UFC News: Stephan Bonnar Turned Down Glover Teixeira Fight

Stephan Bonnar is set to take one of the best mixed martial arts fighters to ever fight under the UFC in Anderson Silva, which is set to take place at UFC 153.  This bout was scheduled because the originally main event, Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar, was forced off the card due to a Jose Aldo injury.

Bonnar recently spoke with MMAJunkie.com earlier in the week, and it appears that he was offered a fight with the dynamic striker in Glover Teixeira.

“My manager hit me up and asked how I feel about fighting Glover  Teixeira. And I said, ‘You know my rule. If I’m going to  do this again, he’s got to have more Twitter followers than me.’ I know  it sounds cheesy, but it’s true. That’s how I feel. That’s a measure of  someone’s popularity, and I just want a bigger name. The last three  opponents, I’ve had more Twitter followers than them, and I’ve beat  them, and I feel like I deserve a bigger name now. I really don’t have  an interest in fighting an up-and-comer type, guys who are climbing  their way up and people don’t really know how good they are. I’ve done  that a lot in my career.”

Bonnar said previously that he was going to retire if he couldn’t get a marquee fight with someone in the UFC.  Apparently he didn’t think a bout with Teixeira would do anything for his legacy, and Stephan has a point to that.

A fight with Teixeira wouldn’t be ideal because he hasn’t really built himself a name yet with the UFC; a loss would be detrimental and it would more than likely send Bonnar into retirement.

Bonnar wants a big name fight and he is getting just that when he faces Anderson Silva at UFC 153.  It will be the biggest fight that Bonnar has had to date and it also will be his toughest.  He will have to deal with the best striker in the UFC, which is no easy task for anyone.  Just ask Vitor Belfort, Rich Franklin, and his TUF 1 season friend Forrest Griffin.

All of these fighters fell victim to the spider inside the first round, and it will be interesting to see if Bonnar can go the distance with Silva.  If he can, it would be a tremendous morale victory, but Stephan is going to try to end his career on a high note.

Just imagine beating the best MMA fighter in the world for your last fight and retiring.  Sounds like a dream right?  It would be a dream for Bonnar to upset Silva and it would be the biggest upset in UFC history; actually it would be the biggest upset in mma history.

It will be interesting to see how Bonnar approaches this fight and the type of strategy he will try to employ.  Will he keep the fight standing and try to knockout Anderson Silva or will he take it to the ground in hopes of getting a submission? Stay tuned!