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UFC Hall of Famer and the finalist of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, Stephan Bonnar recently passed away after presumed struggles with cardiac issues. His record of 17 wins and 9 losses in the UFC made him a bona fide ambassador of the sport, although he never won any championships.

Bonnar’s death was announced on 22 December 2022. He was 45 years old and fans were left shocked at the news of his demise. Stephan Bonnar had an MMA career that lasted for 13 years and many significant personalities from the MMA community expressed their sincere condolences.

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But he was a victim of some serious misfortunes. Earlier this year, Bonnar’s family residence had been destroyed due to a fire outbreak. Fortunately, nobody had been injured, but it left the house in ruins. Stephan Bonnar tried to salvage whatever was from the wreckage of his house and posted a video showing some valuable items he saved from the ruins. Many fans expressed their concern about the incident.

Stephan Bonnar posts a video of the wreckage

Bonnar claimed that he had lost everything in the fire. But he had also been successful in retrieving some of the memorabilia from his MMA career. Bonnar first showed his gloves; which he used in the match against Forrest Griffin from the first season of TUF. He also showed a signed jersey from his TUF final opponent.

He wrote, “Appreciate all the prayers, please send some to the rest of #TUF1. Been a rough year for a lot of us. @mike_swick could use some, same with @chrislebenmma . @diegonightmaresanchezufc looked great last week.. considering his recent hospital stay. #RIP Lodune @sincaidmma . I forgot to mention @schoenaueralex took an AR15 at point blank range, then had a bad dirt bike crash… but he almost dies all the time. This means @forrestgriffin is due for something terrible, so please send some his way too. God bless #ufc”

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Bonnar then mentioned some of the fighters from season 1 who had been going through hard times. He talked about Mike Swick‘s cancer situation, Chris Leben‘s struggle with COVID-19, and Alex Schoenauer’s bike crash incident. He also mentioned Eagle Fighting Championship’s Diego Sanchez and praised him for his performance in his fight against Kevin Lee.

READ MORE: “Jesus, What Is Going On?!” – Charles Oliveira, Aljamain Sterling & Pros Devastated by Stephan Bonnar’s Untimely Demise

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Bonnar then paid his respects and remembered the late Lodune Ki Sincaid who passed away from PTSD acquired from his time in the military. Bonnar left a last impact on the MMA scene as he was one of the most important figures who brought eyeballs to the sport of MMA. UFC would not have been as big as it is right now; if it wasn’t for fighters like Stephan Bonnar.

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