Officials have given a cause of death for former fighter and UFC Hall of Famer Stephan Bonnar, who passed away in December at the age of 45.
The Clark County’s office in Nevada confirmed in an emailed
statement to MMA Fighting that Bonnar’s death was due to accidental “Fentanyl, Parafluorofentanyl, and Mitragynine intoxication.”
The statement came after MMA Fighting sent a public records request.
A spokesperson for the office stated that Bonnar’s case took additional time due to the need to perform additional testing during an autopsy but no further information was provided, with officials citing medical privacy laws.
The Clark County’s office in Nevada confirmed in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times that Bonnar’s death was due to accidental “Fentanyl, Parafluorofentanyl, and Mitragynine intoxication.”
Bonnar died on Dec. 22 in Las Vegas. At the time, the UFC said it was saddened by his “tragic passing” which was due to “presumed heart complications while at work.”
“Stephan Bonnar was one of the most important fighters to ever compete in the Octagon,” UFC President Dana White said in a Dec. 24
press release. “His fight with Forrest Griffin changed the sport forever, and he will never be forgotten. The fans loved him, related to him and he always gave them his best. He will be missed.”
Bonnar’s Career
Bonnar played a significant role in the UFC’s growth into the dominant promotion in mixed martial arts, and was inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame in 2013.
The fighting legend made his professional MMA debut in
2001, before going on to fight in the UFC between 2005 and 2012. He introduced himself to UFC fans on season one of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
In the season finale of the show, he teamed up with Forrest Griffin who ultimately won the decision, but the fight is widely considered one of the greatest fights of all time and later earned it a place in the UFC Hall of Fame’s fight wing.
“Everything changed,” Bonnar
said of the match. “I didn’t think I’d have a UFC career. It was just a little hobby I was doing, so it changed everything. Almost overnight, I became like a celebrity. Everywhere I went, someone would recognize me, even in obscure places. I was traveling with TapouT and we were in a small town. I was jogging and someone in a pickup was going ‘Hey Bonnar.’ And everywhere you go, someone knows who you are. It was wild.”
Overall, Bonnar fought
26 times as a professional with 15 UFC appearances and one for Bellator before retiring in 2014.
Fentanyl Deaths Rising
Fentanyl is a highly addictive and deadly drug first
approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat acute pain. It is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. As little as two milligrams is potentially enough to be lethal.
The drug is now the leading cause of death for Americans aged
18 to 45, according to Families Against Fentanyl.
Experts have
warned that Mexican cartels import fentanyl from China before pressing it into pills or mixing it into other counterfeit pills made to look like Xanax, Adderall, or Oxycodone. The drugs are then sold to unaware buyers.
A January 2020 report (
pdf) by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) stated that while Mexico and China are the “primary source” nations for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the United States, “India is emerging as a source for finished fentanyl powder and fentanyl precursor chemicals.”
Parafluorofentanyl is a specific type of synthetic fentanyl and mitragynine, also known as Kratom, is a compound derived from the Mitragyna Speciosa plant indigenous to South East Asia, and often used as an opioid substitute, according to the DEA (
pdf).
Bonnar had previously spoken about his opioid use in an
interview with MMA Fighting in 2021, during which he said he had been using 30 mg of oxycodone daily in addition to tramadol, Kratom, and medical marijuana which he said was to deal with chronic pain caused by injuries he sustained through his career.
