Stephan Bonnar On If Brock Lesnar Should Return To UFC, Why He Would Defeat Lesnar In An MMA Fight
UFC Hall of Famer and independent wrestler Stephan Bonnar recently spoke with Wrestling Inc. president Raj Giri. During the interview, Giri asked Bonnar about his thoughts on Brock Lesnar potentially making a return to the UFC.
As the current WWE Universal Champion, Lesnar works a part-time schedule and there is speculation that he will eventually make a return to the octagon. Lesnar is the former UFC Heavyweight Champion and was seen meeting with UFC president Dana White earlier this year. At 40 years old, it might be difficult for Lesnar to achieve success again in the UFC, but Bonnar believes the fact that Lesnar hasn't endured any big knockouts or back-and-forth wars makes it possible for Lesnar to be as good as he was in his first run with the company.
"He doesn't have a lot of MMA miles on him and he is a great wrestler. I had a lot of MMA miles with getting hit in the head a thousand times over my career. I am at the age where I am slowing down. I go in there and go to war," Bonnar said. "With the concussions that he has faced and everything, he still had a couple more in him. I am all for him. I support Brock going in there and fighting again. I don't think he should hang it up now. I hate to say it, but guys like Diego [Sanchez], who has been put to sleep lately, he should consider hanging it up, but guys like Brock, no way, he has a couple more in him. My hats off to Brock Lesnar for saying he wants to go back into it and I fully support it."
Bonnar is looking to make the transition from MMA fighter to professional wrestler. He revealed that a dream fight in the cage would be against for him would be Lesnar because he would love the chance to showcase his Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills.
"Honestly, I know if me and Brock got a hold on one another I would be able to submit him," Bonnar stated. "He has a lot of holds in his game. He is pretty strong. I am that confident in my submission game. I have been doing jiu-jitsu since the 90's, being trained by Carlson Gracie so I got a bad-ass submission game. "
Bonnar believes the style of pro wrestling has evolved to a point where MMA techniques are being used more often in both striking and grappling.
"As Joe Rogan would say, we don't see it as much because I get into the blood and guts battles, so now I get to be able to be creative with the jiu-jitsu submission holds. That is the creative beauty of professional wrestling," Bonnar said. "I asked Kenny King once what is all about the fancy kicks and submission holds in pro wrestling. In the 80's, when I grew up watching it, we didn't see that and he was like, honestly, it's because of you. You put the sport of MMA over and it bled into the pro wrestling world, and that is why. That's music to my ears. I can do some awesome spin kicks and flashy submissions that a lot of fans haven't seen and that is what I want to go in there and do. That is my plan. I don't know what my submission move is, but I am going to go out there and see what the crowd likes."
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.