Sherdog.com: The first time you fought on the show, you picked Bobby Southworth. Why did you do that?
Sherdog.com: What was the reaction to you picking him? It seemed like, at least from what I recall, a lot of the guys thought that maybe you were in over your head.
Bonnar: Even Dana [White, president of the UFC] said that it was a dumb move. Why didnt I pick Sam [Hoger]? I should have gone for the easier fight. But, yeah, I knew he was good, but Bobby actually surprised me. He was better than I thought hed be.
Sherdog.com: Talk about Forrest Griffin. Obviously, he seemed like the most, except for maybe Diego Sanchez, eclectic person in the house. Living with a guy like that, what was that experience like?
Bonnar: It was pretty fun. Forrest provides some good entertainment. He was good, a fun guy to talk to. He had some good stories. Hed do some crazy things that really helped the time go. Because it got monotonous and he helped it bed less monotonous. I know Ken Florian would dream up some funny things for him to do. A couple of times they rearranged all the furniture in the house. One time Kenny poured baby oil all over Forrest and set up a bunch of water bottles like they were bowling pins and hed slide across the floor into them. You saw the monkey, acting like that. Hiding candy bars all over the house and having a little candy bar hunt.
Sherdog.com: I heard that pissed off the production staff. They didnt like that too much.
Bonnar: (laughs) Oh, you heard about that, huh? That really pissed them off, but it gave us a ton to laugh about and thats all that really matters.
Sherdog.com: Were you guys warring with the production staff a lot?
Bonnar: Well, they did enough to make our lives hard. So, we didnt feel too bad if they had to go around hunt down candy bars. That was funny to us. They were throwing twists in it; trying to catch us in our worst moments; turning us on each other making us fight our teammates; tricking us, saying we wont have to fight to the end of the show so dont worry about your weight. Then all of a sudden, boom, were fighting in a few days and Bobby had to cut all that weight. Thats why he was pissed. That whole speech about Do you want to be a f___ing fighter? from Dana. Bobby wasnt crazy about fighting because they completely had just lied and said dont worry about your weight. He wasnt pissed because he had to fight. He was pissed because he had to cut 25 pounds.
Sherdog.com: Now youre fighting Forrest. Did you pick up on any stuff while watching the show that gave you clues on how to fight him?
Bonnar: Yeah, definitely. I feel like my stand-up is a little better than his. I have to stay out of his Thai-clinch. Hes really good from there. Hits pretty good from the ground. My guard is good, my defensive guard is good. Thats something I work a lot. I feel my takedowns are equal if not better than his. In a lot of ways, its pretty good, even match-up Id say.