Throwback Stephan Bonnar vs. Forrest Griffin - First fight (Rate It)

[BEATDOWNS]

Yes, you have to put money up ahead of time, but usually you get paid for being on TV- you don't pay others so that you can appear (except commercials and such). Not how most of us would think a sport on TV would go.

Do you realize that huge bands pay to get on festivals and stuff 'pay to play' this is nothing new. Don't even get me started on record deals. I know that seems like i avoided what you are saying but it's all the same really.

 

[Lee_]

Do you realize that huge bands pay to get on festivals and stuff 'pay to play' this is nothing new. Don't even get me started on record deals. I know that seems like i avoided what you are saying but it's all the same really.

Those situations are somewhat different, but point taken that this is nothing new in business. I was just saying it wasn't typical for a sport on TV; not what most people expect. Sports in large part get paid or at least don't have to pay to be on TV. That was a pretty unique situation of growing a sport by paying for it to be on TV. I can't think of another sport that has done that.

 

[KAZSoliloquy]

very good fight. sloppy as hell but as fun as it gets. 8/10. not enough near-endings to warrant a 10/10 but a great example of toughness.

 

[BEATDOWNS]

Those situations are somewhat different, but point taken that this is nothing new in business. I was just saying it wasn't typical for a sport on TV; not what most people expect. Sports in large part get paid or at least don't have to pay to be on TV. That was a pretty unique situation of growing a sport by paying for it to be on TV. I can't think of another sport that has done that.

To be fair i think all parties involved knew it was a risky move with all the negative connotations that were already there about the 'sport' with it being barbaric and such. So I'm not surprised they proceeded with caution, thankfully it paid off.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

10/10

Everyone saying its just a 8/10 are missing the point of the awesomeness of the fight. At some point late in the 1st or early in the 2nd both men were putting on a pace on the other that they were both completely exhausted and mostly throwing power shots to hopefully KO the other man, and many of those shots were still landing. The only thing that kept them going was heart.

Heart. The one aspect of MMA that's rarely mentioned, which 'toughness' is usually used as a synonym but it isn't, the determination that they will not quit and will do absolutely anything to survive and keep on fighting.

Bonnar/Griffin1 is the #1 example in all of MMA of heart, like both fighters were their own version of Rocky Balboa.

 

[wwkirk]

Yes, you have to put money up ahead of time, but usually you get paid for being on TV- you don't pay others so that you can appear (except commercials and such). Not how most of us would think a sport on TV would go.

How long did they have to pay to keep TUF on the air? More than one season?

 

[Lee_]

To be fair i think all parties involved knew it was a risky move with all the negative connotations that were already there about the 'sport' with it being barbaric and such. So I'm not surprised they proceeded with caution, thankfully it paid off.

Yeah, especially since the Fertettis were told it was a bad idea to buy the UFC by their father. Turned out to be their biggest profit margin ever.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

I just rewatched the fight for the first time in a number of years, and its aged like fine wine.

There's a reason why it was the #1 in the UFC's Top 100 UFC Fights box set, and it absolutely deserves to be. It should be in everyone's top #5 fights of all time.

If the 90s era was the infancy of MMA, the early-to-mid 2000s was the elementary years where techniques were still rudimentary and heart & toughness were two of the most important factors in a fighter becoming a champion.

 

[Dude Incredible]

9 or 10 or GTFO.

 

[Muay Thai #1]

I got into watching the UFC when I was about 10 when my uncle brought over VHS tapes of UFC events (Rutten vs Randleman was the first fight I ever saw). Unfortunately my uncle passed away about a year later and I had no way of watching the UFC or MMA anymore. I watched the first Ultimate Fighter off and on during the season, but they showed an all day marathon of it before the live fight card that night, The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale. I watched it all day. I watched in my room alone and was jumping up and down during Bonnar vs Forrest, it was such a crazy fight. (I still think Bonnar won!)

I was an MMA fan for life after that night. There is a chance I never got into MMA, trained BJJ and Muay Thai if it wasn't for that fight. It was a classic

 

[genecop]

I voted VG….it was an epic Brawl…

 

[kingghidrah]

Rewatching it again under the context of "greatest fight of all time" it falls quite a bit short of that for sure

And when Rogan says round 1 is the greatest round ever, that's typical Rogan. It was a great round, but nothing like the best ever

The best part is the interview where Bonner says "that tough son of a bitch wouldn't drop!"

 

[Szwok]

in terms of how the fight was, it was a brawl style fight with high energy pace, it was alright. On how important it was for getting audiences to the UFC? Yeah it was exactly what was needed. New ppl instantly knew what was going on.

 

[MMAcolyte]

And to think Dana turned down the idea of TUF when it first came up. Lorenzo had to step in and remind Dana of his place. Without Lorenzo there probably wouldn't be a UFC today.

Check your tone; Dana's about to take combat sports to the next level with Ultimate Slap Fest.

 

[snugglecakes]

It was a decision without so much as a knockdown. The just bleed gods slept through that slop fest. Perhaps the most overrated fight ever.