Dana White said recently that he released Stephen Bonnar from his contract with the UFC so he could fight for fellow fighting promotion Bellator MMA, stating that he supported the Hall of Famer's decision.
The statements from the UFC president were made just after Bonnar announced last week that he was looking to come out of retirement and fight for Bellator after leaving the sport in July 2013, according to MMA Fighting.
Bonnar was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame due to the role that his fight with Forrest Griffin at the finale of the First Ultimate Fighter played in the popularity of MMA.
"I released him to do it," White said after Friday's UFC 177 weigh-ins. "He was under contract with us. We released him to do it, and I wish him the best."
In addition to announcing his return to MMA, Bonnar said right after signing with Bellator that he is looking to take on Tito Ortiz, another UFC Hall of Famer, Wrestling Inc. reported.
"I want everyone to know I'm coming out of retirement because it's time to free the MMA world of the virus that's known as Tito Ortiz," he said. "We've been suffering through his boring fights for too many years, and it's about time that someone beats it out of him once and for all."
White has said he has a good relationship with Scott Coker, Bellator's new CEO, saying he respects him as a person as well as a businessman, MMA Fighting reported. Bonnar's decision to join Bellator follows the company's release of Eddie Alvarez to let him join the UFC.
White has another reason for letting Bonnar go to fight for Bellator, which is to see him beat Ortiz, an old nemesis of White's.
"He was retired," White said. "What he told me is he wants to beat the s - - out of Tito, and I'm down with that. I released him."
