Stephan Bonnar, the Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famer who popularized the sport in the finale fight of the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, died Thursday, the mixed martial arts promoter announced Saturday. Bonnar died from “presumed heart complications while at work,” the UFC said in a news release. He was 45. “Stephan Bonnar was one of the most important fighters to ever compete in the Octagon,” UFC President Dana White said in the release.
The fight is in the company’s Hall of Fame fight wing, which recognizes “the greatest, most memorable and historically important UFC bouts.” Griffin won the epic match and was awarded a UFC contract. But the promotion also gave Bonnar a contract, too. “I knew it was a good fight during the fight,” Bonnar later said, according to the release. “It hit me when everyone started stomping their feet and it felt like the whole place was shaking. And that was in the second round.
A handy actor. Drug taking at that level has consequences. We feel for the loss of his family.