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Former UFC light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar suffered a major setback as his family residence was destroyed in a fire earlier this week. Fortunately for Bonnar and his family, nobody was injured. However, the fire left the entire house in ruins. Still, not everything was lost, as the former fighter managed to salvage some things close to his heart.
Following the unfortunate incident, a GoFundMe was set up by a well-wisher of Bonnar's wife to help the couple with expenses. Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley made a generous $4000 donation to the said fundraiser and Bonnar later took to Instagram to thank him for the gesture.
Woodley further shared the GoFundMe on his Twitter handle, urging people to help out Bonnar and his family.
Although Bonnar said he "lost everything" due to the fire that set his residence ablaze, the 44-year-old managed to salvage some memorabilia that was precious to him. Bonnar apparently jumped through a window and managed to recover the gloves from his historic fight with Forrest Griffin, as well as a jersey signed by his fellow competitors from Season 1 of UFC's The Ultimate Fighter.
Stephan Bonnar took to Instagram to share a video showing the jersey and gloves. Bonnar gave his best wishes to some of his friends from the first season of TUF, including the likes of Mike Swick, Chris Leben, and Alex Schoenauer, who have been going through a rough patch in life as well.
Mike Swick is battling cancer and is currently undergoing treatment for the same. Leben endured a lengthy battle with COVID-19 and was recently released from the hospital after being admitted in February with severe breathing issues. Schoenauer apparently had a bad dirt bike crash recently, according to Bonnar.
He also praised Diego Sanchez's recent performance in Eagle FC and remembered the late Lodune Ki Sincaid, who passed away in 2019. The former WEC light heavyweight champion suffered from genetic bipolar disorder and PTSD stemming from his tenure with the military.
Watch the clip of Stephan Bonnar recovering his TUF 1 jersey below:
Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar locked horns in one of the most memorable fights of all time in TUF 1 finale
Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar fought each other for the first time in the finals of TUF 1. To this day, the fight is regarded as one of the most memorable scraps to ever take place inside the octagon. So much so that it was voted the greatest fight in the promotion's history in 2009 and referred to as the "most important fight in UFC history" by UFC president Dana White himself.
Griffin and Bonnar engaged in a back-and-forth slugfest that went on for three rounds and left everyone craving more. In the end, all three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Griffin.
The winner of the contest was supposed to get a UFC contract. However, after watching the performance, Dana White was so impressed that he decided to sign both Griffin and Bonnar.
