Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) lost one of its pioneers just before Christmas. Stephan Bonnar tragically died at the age of 45 from some heart complications. The news of his death shocked the MMA world and tributes poured in for The Ultimate Fighter season 1 finalist. However, Sean Strickland does not seem impressed by all the nice messages from the UFC community.
In late 2021, Stephan Bonnar had a very interesting interview with MMA Fighting. Bonnar was obviously in a lot of pain at the time and revealed that he had an unfortunate incident at a hospital. Apparently, he was refused help in the particular hospital and he was asked to leave. He alleged that the hospital security’s nudge made him stumble and he hurt his shoulder as well.
The 45-year-old was suffering from a broken wrist and injured lumbar vertebrae as well. Hence, he was experiencing a lot of pain with all his injuries. Apparently, a lot of people reached out to Bonnar and offered their help.
Although people lend him a helping hand, as per American Psycho, nobody was ready to help him with actual the problems he was having. Hence, Sean Strickland implied that people should not post messages in his absence when they could not help Bonnar when he was alive.
Sean Strickland slams the UFC community after the passing of Stephan Bonnar
Sean Strickland took to his Instagram account and revealed his thoughts on the matter. Nicknamed Tarzan, Strickland was baffled by the reactions from the community. He also made some shocking revelations about the struggles and addictions that Bonnar was having to deal with ahead of his demise. Although he had empathy for Stephan’s situation, he expressed why he did not post a tribute for Bonnar.
“Stephan Bonnar just died and like my Instagram feed, Google is like flooded with like pictures of like people (saying), ‘hey this is me and Stephan Bonnar training. We’re buddies like we used to hang out back in the day. Like I’m gonna post a picture about him and get double-tapped likes.'” said Sean.
“But like man, the Stephan Bonnar I knew, was f***ing nuts. He was addicted to opioids, he got arrested, got kicked out of a hospital because they wouldn’t give him opioids. His gym went under during Covid. And you know me, I’m an a**hole, Like I’m an a**hole, I’m not gonna post a picture and say rest in peace.”
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Strickland continued, “I’m an a**hole. But you f**king people that like after he died, you post pictures of him after he died in support and all this, like this man was losing his s**t. Where were you? And I’m not saying you had to be there for him, But you weren’t there for him then. Don’t be there for him now because now he doesn’t need it.”
There were certainly indications that Stephan Bonnar had a problem with pain medication. In 2020, Stephan was also in the hospital for 5 days for high ammonia levels in his blood.
Apparently, the levels were high enough to potentially kill him. However, he recovered from it eventually and made a return to the pro wrestling ring. As Bonnar stated himself, he was always suffering from injuries, thanks to his occupation.
So there remains a possibility that the pain medication had an adverse effect on his body. While it is necessary in some cases, excessive use can cause addiction. The 31-year-old also revealed that Bonnar’s gym went out of business in recent years as well. So it is evident that the former UFC star was clearly living in stress before his untimely passing.
What do you make of Sean Strickland’s comments on Stephan Bonnar’s death? Let us know in the comments down below.