Dana White defends the induction of Bonnar into the UFC Hall of Fame

Quote :

Though Bonnar has never won a UFC title, and he has been caught for steroids twice in his career, the UFC inducted him into it’s Hall of Fame. The reason for this decision, according to White, is Bonnar and Griffin’s fight in the TUF finale, a fight that he says single-handedly saved the UFC.



“I don’t think people realize, really, really realize what that one fight meant to this sport and this company. I look at it as, I’m inducting Forrest, and Stephan goes with him. It wasn’t just Forrest. Both of those guys took us to this next level. He’s being inducted for that one fight that took this thing to the next level.”



What accentuates the importance of that one fight, explains White, is the risk he and his business partners at Zuffa took to produce The Ultimate Fighter- a risk that put them $30 million in debt. Zuffa was responsible for all production costs for TUF, a price-tag that used up the last of their funds. To make matters worse, in the early days of filming the fighters were refusing to fight.



“This was our last $10 million,” said White. “This was it. It was over. Our last $10 million, and Lorenzo [Fertitta] says, ‘None of these guys are going to fight.’ I’m like, ‘What? I’m on my way over there right now.’ That’s where the whole, ‘Do you want to be a [expletive] fighter thing’ came from.



“This thing was over! It was the end of my [expletive] life. OK? It was [expletive] over. Now, people think I went over there like some tough guy. No. My life was about to be over, all right? And I said, ‘If you don’t want to fight, then I’m throwing down with all you [expletive] guys. I was going crazy man.”



As it would turn out, Stephan Bonnar would win his way to the championship fight against Forrest Griffin. The fight was a grueling battle, one of the best fights there has been in MMA. White reflected that he almost kicked Bonnar off the show for sneaking out of the house to find a liquor store. Fortunately, he allowed the fighter to continue fighting, and that fight generated the biggest audience for mixed martial arts in the US. The reality show drew more than one million viewers per episode.



The subsequent success and explosion of popularity mixed martial arts and the UFC have seen, White believes, is due entirely to that one fight between Bonnar and Griffin.



“Nobody knows more than me how much that fight meant,” said White. “For us, that fight meant everything, and I never forget it.”

http://www.bjpenn.com/dana-white-defends-stephan-bonnar-induction-to-hall-of-fame/

At least he's not trying to BS it like Bonnar is getting in because of his body of work as a fighter. Sounds like it's kind of like what I figured all along; Bonnar gets in as a part of UFC history, not because he's a HOF-caliber fighter.

Triggerman99 wrote:

At least he's not trying to BS it like Bonnar is getting in because of his body of work as a fighter. Sounds like it's kind of like what I figured all along; Bonnar gets in as a part of UFC history, not because he's a HOF-caliber fighter.

Yeah, fair enough...

Yeah, I think I can give that reasoning the nod.

Just proves there's always much more to it than meets the eye. I've never been a Bonnar fan, but I see his reasoning for sure.

"As it would turn out, Stephan Bonnar would win his way to the championship fight against Forrest Griffin. The fight was a grueling battle, one of the best fights there has been in MMA. White reflected that he almost kicked Bonnar off the show for sneaking out of the house to find a liquor store. Fortunately, he allowed the fighter to continue fighting, and that fight generated the biggest audience for mixed martial arts in the US. The reality show drew more than one million viewers per episode."


Damn did i miss some thing. usually if a guy on TUF sneeks out of the house they make that known and i have watched TUF 1 dozens of times and never remembered hearing about bonnar leaving the house. he got real lucky on that one. dana is not very forgiving on matters like that.

Gecko wrote:

"As it would turn out, Stephan Bonnar would win his way to the championship fight against Forrest Griffin. The fight was a grueling battle, one of the best fights there has been in MMA. White reflected that he almost kicked Bonnar off the show for sneaking out of the house to find a liquor store. Fortunately, he allowed the fighter to continue fighting, and that fight generated the biggest audience for mixed martial arts in the US. The reality show drew more than one million viewers per episode."


Damn did i miss some thing. usually if a guy on TUF sneeks out of the house they make that known and i have watched TUF 1 dozens of times and never remembered hearing about bonnar leaving the house. he got real lucky on that one. dana is not very forgiving on matters like that.

Yeah but you gotta realize that this was TUF 1, not TUF 10, 11, 12, etc. It was uncharted territory, so maybe Dana just didn't really know how to draw the line yet at that point.