UFC Light Heavyweight Stephan Bonnar Retires from Mixed Martial Arts

The UFC recently announced Bonnar’s retirement, and “The American Psycho” confirmed his plans on his Facebook page.

“Huge thanks to every UFC fan out there,” Bonnar wrote. “All I ever wanted was to bring y’all some fun. Hope you were entertained. Peace, love and violence!”

Bonnar, 35, made his professional debut in November 2001 and won seven of his first eight fights before joining the cast of the inaugural season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show. Bonnar advanced to the live finale, squaring off with Forrest Griffin in a widely viewed and highly influential donnybrook in April 2005. The bout is regarded by many as one of the more important in MMA history, spurring a surge in the sport’s popularity through the second half of the decade.

Following his defeat to Griffin, Bonner would fight 14 more times in the Octagon, posting an 8-7 overall promotional record and picking up victories over the likes of James Irvin, Keith Jardine, Igor Pokrajac and Krzysztof Soszynski. Bonnar most recently competed against longtime middleweight champion and top pound-for-pound talent Anderson Silva in the main event of UFC 153 in Rio de Janeiro. “The Spider” finished Bonnar with a perfectly-timed knee to the solar plexus at 4:40 of the first round, snapping a three-fight winning streak for Bonnar and sending him into retirement.

Bonnar leaves active competition with a career mark of 15-8 and was never submitted as a professional. A student of the late Carlson Gracie, Bonnar posted seven of his career victories by submission and picked up an additional three wins by way of knockout. In addition to fighting, Bonnar has also served as an analyst both at the commentary booth and in the studio, calling multiple World Extreme Cagefighting cards before that organization was absorbed by the UFC last year.