Stephan Bonnar looks to rebound by winning at UFC 100
Published by Zach Arnold on July 9th, 2009 in Current Events

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Stephan Bonnar is possibly one loss away from no longer being a UFC fighter. His opponent, Mark Coleman, is in a similar situation. It’s about as close to a “Loser Leaves Town” match as you can get in UFC. Normally a fight like this would make the main card at an event as big as UFC 100, but Yoshihiro Akiyama’s debut has pushed this bout to the undercard. It may not be an important bout to the hardcores, but to both men everything is on the line.

In the case of Bonnar, he has had to move his training camp out of Xtreme Couture’s gym in Las Vegas and relocate to the new Tapout training center. Why?

“I’ve been coming here a while,” Bonnar told Steve Cofield recently in an interview. I was doing my sparring at Couture’s but I mean the guy who teaches and run the class, Shawn Tompkins, is Coleman’s coach so I decided to bring some guys over here and just easier that way, till at least the fight’s over. I mean really all I need is my good wrestler Nick (Fekete), Alex (Schoenauer), stand-up guy Pat Holder and you know taking turns on me, and we got a big cage here just like the real one so it’s good work, yeah, I’m happy.”

Fekete was brought in to Xtreme Couture and has been helping out with wrestling training for fighters.

“A great wrestler, good guy, nice guy, good teacher too so you know actually like you know before this last couple of fights I’ve been you know working with him, so this fight I’ve picked it up a little more.”

If the notion of Mark Coleman training with someone other than Hammer House strikes you funny, it should. According to Coleman’s new training coach Shawn Tompkins, he and Randy Couture recently saw Coleman in action and wanted to help out a fellow legend.

“Well I mean one of the biggest things you know Randy and I both sat and watched his last fight with Shogun and you know we both made a promise to each other you know him being a Hall of Famer to try to talk him into letting us help him out for this fight, so it was real important to us,” Tompkins explained in a recent interview with Mike Straka of Fox News Fight Game. “Randy you know the way he thinks he’s you know he’s been in the sport for a long time, being a Hall of Famer himself, and he really just wants Mark if Mark’s going to go out in the UFC he wants to him to go out there with some pride and you know live up to his potential.”

Bonnar is coming off a loss to Jon “Bones” Jones, a young wrestling prospect who is gaining a lot of attention very quickly in UFC. While Jones is more of a Greco Roman wrestler, Coleman has maintained his traditional wrestling style that he’s applied to MMA for so many years.

“Yeah, he’s a different kind of wrestler, he’s so good with his Greco throws where Coleman has a good lateral drop and all but his biggest strengths are probably his double and single.”

In Coleman’s last fight, he had a memorable performance against Mauricio Shogun. Both men were absolutely exhausted and it became a war of attrition, which Shogun mercifully was able to finish. According to Tompkins, Coleman had not actually been training for his last five fights — and that includes a bout against Fedor, the world’s best heavyweight.

“Well, when he came out here [to Las Vegas], I mean, first of all, people should know that probably in the last you know five fights that Mark Coleman’s done he’s never had a training camp, so this is a first in a long time for him to actually have people telling him what to do and making sure that he does it, so it’s been real important for us but I’ve been real fortunate at Xtreme Couture, I work alongside a gentleman by the name of Jake Bonacci who does all the strength & conditioning for my fighters and he’s had Mark Coleman on a real intense workout program for about two months, so I’m real excited to see everybody’s going to see a brand new Mark “The Hammer” Coleman come UFC 100.”

Bonnar agreed with Cofield’s assertion recently in an interview that Coleman was disrespected for being tired in the Shogun fight when Shogun showed he was just as exhausted.

“Yeah, I mean, Rua looked just as tired to me, gave him a good run, Rua like won the PRIDE tournament, he was a champion there, he’s been in the Top 5 Light Heavyweight lists for a long time so yeah, there’s no shame in getting tired against a competitor like that.”

Both Bonnar and Tompkins understand the magnitude of fighting at UFC 100, which has the potential of being the most watched PPV since Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz from a few years ago. Plus, Zuffa has made Las Vegas the place to be this week with a Fan Expo, a grappling tournament, and all sorts of festivities living up to just how big the UFC 100 card really is.

“I mean my main focus is Mark Coleman, you know,” exclaimed Bonnar. “If I wasn’t fighting at UFC 100, I’d probably be, ‘Oh yeah, I could go to the Expo’ and you know all these fun activities are lined up for UFC 100 but you know I’m fighting, it’s all about business.”

Given Bonnar’s status with a lot of newer UFC fans who recognize him and Forrest Griffin as the “Ultimate Fighter pioneers” of the new boom movement, he does understand that UFC 100 means a lot to the fans. The significance has not been lost on Bonnar.

“Well it means a lot, you know, just like you know being a part of a pivotal moment like that but you know that feels a little good but you know I mean just on the plate is Mark Coleman, that’s the only thing I think about, beating him. But, yeah for that fan UFC 100 you can’t beat it, I mean a couple of title fights, coaches involved in Ultimate Fighter fighting, you know a lot of big names plus a big Expo and just a lot of stuff, they’re really like catering this to the fans and trying to get the fans a big treat so it’s, yeah, for the fans you can’t beat this show.”

Tompkins says that activity at Xtreme Couture has been off the charts already.

“I mean, [UFC 100] it’s not one night. I’m looking at it as a whole week, you know, UFC out here is already buzzing and excited about it, the preparations are happening you know our gym Xtreme Couture is going crazy already, fans are already showing up you know already wanting autographs, doing the private classes, specialty classes and stuff, so it’s just going to be a week long of crazyness. We got the Expo, they got a grappling tournament, you know and all the little things in between, the people in the industry are going to be putting on their parties and you know doing a lot of business stuff that’s for sure.”

While there’s certainly some pressure on Coleman to win, the fact is that he is finishing up his career while Bonnar is trying to save his while he is still young. Tompkins says the pressure of winning this fight is moreso on Bonnar than it is on the grizzled veteran Coleman.

“Well I think, I think that the pressure’s going to be carried more by Stephan Bonnar. Mark Coleman’s been in the game for so long and you know he’s been in enough organizations, he’s been at the top, he’s lost some big fights before so I think he’s just you know he takes everytime in stride you know he’s already a UFC Hall of Famer in the sport so I’m thinking that Stephan Bonnar’s going to carry this one a little bit heavier than we are. You know, it’s more important to him, he prides himself as a UFC fighter and him losing that’s going to mean a lot.”

Win or lose, Tompkins thinks that Coleman’s legacy is already cemented in the sport and that Coleman is in a no-lose situation at UFC 100.

“I mean he’s got everything to gain, he’s got you know like I said he’s already in the UFC Hall of Fame, he’s been at the top winning a PRIDE Grand Prix, you know he’s been the UFC champion, he’s just going out there and really having fun and you know hopefully end all that proving himself to the world as you know a legitimate contender again.”

Bonnar’s last foe, Jon “Bones” Jones, will also be fighting on the UFC 100 undercard against Jake O’Brien. O’Brien became relatively well known when he was assigned to fight Andrei Arlovski. While it’s a fight matching two wrestlers against each other, the two men have very different fight styles and philosophies going into the bout. Jones is best known for his Greco Roman throws, which he put on display against Bonnar and made him look like a rag doll.

“I don’t really even think about those throws or it’s not even a part of my game plan,” Jones recently stated in a UFC official media intervew. “The fighters right now are making Greco Roman no-no’s and I’ll execute every time they do make the no-no’s.

“I believe in that Octagon what happens to you is things that you allow to happen to you. My main goal is to tjust ake over the Octagon right away and make it my fight, underdog or not step one is to impose your will and let them you know that you’re there and make them respect you.”

O’Brien, who has previously fought as a Heavyweight, will be fighting at Light Heavyweight this time. Can he make the proper weight cut?

“I’m at 205 this time, I’ve done it before now, so I got experience doing it,” O’Brien calmly stated in an official UFC media interview. “I know what to do, little things that make it hard so this time there shouldn’t be any problem. Actually I’m about the same weight as I was last time, I made it easy last time, so won’t be a problem.”

Given Jones’ unique fighting style, O’Brien says that he is prepared for whatever challenges he will face during the fight.

“He’s an awkward guy to prepare for, there’s not many people like him but you know I’ve been worrying more about what I’m going to do instead of worrying about what he’s going to do, I’m just worry about my stuff and do what I do and take care of his stuff.”

So what does he think is the blueprint on get a win against Bones?

“Just stay after him, push him, you can’t wait on him, you know, he’s got a lot of confidence right now so I think the first time I do something to him he’s going to be questioning things, you know, I’m going to come out and hit him right away and let him know he’s not going to just walk through because that’s what he’s thinking, you know, I think he’s going to be looking to do something flashy you know he thinks he should finish me, you know, and I think that’s going to end up hurting him.”

Jones knows the task at hand, given O’Brien’s past experience and opponent level in the UFC cage.

“I’m going against Jake O’Brien, I know he’s a wrestler, the first wrestler I’ve ever fought so stylistically it could be a good fight, he’s a hard puncher and I’ve been working my boxing a lot, you know, working on my defense and you know working on just being fast and this is going to be a good fight. I do believe that I have advantage in the stand-up game against Jake O’Brien, but I won’t take anything past him. I won’t put anything past him, you know I know he has that knockout power. I know he has you know solid boxing technique and now I’m prepared for all of that. I know Jake O’Brien’s going to come out, he’s going to try to hit hard, I know he’s going to try to take me down, I don’t think he’s going to get any faster than he’s ever been. I know there’s a lot of hype built around me right now and I don’t want to let anyone down, I don’t want to let myself down, so I’m going to stay hungry and stay focused and maybe stop and take a breather once I get a belt around my waist.”

Given that their fight is an undercard bout, there will be extra incentive to put on a very good performance in order for their fight to make it to the main card telecast on PPV. The PPV audience will be enormous in size.

“Fighting at UFC 100 there’s so many guys right now would give their left hand to fight at UFC 100,” exclaimed Jones. “It’s a huge historic night, it’s an absolute blessing that I was chosen out of everyone to be a part of that night.”

O’Brien has taken a stance similar to that of Mark Coleman and Shawn Tompkins — the pressure is more on his opponent as opposed to himself.

“You always want to win, there’s always pressure, you want to win the fight, but he’s got a lot more pressure on him than I do, he’s got a lot to live up to, people are talking about him you know so they think he’s going to beat me so I don’t have any pressure, just go out there and fight and not worry about it. He’s got a lot to live up to.”