Revisiting Griffin-Bonnar, 10 years on
INSTANT CLASSIC: One of the most important fights in UFC history helped make competition what it is today
Heading into the Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus on April 9, 2005, the main attraction of the evening was a light-heavyweight scrap between Ken Shamrock and Rich Franklin, who counted a trio of wins inside the Octagon among his 18 victories at the time.
Eight other bouts lined the fight card, but the one that carried the most hype was the final bout of the evening, pitting the promising newcomer Franklin, nicknamed ‘Ace’ due to his resemblance to Ace Ventura star Jim Carrey, against the early UFC star.
Franklin would go on to dominate Shamrock and win the UFC middleweight title two months later, but the bout would become an afterthought as fight fans reminisce about that evening.
That’s because that April 9, 2005, event was The Ultimate Fighter Finale and Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar stole the show.
Everyone knows about the fight and its impact now, but at the time, very little was expected of the lightheavyweight Swick — but Sanchez looked to be the real breakout talent among the group, and affirmed that by crushing Kenny Florian to become the first official member of the fraternity of Ultimate Fighter winners.
None of that matters now because Griffin and Bonnar combined to deliver what remains one of the most important fights in UFC history.
For 15 minutes, these two relative unknowns in rather generic fight shorts went toe-to-toe, trading leather in hopes of securing not only a victory, but also a six-figure contract with the Las Vegas-based fight promotion.
Bonnar eschewed his advantage on the ground to stand with Griffin and deliver an action-packed encounter and as the fight went on, the viewership on Spike TV continued to climb.
By the time the final horn sounded and the exhausted, blood-stained competitors stood in the centre of the Octagon awaiting the verdict, everyone knew they had just witnessed something special.
Griffin earned the split-decision victory, but the UFC brass decided on the spot to award Bonnar a contract as well.
In all, eight members of the inaugural cast went on to become mainstays on the UFC roster.
A second season of The Ultimate Fighter would be commissioned in the parking lot outside the venue at the close of the night, and 10 years later, the reality TV competition has expanded to include international iterations and remains a pipeline for introducing new talent to the UFC audience.
If not for Griffin and Bonnar, the UFC wouldn’t be where it is today.
That fight became the spark that eventually led to the UFC’s first push toward mainstream acceptance.
A week later, the coaches from that inaugural season, Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, met in the main event of UFC 52, with Liddell knocking out Couture to win the light-heavyweight title.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Liddell became the biggest star in the UFC.
Couture would eventually retire, only to come back and win the heavyweight title from Tim Sylvia.
Griffin would ultimately climb to the top of the light-heavyweight division, winning the strap from Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson at UFC 86 before retiring in 2013 as one of the most popular fighters to ever compete in the UFC.
There have been more technical battles and five-round epics that offered greater ebbs and flows and more overall excitement.
But when it comes to the trajectory of the UFC, no single fight has been more influential than the 15-minute classic that Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar delivered from out of nowhere on April 9, 2005.
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