For light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar, it all comes down to this. Not picked to do much of anything on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, the 27-year-old Munster, Indiana native stepped up twice to earn a slot on Saturdays live televised finale from Las Vegas. And, Bonnar tells Sherdog.com, he has no intentions of ending the ride.
Stephan Bonnar: Im not the type of person that expects anything, so I didnt expect it to be a certain way. All I knew was wed be on lockdown and the training would be really hard. And thered be a bunch of guys there that whod want to get in the best shape possible and beat me.
Thats what I was expecting. Thats pretty much how it went. We were locked up and pretty much trained twice a day, everyday. But it was great seeing Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell as the coaches. That was a little good surprise, especially because Randy trained with us everyday. I was on his team twice a day, everyday. He did all our conditioning. It was just something else. I was glad I was on his team, yeah. He helped me out a lot.
Sherdog.com. What did you take away from training with Randy?
Bonnar: Oh God. I remember before just sparring at my gym, we have a number of good jiu-jitsu guys but also like some good college wrestlers and ex-college wrestlers. Before Id just try to avoid their takedowns and sprawl and work on that. Now Im sitting in there, clinching up, getting my under-hooks, taking them down. So thats what I got from Randy, my clinch game and my takedowns have got a lot better. Along with other stuff on the ground, but mainly his Greco.
Sherdog.com. Did they notice a difference when you walked back into the gym? Could they tell you had changed as a fighter?
Bonnar: Oh yeah. Right away they were like, takedowns Randy Couture. You learned that from Randy, huh!
Sherdog.com: What about personally? Did the show change you at all? Did you learn any lessons about yourself?
Bonnar: I kind of surprised myself. You know, I went in there, I didnt know what to expect. Id heard of some of the guys that were on the show. There were some big names. And I expected them to be good. I got in there and beat two good guys. Now Im in the finals. So I kind of surprised myself that way and learned that I do got some skills in this sport. And also that I made some mistakes in those fights and I got some things to work. So it really drew out my weaknesses and let me know what those were, as well as let me know what my strengths and let me know how good I really was.
Sherdog.com: Talk about being on lockdown. How difficult was that for you?
Bonnar: Yeah, it was difficult. I mean, you got used to it after a while. It was kinda like being in a really nice jail. Youre locked up with a bunch of guys whore just training fighting every day, but other than that youre locked in the house. It was a really nice house, but you take your freedom away and its tough. Its funny, about five [to] six weeks into it you kind of got used to it.
Sherdog.com: Was it always a goal of yours to fight in the UFC? What was your mixed martial arts goal?
Bonnar: I never really had a goal. I never really dreamed of being in the UFC. I just remember a few years ago, November 2001, a fight promoter asking if anyone from our gym wanted to get in the show and try fights. And I thought, what the hell, Im doing all this training. Why not? And I did. And I won the two fights. Thats all I really set out to do, win that first Ironheart. From there I won about five more fights. I lost one in Brazil to Lyoto (Machida). I saw they were having a show so I sent my tape in. Lo and behold, they picked me for it. I never really sat down and said I wanted to be the UFC champ or be in the UFC. I trained hard and kept training and competing and doing the grappling and doing the Golden Gloves. And it all kind of fell into place.
Sherdog.com: What about now? Have you refocused and made it a priority or is it still something that, if it happens, it happens, if not you still have the rest of your life in front of you?
Bonnar: No, Im focused. Its definitely a priority. Im here to win. Like any fight this is for really high stakes but if this fight was for nothing Id fight the same. I just go in there and just give it my all. I know theres a lot of high stakes and I gotta fight my heart out. But Id fight that way no matter what. To me, its really not that much different.