves to compete with UFC by getting any halfway noteworthy name, regardless of their current fight ability, in their org. It's never going to work, as much as this is starting to emulate Pro wrestling in the late 90's, it's not going to do anything sustainable for BFC. Their future doesn't brighten because of the past, they have no end game in taking all the guys with any kind of name who were cut, fired or retired from where it was they made their name.


Bonnar as a fight personality and commentator alone is worth him on the team.

Bonnar fighting Tito Ortiz... it will get viewers with or without your approval.

And IMO Bellator will not only be sustained by their current ownership and the people in command but garner new fans as well. Let's check back in on this situation in about 12 months from now and see how their numbers stack up compared to last years.

I got a sig bet that says their numbers will be better.


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## GDPofDRB (Apr 18, 2013)

So let's see if the trend that BFC already has of getting bigger every year, before SF 2 showed up, before Viacom took over, continues? If you like. 

Bellator has no future investing so much in the past while it was actually investing in the future by uniquely developing young emerging talent that got them to the table to begin with. BFC doesn't have a future. They are deceased.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

GDPofDRB said:


> So let's see if the trend that BFC already has of getting bigger every year, before SF 2 showed up, before Viacom took over, continues? If you like.
> 
> Bellator has no future investing so much in the past while it was actually investing in the future by uniquely developing young emerging talent that got them to the table to begin with. BFC doesn't have a future. They are deceased.


I couldn't agree with you any less. 

But we will most definitely see.


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## Voiceless (Nov 8, 2010)

GDPofDRB said:


> Bellator has no future investing so much in the past while it was actually investing in the future by uniquely developing young emerging talent that got them to the table to begin with. BFC doesn't have a future. They are deceased.


Doing both is probably the way to go. Getting big names on the roster will attire attention. Finding and developing new talents that beat those big names will put those new talents in the spot light.


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## GDPofDRB (Apr 18, 2013)

I think if they are able to land Mayhem and Kimbo at the cost of maybe Guerreiro or Awad then they would be golden.









*BBB*


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

Strikeforce 2.0 is in full effect.

The only difference is instead of getting guys like Diaz, Lawler, Overeem, Shields, Fedor, Melendez, Mousasi, and such Bellator is getting Rampage, Bonnar, and Tito...guys who have been done for a while now.


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## RangerClydeTheBlue (Jul 11, 2012)

I hope Bonnar doesnt fight Tito. Tito's looking quite good again and Tito is a title competitor.

Bonnar should only really fight whenever he feels like it, and only against guys that will be a bit of fun for him. Fighters at his stage in his career should never go near titles or legitimate opponents.


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

ClydebankBlitz said:


> I hope Bonnar doesnt fight Tito. Tito's looking quite good again and Tito is a title competitor.
> 
> Bonnar should only really fight whenever he feels like it, and only against guys that will be a bit of fun for him. Fighters at his stage in his career should never go near titles or legitimate opponents.


Tito looked *quite good*? He beat up a Middleweight....

Bonnar/Tito is a perfect fight because neither one has anything to really offer at this point.


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## Spite (Jul 7, 2009)

ClydebankBlitz said:


> I hope Bonnar doesnt fight Tito. Tito's looking quite good again and Tito is a title competitor.
> 
> Bonnar should only really fight whenever he feels like it, and only against guys that will be a bit of fun for him. Fighters at his stage in his career should never go near titles or legitimate opponents.


Bonnar is 37 compared to Tito's 39.

Maybe he wants a run on the title?

Personally I think he'll fight until someone beats him then he'll take the analyst/commenter role.


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## UKMMAGURU (Nov 15, 2009)

Bonnar would dominate Tito, he is better everywhere including wrestling.


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## Hammerlock2.0 (Jun 17, 2009)

I like him as a commentator but I wish Bellator would just be tournament fights. For some reason even two unknown guys fighting in a tournament is a bigger draw for me than two big names fighting an irrelevant fight. You wanna make this look like an actual sport then tournaments is the way to go. Random draws, no outside influence, just fights.


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

Hammerlock2.0 said:


> I like him as a commentator but I wish Bellator would just be tournament fights. For some reason even two unknown guys fighting in a tournament is a bigger draw for me than two big names fighting an irrelevant fight. You wanna make this look like an actual sport then tournaments is the way to go. Random draws, no outside influence, just fights.


That's the whole reason Bjorn is gone and Coker is in.

They're gonna cut back on the shows with the smaller names and bring in the big names like Ramapage, Tito, Daley, Bonnar, King Mo, Manhoef etc to headline, get ratings, sell out venues. Bellator is essentially Strikeforce 2.0


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## OU (Sep 26, 2012)

I'm not in favor of cutting quality fighters to add "name value" fighters. I'd much rather they kept some of the guys they recently cut. So as an overall business move I'm not a fan. But if I allow myself to look only at Bonnar vs Tito and Bonnar being on the broadcast team I like that part of it.
But as far as the situation as a whole, GDP is right.


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## No_Mercy (Oct 17, 2006)

Suprising cuz I thought he was retired. Wonder if he got DW's blessing. I don't see why not. Don't remember his James Irvin fight at all. Interestingly enough he's one of three opponents that Anderson and the UFC LHW title holder share in common. To make an interesting comparison.

Anderson TKOs Bonnar Round 1 or 2
Anderson submits Chael in the 5th.
Anderson TKOs Chael in the 2nd.
Anderson KOs Vitor in the 1st

LHW title holder UDs Bonnar
LHW title holder TKOs Chael Round 1.
LHW title holder submits Vitor in the 4th.


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## RangerClydeTheBlue (Jul 11, 2012)

LL said:


> Tito looked *quite good*? He beat up a Middleweight....
> 
> Bonnar/Tito is a perfect fight because neither one has anything to really offer at this point.


Technically, Bonnar got beat by a middleweight too 

But I dunno, Tito's looking better. He says that the time off allowed him to heal properly and has been the best thing he's done in his entire career. Schlemenko might be slow and everything, but at the end of the day he was still on a 13 fight winning streak and the current champ. He might have been MUCH smaller but Tito disposed of him 2 minutes into the fight. I reckon Tito has what it takes to win the Bellator title, but I don't think he will for some reason. I want to see Tito Vs McGeary.



Spite said:


> Bonnar is 37 compared to Tito's 39.
> 
> Maybe he wants a run on the title?
> 
> Personally I think he'll fight until someone beats him then he'll take the analyst/commenter role.


Bonnar's like Griffin though. Those guys were 50 years old 10 years ago.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

LL said:


> That's the whole reason Bjorn is gone and Coker is in.
> 
> They're gonna cut back on the shows with the smaller names and bring in the big names like Ramapage, Tito, Daley, Bonnar, King Mo, Manhoef etc to headline, get ratings, sell out venues. Bellator is essentially Strikeforce 2.0


Initially maybe to get views but Coker is gonna use some of those names to build his younger stars. 

Coker builds talent. He built up half of the current UFC contenders as well as one of todays UFC champions who Dana White has called his biggest star. 

This is just his initial push. The cuts that he's made are fighters that he obviously does not want to work with. Some 0f these vets are gonna get fed to the young lions that he works with and that he discovers. In the mean time names like Stephan Bonnar and Rampage are great for that category...... Stephan Bonnar and Rampage by the way were never rejected or washed up by the UFC they both left by free will. The UFC did not cut those guys, they chose to leave. If it was up to Dana and the Fertitas they'd still have a contract essentially.

IMO Sokky and Tito are gonna get mauled by the fighters that Coker wants to build up. 

Rome wasn't built in a day fellas.


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## No_Mercy (Oct 17, 2006)

One of the greatest assets of SF was their HW division along with the blossoming female counterpart. Now that the UFC completely consolidated that he has to essentially start from phase 1 again. But he should never have left in the first place. Non-compete clause put him on the sidelines. 

I think Bellator is in good hands and he's developing a long term plan. Rookies can't jump into the UFC without experience and veterans need a place to go. Bellator is the answer. He just needs to focus on his p&l charts cuz that's what ultimately made him sell SF I imagine.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

LL said:


> Tito looked *quite good*? He beat up a Middleweight....
> 
> Bonnar/Tito is a perfect fight because neither one has anything to really offer at this point.


I love how that story has changed. First Tito was a joke who was going in there to be made an example of and get smashed. Now all he did was beat a middleweight.


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## Term (Jul 28, 2009)

It's going to interesting to see what Coker can do with Viacom money.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

gazh said:


> Bonnar would dominate Tito, he is better everywhere including wrestling.



Could not disagree more, I don't see a single aspect where Bonnar has an advantage outside possibly being more durable. Tito was always a competent striker and has usually been in shape. His grappling is better on every level as well as his striking. 


Sent from Verticalsports.com App


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## RangerClydeTheBlue (Jul 11, 2012)

Toxic said:


> Could not disagree more, I don't see a single aspect where Bonnar has an advantage outside possibly being more durable. Tito was always a competent striker and has usually been in shape. His grappling is better on every level as well as his striking.
> 
> 
> Sent from Verticalsports.com App


This. I think Tito will have the speed advantage everywhere, so he will have better striking and will be able to shoot in quicker.

Imo Bonnar is done, while Tito is gonna have a second wind in his career in Bellator.


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

Life B Ez said:


> I love how that story has changed. First Tito was a joke who was going in there to be made an example of and get smashed. Now all he did was beat a middleweight.


Tito probably will get smashed....

When he fights someone who fights at 205 pounds.


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## Scarecrow (Mar 20, 2008)

They better be testing Bonner throughout his camp. He was juiced to the max in his retirement fight with Anderson.


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## RangerClydeTheBlue (Jul 11, 2012)

Can you imagine Bonnar, juiced to the max, actually beat Anderson? The outrage!


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## LizaG (May 12, 2008)

Mark Coleman hustled Bonnar for two rounds, I see Tito taking this. 

*Stay retired Bonnar!!!!*


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

ClydebankBlitz said:


> Can you imagine Bonnar, juiced to the max, actually beat Anderson? The outrage!


Chael damn near did when he was juiced...


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## RangerClydeTheBlue (Jul 11, 2012)

_RIVAL_ said:


> Chael damn near did when he was juiced...


Weird how we kind of forget that.

Not many Anderson fans actually use the excuses of the rib or the juicing, but I suppose that's because Anderson won.


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## Rauno (Nov 20, 2009)

Didn't Tito even get a takedown on Rashad? Against the cage but still. I wouldn't count him out so fast. It's not like we know what Bonnar has been doing since the UFC.


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## RangerClydeTheBlue (Jul 11, 2012)

Tito seems to be in good shape, physically and mentally, so if he had glimpses of hope in his UFC streak of losses, I reckon he's gonna do solid now.


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

Scarecrow said:


> They better be testing Bonner throughout his camp. He was juiced to the max in his retirement fight with Anderson.


Bellator doesn't drug test bro.


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## OU (Sep 26, 2012)

WTF is this bullshit fake wrestling gimmick they are doing in the ring right now, wow total shit. Hate it so much.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Rauno said:


> Didn't Tito even get a takedown on Rashad? Against the cage but still. I wouldn't count him out so fast. It's not like we know what Bonnar has been doing since the UFC.



Count Tito out? I am counting Bonnar out, I don't see what advantage Bonnar has can somebody please fill me in on how Bonnar wins because I just don't see it. I think Tito is the better wrestler, grappler and striker. 


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## GDPofDRB (Apr 18, 2013)

Boner is a lame piece of garbage. **** bfc and/or viacomm for every giving that filth with Boner tonight the green light for tv. Garbage. 

Exceptional main event tonight. Pitbull was incredible. That is the only mma story on that show tonight worthy of attention.


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## OU (Sep 26, 2012)

GDPofDRB said:


> Boner is a lame piece of garbage. **** bfc and/or viacomm for every giving that filth with Boner tonight the green light for tv. Garbage.
> 
> Exceptional main event tonight. Pitbull was incredible. That is the only mma story on that show tonight worthy of attention.


I agree it was a very entertaining fight but that shit with Bonnar and Tito just pissed me off. No place for that shit in MMA, that's not the kind of shit they should be selling.


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