In only 6 days, former Light Heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin and his first UFC opponent Stephan Bonnar will be inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame prior to UFC 162. The two met in The Ultimate Fighter Finale 1 in April of 2005. Their back and forth battle overshadowed the show’s main event of Ken Shamrock vs. Rich Franklin and was proclaimed by UFC president Dana White to be one of the most important fights in UFC history.
The fight has been credited with pushing the UFC to the next level of popularity and keeping the company afloat after earlier stagnating interest. Griffin and Bonnar met again at UFC 62 with Forrest taking a clear decision victory. Only four fights later, Griffin hit his peak when he wrested the 205 lb. championship from Quinton Jackson. He went 3-3 after winning the belt and won his last fight via unanimous decision against Tito Ortiz at UFC 148.
Bonnar settled into a high-profile journeyman’s role in the Light Heavyweight division. He went 8-6 in his UFC career after the first fight with Griffin. In his final fight in the Octagon he stepped in to face Anderson Silva on short notice at UFC 153. Silva put on a clinic and finished Bonnar in highlight reel fashion.
Take a look back at the beginning of the UFC’s TUF era and see if the fight holds up to the test of time.