Join the UFC family as we honor the life and career of Stephan Bonnar at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. Subscribe to get …
[Applause] Stefan Bonner was one of the most important figures ever to fight in UFC it was a legend of the sport and I have the honor of calling him my friend honestly my whole life I was obsessed with being tough obsessed with the word tough and that really became my purpose in life [Applause] 2005 the first ever Ultimate Fighter Forest Griffin and Stefan Bonner get in there at it crazy fight both of these guys they’re giving it everything they have on an incredible war that changes the entire face of ex-martial Arts the most significant fight in UFC history there is no loser in this [Music] perception Barner has fought every single time the same way he did when he made history that night against Forrest Griffin the American Psycho it is my honor to induct you into the UFC Hall of Fame [Music] thank you so much [Music] I’ve spilled pints and pints of blood for you guys over the years and you know what it’s thoroughly been my pleasure Mina I love you guys [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning everyone and thank you for joining us for this celebration of life for Stefan Bonner I want to thank all of you for coming I truly believe it would have meant a lot to him that you’re all here of course it seems odd to talk about or to celebrate the life of someone that passed away so young but one thing I can say about Stefan is he he had all his adventures he did everything you would want to do with the life there’s plenty to celebrate he had some amazing Stories and and I was fortunate enough to be part of a few of them um and I guess I’ll I’ll start here by telling a few of the cooler Adventures we’ve had and I’ll be honest the first couple Adventures that came to mind were not PG but I did manage to settle on a few some of them may some of you may know that Stephanie and I actually fought a couple times and that was how you get to know each other you fight a person you feel like you know them pretty well just like in Middle School we uh we after The Ultimate Fighter we uh shared a hospital room together and that’s where we got to know each other because the emergency room put us in beds right next to each other but it was okay because we had this curtain you know the sheet for privacy which you know just made things more awkward so I think it was Stefan who moved the curtain and uh so we started talking and due to the fact that uh a Vegas ER on a Saturday night being a little bit cut and eating some stitches is not a priority we had time to learn each other’s life stories and then we decided that what we had to do was get our for me it was my best friend Roy and for uh Stefan it was his future wife Andrea to go get us some fast food so they did start from he went through a McDonald’s phase some of you know that’s unfortunate but it happens to everyone um so they went and got us 20 worth of McDonald’s and in twenty dollars twenty dollars in 2005 money would actually get you a substantially large amount of extremely mediocre food so there we are eating McDonald’s burgers in the ER in our next course of action as you can imagine was to figure out how to get some beers in there thanks to the inefficiency of the hospital system on a in Vegas and uh you know the popularity of the Vegas ER on a Saturday night we got to know each other’s life stories he had grown up a martial artist doing Taekwondo and reading stories about Bruce Lee and and practicing and studying his principles I wasn’t really that familiar with martial arts and to me martial arts was an old guy in pajamas trying to convince me to do weird things so I wasn’t huge on it but he actually convinced me that that martial arts was an art it wasn’t just about fighting that’s one of the cool things that I really wanted to share with you is that he was a martial artist he studied these principles I know he talked about being tough but you know he he thought that martial arts was the weight of that now he grew up with a couple older brothers that helped make him tough so he didn’t lack for toughness thanks to his older brothers I grew up with a younger brother that played violin so not not a lot of toughness in our family so the more we talk the more I realized we were the yin and yang to each other he was the exact same as me but the complete opposite and by the time the doctors got there to stitch us up I’m pretty sure Stefan was looking through the cabinet seeing if he could find a needle and threat and that’s when I decided that every good every good fight after party should start in the ER in case I didn’t know Stefan enough I really really got to know him when we traveled to London to help casting for the ultimate fighter now we thought that we were going to be Talent Stouts we thought we’d moved up in the world um no what we actually were going to do later we found out was a role with 40 hungry dudes that wanted to be all on the ultimate fighter and show us uh or show Dana through Us by beating us up how tough they were so we rolled with these guys for three hours but the cool thing was that was the first time either of us had flown first class and we got to fly next to Dana White which is pretty cool 2005 or six so that was it was big time uh when we landed I guess Stefan felt the need to get that first class energy off of them and of course he decided that we had to find a British McDonald’s that that it was some sort of exotic delicacy uh which you know is a little weird but you fly first class to eat McDonald’s it evens out I’m sure a couple hours later now this is like three in the morning I text him well this is 2005 or six so this is like before phones were magic and could you know Entertain You hey what’s up you know are you up and of course he was and I guess my plan was that the two of us would wander around London in the middle of the night and maybe if there were two of us we wouldn’t get mugged so I get to his room and he’s doing what one does if they put a treadmill in your room uh you know hotel room treadmills are actually kind of a cool thing but he’s running on it naked no shoes no socks completely naked running on it which you know I said Stefan that’s a little weird why are you doing that but his answer is actually why I decided we were buds for life he had taken a shower since the plane so he’s taking his dirty playing clothes off and he didn’t want to put those back on and then he only had budgeted enough underwear for one a day so if he sweat in his underwear tonight he wouldn’t have any fresh for the flight back and I said oh my God I also only brought a carry-on that is amazing buds for life and I had I had in my oh fairness to me I brought six pair of underwear instead of the five just you never know when you might need an extra the most recent stuff and Adventure that I got to hear about and be a part of was last year when we were meant to be doing a seminar and he starts texting me a little bit frantically about an hour before the seminar starts saying he’s going to be late but then he shows up on time and kind of flustered so before I can even ask he starts telling me the story he was selling funeral insurance at this time and he was as one does selling funeral Insurance in an assisted living community and so he you know he’d worked with his clients he he’d done his thing and then they were closing down for the night so he had to excuse himself you know for the long drive to the gym and he goes in the bathroom I’m guessing he was in there for a while because when he comes out it’s dark nobody’s there and he finds that he’s been locked in so he’s going around he’s checking all the doors and windows they’re secure and then he finds a number this is like in case of emergency’s call so he calls and he ends up connected to somebody in Connecticut or something and I guess it was for non-urgent emergencies or something so he checks the doors again and he finds the least secured door and breaks out of it and in my head I see Stefan a big dude breaking out of an assisted living home and and in my mind like the the residents the elderly residents are like calling 9-1-1 or be like this guy’s breaking out and then maybe they’re thinking well he’s breaking out should I go too I don’t know that was Stefan but the seminar went great and he didn’t get in trouble in fact the home apologized to him for locking him in now Stefan was a loving husband and father and he was a great friend who always had your back he was larger than life with a big personality that filled up any room he had a huge heart and to watch him fight was to know him yes he was tough and a little crazy but he was Fearless you excuse me he wasn’t Fearless but he still made himself do those things he made himself overcome his fear to show his toughness every time and no matter who he fought where he fought he fought with every ounce of his bin heart and soul and that that was Stephan Bonner on behalf of Stefan’s family and friends I want to thank you all very much and leave you with this despite the moniker American Psycho Stefan was an incredibly kind and loving person now let me now introduce president of the UFC Dana White thank you all [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you good morning everybody first of all I want to say thanks to everyone for coming today and everybody who’s watching online I want to thank Andrea Griffin and the Bonner family for allowing us to do this celebration of life for Stefan and I’m going to be brief today so you can hear from people who are very close to him and who will speak about Stefan the man better than I ever could force was awesome that was incredible thank you Forrest um but what I want to talk about today is Stefan the fighter and what he meant to the UFC and to the sport stuff from Bonner is one of the most important figures in the history of this company and mixed martial arts that’s why the tough one finale between Stefan and force is the first fight ever inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame and it’s funny how how things kind of play out when I look back you know I don’t have all the the crazy friendship stories that that uh forest does but that first season of The Ultimate Fighter was the longest season that we ever did and you know most of the guys who are in that house Force included Stefan include were a little nutty and uh the longer they were in there the nuttier they got um you know there were so many different things that happened that season but when you look at the way life plays out in the way that things happen it’s it’s crazy because at one point Stefan went in and told the producers that he was going to take a shower he snuck out the window now remember you’re talking back and this is 2005 2004 2005-ish the house that they were in was in the middle of the desert it was in the middle of nowhere Stefan sneaks out the window of the bathroom to go look for Booze because we took booze out of the house because these guys were acting like idiots in there and we finally had to take the the liquor out and he disappears and he’s gone for hours they can’t find him and uh when we finally do bring them back everybody’s saying what are you going to do are you going to kick him out are you going to kick him out and for whatever reason I did not kick him out of the house thank God or probably wouldn’t be up here talking today but in late 2004 we started filming The Ultimate Fighter the UFC was obviously in pretty rough shape Frank Lorenzo and I were producing the reality show as a last-ditch effort to turn things around um but in the early stages of filming this thing was so crazy we didn’t even know if season one was going to air we had no clue it was it was a very weird time for the UFC but obviously tough season one did air on Spike TV in early 2005 and the ratings were incredible um but a successful reality show wasn’t going to be enough to pull us out of the hole that we were in what we needed to do was build stars and what we really needed was a great finale it was the first live UFC fight on free TV and it was either going to make us or break us and no disrespect to the cast of tough one I know some of you are here but not a lot of those fights were were great they weren’t the best fights in the world there was only one fight on that card that changed the course of history Forrest Griffin versus Stefan Bonner and uh the card that night never really showcased the back and forth battle in the grit and really what this sport is all about then Stefan and four stepped into the octagon and went to war for three unbelievable rounds the people in the arena if any of you were there that night and remember you heard it at the end of the video too they were stomping their feet it sounded like a freight train was going through the place and everybody was chanting one more round one more round and the ratings went through the roof and what was awesome that night was that both of these guys showed skill incredible toughness but more importantly they were both so passionate and wanted to win so bad they showed the largest audience we’d ever had what this sport was really all about and obviously Forest weren’t a close decision but like I said in the Octagon that night there was no loser in that fight because Stefan was equally responsible for how great the fight was so we ended up giving him a contract too and that night there was much more on the line than just winning a reality show or a UFC contract literally the future of the entire sport was at stake stefanham Forest Rose to the occasion and gave the performance of a lifetime and they did it right when we needed it the most they saved the sport and we will never forget what they did that night obviously Stefan went on to fight in the UFC for many more years fought some of the greatest fighters of all time Anderson Silva Mark Coleman Rashad Evans and the Goat Jon Jones Stefan loved to fight and compete he was always ready willing and able to face anyone anytime the fans loved him because he was incredibly entertaining and he was so tough and Stefan Bonner was a real fighter Stefan was everything the UFC stands for his contributions this company will never be forgotten and he will be greatly missed by all of us and for Andrea and her family you know the UFC will always be your home anything you ever need from me or anybody in this company do not ever hesitate to ask um we’re here for you for whatever you need remember that thank you all for coming today [Applause] [Music] thank you Dina thank you very much uh your man in your word you always promise a spot for Stefan Bonner and it’s a is a tribute to what he did for this sport that you put this together so so thank you I’m Tom Scully I’m a lifelong best friend of stepping behind her I’m not stepping when we were uh three years old I’m pretty sure this was my my first day of preschool our past had crossed on the teeter-totter uh he asked me to join him for a ride and before I could get on my side uh another one of the older kids jumped my way Stefan wouldn’t have it and I took the kid and threw him off the teeter-totter followed up with a swift kick and uh the rest is kind of History it was my my first time at the principal’s office and uh it was my first time meeting a real life superhero so yeah uh stepping was gifted he was a precocious student of of his many interests and that was all things being tough it really was a real big part of Stephen’s character he loved to be tough uh and this is uh in part because of the family and his upbringing his uh his father was a marine his uncle was a boxing champ his brother Brent was the toughest kid in school and he was really tough and then Johnny was a fantastic athlete musician and uh growing up Stefan wanted to be a ninja which uh you know that’s kind of uh a little difficult for parents and teachers and coaches to kind of guide him through that but uh nonetheless I think that we could all uh offer our thanks to Mrs Bonner who drove him to taekwondo for many years on pursuit of his black belt and making him those special green drinks so thank you Mrs Bonner uh step and saw discipline is the foundation of his toughness he never missed a workout no matter what uh he always ate on a schedule even after uh an especially rough night out in Iceland he got a workout in and I remember he came afterwards and he was bragging he was so proud of himself for putting the treadmill up to 8.5 now Stefan knew damn well that that was in kilometers but you know that was that that was his personality he had a great sense of humor and it was always meant to entertain himself and uh he did this with deadpan delivery Stefan’s theory of this discipline involved breaking things to better understand the parts he loved mixed martial arts incorporating boxing and wrestling Jiu Jitsu he sought to make his reactions uh uh Beyond thought into instinct he was a black belt at 15. he wrestled he’s a lifelong student he absorbed great experience from Legends like Sergio Pena and Carlson Gracie Carlson Grace he was renowned for his toughness coached and cornered Stefan during that legendary fight with with Forrest and uh his advice turned in between rounds had nothing to do with Jiu Jitsu it was a Robocop no taking down The Punchy Punchy Punchy ponchi poha it was all about the fight he wanted to see a good fight and uh and he and he got one he called him RoboCop because no matter what you threw at him he kept on coming so here’s these are the words of Stefan and how he described that moment and how he felt about the UFC and his opportunity he said uh it wasn’t forced in my athleticism that changed the face of this sport it was our enduring spirit the option of quitting is always right around the corner but laying down and covering up to me is death people fell in love with that fight because it reminded them of how much fight they have inside themselves that fight touched certain emotions in nearly everyone who watched it the UFC was no longer a guilty pleasure but instead something they’re proud to be an advocate for UFC no longer meant human cockfighting it was meant perseverance humility respect and honor I want to keep touching these emotions and make fans feel like they’re part of this I want people laugh I want people to lighten things up and bring loyal fans in from a very young age thus helping to create a brand for life I care too much about all these things to stand around and wait and watch and Hope Stephan was a two-time Golden Gloves champ his favorite boxer was Aaron Pryor he loved that way and Bam don’t give a damn Style his favorite fighter was sakuraba legendary wars never quit no surrender Stefan was a great friend we did a lot of things together through our lives we worked many jobs as kids we were Teamsters we loaded trucks in the cold Chicago winners midnight we sold beers together A Grateful Dead concerts while we were still in high school and we sold t-shirts to fans on four continents Stefan always had my back one of the t-shirts we created uh wound us up in a little bit of hot water for using a Fighter’s likeness as a Cabbage Patch Kid on a t-shirt we were sued and as part of the settlement there was a public apology so stepping not to be outdone he challenged one of the plaintiff’s team members and issued the public apology live during his Victorious post-fight interview speech Stefano is Emma back and he’s a great guy he was loyal he remained with his wife for 22 years he even pulled a Rocky Balboa moment shouting I love you Andrea at the season finale of tough one step was not one to hold a grudge he never spoke of being robbed or cheated he had acquired acceptance of what is steppen had tremendous respect for the abilities of his adversaries people who’d later call friends Stefan named his son Griffin Griffin Bonner and Stefan loved his son very much Stephen was admired by those who possessed greatness themselves I saw Roger Clemens jump a security line to get a picture with Stefan and vitamin deliver speeches to inspire others at the premiere of I Am Bruce Lee some of Stefan modeled himself after in a movie he was in one of Stefan’s many fans came up and told him how that fight with Forrest had inspired him and they caused him and gave him the strength to dig deep en thanked him saying that means a lot especially coming from you Robert Downey Jr Stephen lived an exceptional life he never gave up he fought until the very end he believed you can never fail if you don’t quit he packed many lives into his short time here on Earth he had an expectation of greatness and he lived it he fought the toughest man on the planet starred in movies he did stunts he ran the Baja 1000 he performed stand-up comedy he did color commentary for legendary fights he trained with Elite forces and counter-terrorism techniques and was one hell of a marksman Stefan started a charity in support of the inclusion of special needs athletes competing in martial arts he even held the Dana White lookalike contest and hosted a game show and entitled are you smarter than a ring girl Stefan was a lot more than a fighter I’ll finish with a quote that Stefan shared during his fall Hall of Fame induction speech nothing in this world can take the place of persistence Talent will not nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with Talent genius will not unrewarded genius is almost a proverb education will not the world is filled with educated derelicts persistence and determination alone are omnipotent the slogan press on has solved and they’ll lose will solve the problems of the human race I’ll forever miss my friend the legend Stefan Bonner [Applause] it’s my pleasure to introduce Mr Bonner [Music] I thank you all for coming thank the UFC for for putting on this celebration thank Dana White it uh your knees stories are bittersweet we certainly we certainly will miss them Stefan was a huge Hoosier he was the first kid we had that was born in Indiana and it showed he was uh is more country in the city yeah he had a problem though he we were always at the Hammond clinic he was just before he could walk he broke his leg I don’t know how but he uh yeah so he’d crawl around dragging that leg behind him but he never cried never say anything it’s just we’d look at him and say you know something’s wrong with him so we take him to the clinic usually it was a Sunday or a holiday and uh sure enough broken leg when he broke his arm we didn’t know until we seen him riding his big wheel with one armed dragon all day and said man maybe we better take him yeah it was broken he uh he was cons his the the doctor we had growing up with the kids Dr Morris said he’d never seen a kid more than he saw Stefan he’s seen him all the time and by the way we we know him when he used to go by Stephen he was uh when he was in uh grammar school he decided that uh he didn’t like being called Stephanie he wanted to be Steve and uh he constantly remind us and then when he got into Show Business he uh he kind of liked Stefan so we had to we always had to be careful about that so but he uh yeah he had a tendency to uh to get hurt the only advice I gave him was to get to know Stitch real while because he’d probably be seeing him a lot and he did he he was good friends so he went to uh he met one of his classmates there’s more here today he uh tended to be loyal to his friends and to his family he uh he sort of got into right well Taekwondo first and and wrestling because being the youngest is uh Forrest and Tom mentioned he used to his brothers weren’t they were kind of rough on him and uh he decided he was going to do something about it so he did but he was always skinny he’s always tall skinny and a school a lot of people would look at him and they they didn’t think much of them he uh so they’d take him on he fought all the time he loved it he loved the fight he he got into he he we didn’t even we knew know any of this stuff but he was he he was working uh Summers on it on the docks like Tom was saying and I’m announced us he was driving up to Chicago to Carlson Gracie’s gym and uh learning Jiu-Jitsu he already had a black belt in Taekwondo and he was learning the box with Joe Kane in a wrestling character but Tia he and he entered the Golden Gloves now when I was a kid in Chicago Golden Gloves was a big deal it was at St Andrews gym up by Wrigleyville and the toughest kids in your high school went up there toughest kids in Chicago and he was uh he was actually boxing up there we went so we go to the fights or there’ll be in 1819 fights he’d be there all night but uh we go watch him fight and he was it was always the same with stuff and he’d lose that first round usually and then uh and then it by the time the first round ended he knew he had him he just the second round he’d start coming on coming on coming on and then by the third round the other fighter would be so gassed from hitting him earlier on that uh he just wipe them up and he won he won and we were amazed we said what this is our kid we didn’t we didn’t see that coming and uh he even went to the the Nationals the second year he uh first year he won the the rookie division but second year he actually went to the Nationals and and we didn’t bother going because he was going to one fight he was coming back home but sure enough he won first couple fights beat a kid from New York that was favored and uh the kid he finally lost to from St Louis was the runner-up heavyweight so he always was surprising us he always was surprising us much like when he got on this TV show with the UFC so we didn’t expect nothing out of that but he once again he surprised us Stefan had a love for the sport he loved fighting and it showed he loved the UFC he loved his fellow Fighters he loved his family he loved his cousins and when there was a any kind of wedding it no matter where he was he’d always show up when there was family reunions he always showed up and uh he loved his family and they loved him and just as so many of you loved him so I want to thank you all for coming out this is really blows my mind it’s amazing and uh like you we will we will miss him dearly and Life Will Go On but it just won’t be quite the same thank you enough and now I believe the cast of The Ultimate Fighter season will on are here and going to be coming up next [Music] [Applause] [Music] hi everybody my name is Chris and Stefan was my friend uh you know you guys know that he was a warrior and an amazing fighter a true martial artist you know all that Stefan Stefan and I shared a bunk bed on uh on that first season of The Ultimate Fighter so I got to know him pretty good um we shared a lot of stories through our career um if we fought on the same card many times and had a lot of great nights together you know there’s so much I could tell you there’s there’s a lot of stories that are awesome not PG I could tell you you know some some good times being young traveling the world and fighting moments memories with Stefan um but uh you know we stayed in touch all those years you know it was just a couple years ago a step in maybe two years Stefan was uh doing some commentary in San Diego he came out he stayed at my house we went hiking we went out to dinner you know and and we talked and you know what I remember about that and the one thing always about Stefan that I can appreciate more than anything is he was going to tell you how it was you know he was there was always humor mixed in to his answer to his delivery um but he was going to let you know how he felt whether it was something I was going through something he was going through Stephen Bonner was uh not just in this industry but I think in the world one of the most honest people I’ve ever met you know I he was a good friend and uh just want to pay my condolences to his his wife his son his family um and say that you know his Legend and what he did he lived many lives this guy a full meaningful full lives accomplished so much and he will be missed thank you [Applause] hello everybody um Alex care Alexis and uh it’s quite an honor to be here today thank you to the UFC and Dana for making this happen in the bonded family for letting us celebrate uh Stefan’s life there’s a lot of amazing things that have been said today and some stories I’ve heard before some that were new getting here from his father his best friend all the stories shared between us uh is amazing personally for me the impact that Stefan had on my life is you don’t realize that you know until you reflect and you think back and then you realize maybe I’m doing some things because this is what shaped these moments to go back to that night that changed everything right I mean it changed the lives of everybody up here on the stage a lot of people in the room a lot of people across the globe that night had such an impact and you can’t even really sense of like how many people it impacted when you when you think back because at that time a fight like that it really hadn’t been seen before that was stuff that you saw in movies and the new people the new eyes on the sport that were watching that night I mean it changed the lives and it had an impact and ultimately that’s what you judge is um which a legacy is a man what impact how have you helped people um in for Stefan it was that Warrior Spirit he defined that Warrior Spirit there were people watching that fight not only in their living rooms but these guys behind me in the dressing rooms being like I can’t believe that this is possible I can’t believe the body can do that I can’t believe somebody’s will to win can take you to these levels and when you take that and you can put it not only into your athletic career being like man I didn’t think the four minute mile was possible and then it happened and I didn’t think the body could do that and then you saw forest and Stefan do that you take it into your personal life that I’m not quitting he showed me this is possible you take it into business whatever it is I think it was Tom was telling the story Robert Downey Jr saying the same thing right like you impacted my life so to think of how many lives he impacted for the better and gave people confidence strength the will to believe is uh it it really hit me and that’s what I wanted to express here today it’s changed my life it’s given me motivation it’s given it’s set a standard that ultimately can’t be reached but you’re still going to try every day and that’s um that’s what Stefan means to me is the ultimate warrior spirit with that being said again deepest heartfelt condolences to The Bona family and friends everybody here thank you for coming over today and letting us share these moments I’m forever honored and humbled to call Stefan a friend thank you [Applause] on behalf of Stefan’s friends and family I want to thank you all very much for spending this time with us and coming to honor his memory and I want to leave you with this despite the moniker of the American Psycho Stefan was an incredibly kind and loving person if you want to do something in honor of him to remember him please just remember that if somebody like Stefan Bonner can be taken from us so young a person that I always described as durable a person who in all of his many UFC fights and all of his many fights against world champions never got knocked out if his life isn’t guaranteed then the time we have on this Earth is not guaranteed at all and I think he would want me to tell you to spend the time you have and the rest of your life loving the people close to you thank you all very much for coming [Applause] foreign [Music]