Why Stephan Bonnar vs. Tito Ortiz is the peak of MMA.
(Also at 411Mania.com)
We all thought MMA peaking at UFC 100 with Brock Lesnar destroying Frank Mir, Georges St. Pierre turning in another brilliant performance, and Dan Henderson knocking Michael Bisping’s head into the fifth row.
We were wrong.
MMA peaks on Saturday when Stephan Bonnar and Tito Ortiz are locked in the cage, staring across at each other. A maximum of 15 minutes later, the greatest feud in MMA history will conclude and the sport will never be the same.
Bonnar vs. Ortiz started like any other great MMA feud. The two men made the fight official with an in-ring promo. It was during that promo that Bonnar explain that the millions and millions of Tito’s fans are Tito fans because they don’t know him. He then ran down Ortiz as being selfish and arrogant. If that wasn’t enough, Bonnar revealed that MMA superstar and former Ortiz training partner Justin McCully, who was wearing two masks while standing next to Bonnar, had joined his training camp. The crowd was speechless when McCully was revealed. They couldn’t believe that the man who was in Tito’s corner for every big fight of his career could turn on him just like that.
Bonnar then took it further, saying, “Poor Jenna” in reference to Jenna Jameson, Tito’s ex. Bonnar obviously felt bad that Jenna was being held captive by Tito and forced to have his kids. Just like she was forced to have sex a million times on camera. Also, Tito turned her into a skeleton.
Ortiz wasn’t happy with McCully turning on him or Bonnar taking shots at his fans. Ortiz wasn’t in the mood for talking though, he was in the mood for fighting. So he gave Bonnar a thunderous shove that would’ve knocked out Ryan Bader before everyone in the cage held them apart. McCully could be heard saying, “you just made the worst mistake of your life, boy.” McCully knows who was responsible for those world titles Tito won and he let Tito know it.
The blood fueled brawl was just the beginning.
This past week, Tito let the cat out of the bag: HE HAD SPIES IN BONNAR’S CAMP! The main spy was Paul Herrera, best known for his UFC 8 bout again Gary Goodridge. Being a 13-second UFC veteran, Herrera knows all about the fight game. He was also Tito’s wrestling coach in high school, which means he taught Tito everything he knows. Bonnar thought he was getting great advice from Herrera, but it appears that Herrera was gathering advice for Tito.
Now, we must remember that Bonnar already divulged part of his game plan during the organic brawl when he stated that he couldn’t wait to eat Ortiz and taste his own blood and laugh. Obviously Bonnar’s plan is to be on his back and getting hit in the face until he bleeds. It’ll be interesting to see if Ortiz uses punches instead of elbows in order not to fall into Bonnar’s game plan.
Having already publicly stated part of his game plan, if Herrera was indeed a spy for Tito, it’s possible that Ortiz knows Bonnar’s full game plan. If Tito knows that Bonnar wants to be taken down via a double leg (just a guess as to what inside info Herrera got on Bonnar) and smashed with elbows, will Tito go through with it? This is psychological warfare at it’s best, folks.
No MMA feud has ever reached this level of intensity and the fight will definitely live up to the hype.
We’re talking about two of the greatest fighters of their generations. They are both in the prestigious UFC Hall of Fame.
We’re talking about Tito Ortiz; The first ever fighter to headline a PPV that did 1 million buys. The guy who defeated former WWF Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock on three separate occasions. The guy who has fought former champions Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Frank Shamrock, Evan Tanner, and Forrest Griffin. The man who defeated Ryan Bader and Belfort quicker than Jon Jones. THE HUNTINGTON BEACH BAD BOY!
We’re talking about Stephan Bonnar; The man who was one-half of the greatest MMA fight of all-time. The man who has already fought one illustrious UFC Hall of Famer in Mark Coleman. The man who headlined the prelims at UFC 100. The only American willing to go to Brazil to fight Anderson Silva. A possible superhuman given that he’s twice tested positive for banned substances when we all know MMA is the cleanest sport in the world. THE AMERICAN PSYCHO!
These are two fighters in their prime. Ortiz just beat the Bellator middleweight champion at the time while Bonnar has won three of his last four and just softened up Anderson Silva for Chris Weidman, something he doesn’t get nearly enough credit for.
Ortiz vs. Bonnar will be the rivalry that fans will talk about for years to come. It’ll be mentioned in the same breath as such classic rivalries like John Cena vs. Randy Orton and Aaron Rodgers vs. Jay Cutler
Get ready MMA fans. You will want to tell your kids and your grandkids where you were when Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar finally settle the score that has been brewing for two months or so.
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