Bonnar trades Octagon for Squared Circle
Stephan Bonnar had dropped Dave Bautista a little too hard.
Bonnar was training Bautista, the retired WWE superstar who also starred in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, for his first and only mixed martial arts fight in 2012.
“I dropped him a little hard and he was like ‘Hey man, a little easier next time,’ and after that I made sure I did that,” said Bonnar, who transitioned from MMA star to pro wrestler two years ago. “And that is what I am doing now, because in pro wrestling you pick the guys up and land them nice and flat.”
Bautista, who defeated Vince Lucero by TKO, told a different story after the fight. He said Bonnar learned that day he’d be coming out of semi-retirement to fight UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 153 in Brazil.
“The day he got the call for Anderson Silva, he came to practice the next day, and he beat the living hell out of me,” Bautista told reporters after his fight. “And I think it’s because he put his game face on. It was a different Stephan Bonnar.”
Seven years later, Bonnar still knows exactly how to give and take a bump. Bonnar, who was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2013 for his fight against Forrest Griffin in the finals of the Ultimate Fighter 1, will wrestle at United We Stand 2, a joint event hosted by River City Wrestling (RCW) and World Class Revolution on Friday at Retama Park.
“When you spar with people, you have to know how not to hurt them. And that is what pro wrestling really is,” said Bonnar, 42. “You have to watch your speed and have good control and not hit the guys and count on them to sell. And if you do that, you can make a very beautiful, but violent fight scene.
“The hardest part for me is in between the moves — interacting with the crowd. In UFC, the crowd just disappears, but with this you engage, you act, you talk to them and stop between moves to get them fired up. Those are the parts that are difficult. Not hurting the guys? That is not a problem.”
Bonnar, who holds black belts in Brazilian jiujitsu and tae kwon do, last competed in mixed martial arts in November 2014, when he lost a split decision to fellow UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz in the headlining bout of Bellator 131. Bonnar later tested positive for a banned substance and announced his retirement from the sport. He eventually made a short comeback with Bellator.
Bonnar’s most significant fight was early in his career. His bout against Griffin helped propel MMA and the UFC toward mainstream. UFC president Dana White has stated the fight is one of the most important in the organization’s history.
“Everyone just saw themselves in us. We were just guys, and there was nothing special about us, and that made us really relatable,” Bonnar said. “That is what the sport needed. It touched everyone’s hearts and put the sport over.”
Now, though, he is trying to put something else over — independent wrestling.
“Part of my purpose right now is to go help indie promotions and help blue collar guys like me pay their mortgage,” Bonnar said.
Bonnar got into wrestling after being inspired by an unlikely source — WWE superstar Matt Riddle. Riddle, like Bonnar, had an extensive MMA career before getting into pro wrestling. As fate would have it, Bonnar called Riddle’s last MMA bout at Titan FC 27.
“He won that match with a guillotine choke, and despite winning this fight, he came over and told me, ‘You know man, I am going to move on and go into pro wrestling,’ ” Bonnar said. “I didn’t see it coming, and to see him being able to do it is really amazing.”
Bonnar was even supposed to make his pro wrestling debut against Riddle, who wrestles for WWE’s NXT brand, two years ago at an event in New York. However,
Riddle was forced to pull out of the match after developing a staph infection.
“That would have been great. He was already pretty hot, and since then he has blown up,” Bonnar said. “If anyone has inspired me it was him, or the guys I watched growing up like Hulk Hogan and King Kong Bundy. Not anyone in MMA. But Riddle, I saw him do this right before me, and it showed me I could do it.”
Still, when he first started pro wrestling, Bonnar did it sporadically. It was not until the last six to eight months that the former UFC fighter went all in on pro wrestling. Since then, he has had matches across the country, including a pair of bouts against IMPACT wrestling star Moose that featured involvement from former UFC and WWE superstar Ken Shamrock.
“For being as green as I am — with less than 20 matches, I know I have some work to do — but I think there is something there, and I am going to keep doing it,” Bonnar said. “I grew up loving pro wrestling. I remember someone asking me in church when I was about 10 what I wanted to be when I grow up, and I told them a pro wrestler.
“I just really procrastinated doing it. I wish I would have started it earlier.”