Stephan Bonnar’s Wife: Meet Andrea Brown – Stephan Bonnar was born in Hammond, Indiana and raised in Munster, Indiana, where he graduated from Munster High School.
Bonnar has a long history in martial arts, starting with wrestling at age 10, Taekwondo at age 12, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at age 22, and boxing and Muay Thai at age 24.
He received his black belt in Tae Kwon Do at the age of 16 and was a two-time Golden Gloves Super Heavyweight Champion. He attended Purdue University and graduated with a degree in sports medicine in 2000.
Stephan Bonnar began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with the legendary Carlson Gracie in the summer of 1999 and received his purple belt before Carlson’s death. During his time with Carlson Gracie, he received the nickname Robocop.
As a result, most of his fights ended in submission. Stephan recently trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with master Sergio Penha in Las Vegas. However, he has trained Muay Thai on several trips to Thailand.
Since early 2010, Bonnar has been training Muay Thai at One Kick’s Gym in Las Vegas under the direction of One Kick Master Nick Blomgren.
Bonnar earned a six-figure UFC contract alongside Griffin following his strong performance in the light heavyweight final, where he lost by unanimous decision to Forrest Griffin in a back-and-forth affair.
Following his loss to Griffin, Bonnar became a regular at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, defeating Sam Hoger, James Irvin and Keith Jardine before losing to Rashad Evans by majority decision. Bonnar lost by unanimous decision to Forrest Griffin in a long-awaited rematch at UFC 62 in 2006.
On December 4, 2010, Bonnar faced Igor Pokrajac in the final of Ultimate Fighter 12. He won the match by unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26 and 29-26).
Bonnar was scheduled to face Karlos Vemola at UFC at Versus 5 on August 14, 2011. However, due to injury, Bonnar had to pull out of the fight and was replaced by Ronny Markes.
Following his loss to Silva, UFC President Dana White announced Bonnar’s retirement from MMA competition on October 30, 2012.
Dana White announced that Bonnar and Griffin would be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame shortly after Griffin announced his retirement. On July 6, 2013, Bonnar and Griffin were officially inducted.
On August 27, 2014, Bellator announced that it had signed Bonnar to a multi-fight contract, bringing him out of retirement. Bonnar lost a split decision to Tito Ortiz at Bellator 131 on November 15, 2014. Bonnar was then knocked out a second time.
On August 1, 2017, House of Glory, an independent wrestling company based in New York, announced that Bonnar would enter a wrestling ring for the first time to face Matt Riddle, another former UFC fighter and independent wrestler. However, Riddle withdrew and was replaced by NJPW’s Sho Tanaka.
Stephan Bonnar’s Wife: Meet Andrea Brown
At the time of his death, Stephan Bonnar was married to Andrea Brown. Andrea was his longtime girlfriend and they married in 2009.
Andrea Brown began her career as a producer for Hubbard Broadcasting in the mid-1990s. She then worked at Fox News Miami as a special projects/consumer/investigative producer.
From 2007 to 2010, she worked as a public relations manager for MGM Resorts International. Most recently, she worked as a publicist, stylist and talent manager for Stephan Bonnar Enterprises.