Mailbag: Bonnar braces for return
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports Jan 27, 7:52 pm EST
The recession has negatively impacted millions of people, who have lost their jobs and their homes.
Stephan Bonnar has been struggling the past few months, though his financial woes have little to do with the economic downturn.
But when you’re a professional fighter who gets paid only when you compete, a serious injury is a devastating fact of life.
Bonnar missed all of 2008 and will fight for the first time in 15 months on Saturday at UFC 94 when he meets Jon Jones at the MGM Grand Garden.
Bonnar, 31, is one of the elite light heavyweight mixed martial artists in the world, but he’ll be thrilled simply to have a paycheck to cash after Saturday’s card.
“It’s been so long and, financially, I’m behind,” Bonnar said. “Something the fans may not think about a lot is we don’t get paid unless we fight. And while there are some fighters who are lucky enough who have sponsors who pay them monthly, I’m not one of them. I get paid by the fight.
“I’ve been pretty frugal, but nothing only goes so far. I’ve had to do a lot of seminars and appearances and public speaking, whatever I could, a little acting, just to get by.” Bonnar has a part in the upcoming film “Ultimate Champion.”
After an impressive victory over Eric Schafer at UFC 77 on Oct. 20, 2007, Bonnar tore the lateral collateral ligament in his left knee in February during training for a fight against Matt Hamill.
That kept him out of action for the rest of the year.
He’s fought only twice since his loss in a rematch to Forrest Griffin at UFC 62 on Aug. 26, 2006. He had to serve a nine-month suspension and pay a $5,000 fine to the Nevada Athletic Commission for having tested positive for an anabolic steroid.
He fought Griffin with a broken arm and broke his hand in that fight.
Bonnar is hopeful he’s finally healthy enough to work his way back into the upper echelon of the stacked light heavyweight division.
His only losses – two to Griffin, one to current UFC champion Rashad Evans and another on cuts to unbeaten Lyoto Machida – came against the créme de la cr éme.
His first fight with Griffin is one of the greatest slugfests in UFC history and was excruciatingly close. His loss to Evans came on a majority decision, a fight Bonnar felt he deserved to win.
When he’s healthy, he’s not far behind the elite in his weight class.
“I’m confident in myself and feel like I can have an impact, but the important thing is staying healthy for an extended period so I’m in there competing,” Bonnar said.
Jones is a former junior college national wrestling champion who was impressive in his UFC debut at UFC 87, when he claimed a unanimous decision over Andre Gusmao. Bonnar says he’s impressed with Jones, but is also confident he’s fully healed and prepared as well as could be expected.
“We train like we fight and I’ve worked hard, so I expect to feel real good,” Bonnar said. “There’s nothing like being in there fighting, but I’ve pushed myself in training. [Jones] is a very athletic kid. He’s long and he’s explosive and he has some good throws. He tossed Gusmao around quite a bit. I have to expect the unexpected.
“Fundamentally, he’s not the most sound in terms of his boxing skills, but he’s one of those athletes who will come at you from all directions with all sorts of different attacks.”
Now, let’s get on to the reader questions and comments. As always, my answers are in italics.
FEDOR IS NO. 1
After Fedor Emelianenko’s victory over Andrei Arlovski Saturday in Anaheim, Calif., can there really be any debate over who should be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world? Fedor’s stock fell over the last several years for fighting weak competition. He was put into the limelight again last summer when he submitted Tim Sylvia in stunning fashion in 36 seconds. Last weekend, he finished Arlovski with a perfectly timed and placed punch to send an airborne Arlovski flying to the mat. Sylvia is generally regarded as a top 10 heavyweight and Arlovski is definitely top five. There is no doubt that Anderson Silva is an absolute beast. He destroyed Rich Franklin who everyone thought was unbeatable, and he did it twice. He’s walked through most of his competition. His most impressive performance was his victory over Dan Henderson where he came back from losing the first round to winning the fight. I just don’t see Anderson Silva being better than Fedor at this point.
Rob
Denver
I’ve been the lone wolf voting for B.J. Penn as No. 1 over the last few months in the Yahoo! Sports poll conducted by my colleague, Dave Doyle. If Penn wins, I’ll keep him in the top spot, but if not, I think I’m going to move Emelianenko to No. 1 based on the knockout of Andrei Arlovski. Really, though, it’s a coin flip. Those guys at the top are so good, any of them could be chosen No. 1 and it wouldn’t be a mistake.
EXPLAINING OSCAR’S PRESENCE
Oscar De La Hoya was at the Affliction show because Golden Boy may buy Affliction’s MMA promotion. Trust me, I have inside information. Why would Oscar get paid to appear at an event where he might buy that company?
Cory
Florida
I wouldn’t expect Golden Boy to consider buying another promotion until they’ve had a good while to assess the situation. I don’t think a sale is imminent and I take those involved at their word.
FEDOR-COUTURE
With Brock Lesnar taking out Randy Couture in the fashion he did at UFC 91, do you still think Fedor-Couture is THE match? I tend to disagree with this notion. If Couture were 5-8 years younger, I think this would be a great fight. Unfortunately he’s 45 and while he’s 1-1 as of late, he’s not getting any younger and with Randy signing onto a movie and getting surgery, a fight would be unlikely until he’s 48. This is like asking George Foreman (now) to fight Mike Tyson (from the ’80s). Are there any strikers (not BJJ) out there who have a chance to take out Brock? I’m not a big fan of his, but he’s huge and it doesn’t seem anyone has done any damage to him.
Matt Hallberg
Santa Clara, Calif.
The fight would still be big if it’s made, but it’s not the fight it would have been had Couture beaten Lesnar or simply gone straight into a fight with Fedor. The biggest money fight that could be made would be Fedor-Lesnar, though Emelianenko would be a huge favorite at this point. As Lesnar gains experience, though, it’s a much more competitive fight. As for strikers who could potentially KO Lesnar, I’d say Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez, for two.
JUDGING IRREGULARITIES
What do promotions do in instances of judges scoring a fight wrong? Obviously it’s an opinion, but the judge that had the scorecard 30-27 in favor of Rich Franklin over Dan Henderson was asinine. Was he a judge in the Matt Hamill vs. Michael Bisping fight in 2007?
Kyle Snow
The fights in the U.S. are held under the jurisdiction of the athletic commission of whatever state the card is in. Thus, the promoter would have no say in the selection and appointment of judges or in how they work. The only thing a promoter could do if he disagreed with the judging would be to put together a rematch. For UFC fights in the U.K., because the sport is not sanctioned by the British Boxing Board of Control, the UFC’s vice president, Marc Ratner, serves as the commission. He selects the judges and referees and they’re paid by the UFC. That creates an appearance of impropriety that has to change, even though Ratner’s integrity cannot be questioned. Ratner, for those who don’t know, is the long-time executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission and is one of the most respected men in combat sports regulation. The judge who scored it 30-27 for Franklin was Chris Watts, the same man who scored it 30-27 for Matt Hamill over Michael Bisping.
UFC’s INTEREST IN BELFORT
After seeing Vitor Belfort’s destruction of Matt Lindland, the No. 2 middleweight in the world, do you think the UFC will attempt to re-sign him to fight Anderson Silva? Did Vitor leave the UFC on good terms or is he in president Dana White’s dog house? I think it would make a great fight considering how the Vitor of old has emerged.
Robert
Daphne, Ala.
I agree that a Belfort-Silva fight at middleweight could be outstanding. But Belfort is under contract to Affliction and Affliction certainly isn’t going to let him walk away to the UFC, considering how he’s apparently turned his career around. I’ll take issue with your depiction of Lindland as the No. 2 middleweight in the world prior to the fight, but it was nonetheless an amazing knockout.
INTERESTING HEAVYWEIGHT MATCH
When I saw the recently released schedule for UFC 96, the fight that interested me the most was the Shane Carwin-Gabriel Gonzaga bout. What’s your early take on this intriguing matchup?
Jeremy Caine
Pensacola, Fla.
I think that will be a fun fight. Carwin is a wrestler who has developed very good striking skills. Gonzaga is exceptionally talented, but seems to be a frontrunner who doesn’t do well when the chips are down. I expect a good fight, but for Carwin to come out on top.
FEDOR’S PAY
Could you explain the purse differences in the Emelianenko-Arlovski fight? It was reported Fedor received $300,000 with no win bonus to Andrei’s $1.5m. I think Sylvia got $200,000 more than Emelianenko last July, as well. I know the figures reported to the state athletic commission do not include sponsors, but why is there such a huge difference? Does M-1 pay something as well? What’s the deal?
Jim Wilson
Arlington, Va.
The figure that is on the bout sheet is the amount that the commissions release to the public, but that’s not all that a promoter pays a fighter. Sponsorship dollars are totally separate as well, but as for pay, a fighter often has an agreement with a promoter for more money. In the first Affliction show, Fedor received more than a $1 million bonus from Affliction and he, in fact, did make more than Tim Sylvia. Affliction’s Tom Atencio would not comment on what Fedor was paid other than pointing to what was on the commission records, but you can bet Fedor did not make less than Arlovski from Affliction on Saturday.
COULD PENN LEAVE THE UFC?
With the fight between B.J. Penn and Georges St. Pierre looming Saturday, I cannot help but to wonder that if Penn loses this bout whether he will work his way out of the UFC after a fight with Kenny Florian. Florian really represents the only top 10 fighter that the UFC has under contract at 155. A loss to GSP does not hurt Penn that much, as he is fighting up a weight class, but Penn wants the competition and if he loses to GSP he will not get another chance to jump up. Will the lure of fighting other top 10 155-pound fighters like Shinya Aoki, Joachim Hansen, Eddie Alvarez and Tatsuya Kawajiri draw him to Japan again if he were to lose to GSP? Or maybe he would be allowed to fight bigger men in Dream if he loses that chance in the UFC?
Jason Iorio
Syracuse, N.Y.
B.J. says he’s committed to the UFC, period. I’ll take him at his word unless there is evidence to the contrary, which I don’t see at this stage.
LIDDELL-SILVA AT UFC 100
Since there seems to be no “real” threat to Anderson Silva in the middleweight division, would Silva move back up to light heavyweight and fight Chuck Lidell in the 100th UFC show, possibly in N.Y.? I think that would be a great fight that Silva could get up for and now that NY will sanction MMA bouts, what better place than the “Big Apple?” Silva looked good at 205 and Lidell, I think, would make for an excellent and exciting match. What do you think?
Linwood Keith
UFC 100 will be July 11 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. MMA is still not legal in New York, let alone sanctioned. If Liddell and Silva win their upcoming fights, against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Thales Leites, respectfully, it could occur, but I doubt it. For what it’s worth, White insists he hasn’t begun to work on matchmaking for that show yet.
