Stephan Bonnar adamantly stated that if you believe his confrontation with Tito Ortiz, which occurred a couple weeks back during Bellator 123 was staged, then you're flat out "stupid."
See it here and judge for yourself.
Bellator President Scott Coker also denied any involvement in the fiasco, going as far as swearing on his father's grave that he had no clue what was going to go down between the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweights.
And during a recent appearance on the MMA Hour, Ortiz gave his side of the story, saying that he too was surprised by Bonnar's "WWE style" antics. He also said that the reason he was unable to control his temper and lunged at Bonnar was because he's never hated someone as much as he does Stephan.
His words:
"The only thing I knew was that we were going to get into the cage, do a face off. I seen some guy with a mask that was with him and that caught me off guard. I was like, 'who is this guy?' I figure he must think I'm going to slap him and he must have his security or something. He started talking, said something about my ex... so then he unmasked the gimp. I was like, 'are you serious right now? How is that going to help you?' I was already furious at him talking about my family. I think that was as pissed as I've ever been in any pre-fight interview I've done. Just the fact the he followed the WWE side of it to sell the fight, but talking about my family and my fans. Then he reveals the gimp, and I'm like, what is he doing? I grabbed the mic, but couldn't say what I wanted to say, so I knew I wanted to get my hands on him one way or another, so I shoved him and I spit on his face. I just dislike this guy, really bad. Through my whole career. I've never met anybody as disrespectful as (Bonnar). I really, really dislike him."
Nevertheless, despite the theatrics, Ortiz says the little confrontation wasn't all that bad, as it may have helped garner a few more eyeballs for their upcoming light heavyweight clash, which headlines Bellator 131 on Nov. 15, 2014 in San Diego, California.
"It's a double-edged sword. It helped and it didn't help. It helped sell the fight because 10 days after we are still talking about it. A lot of fans maybe didn't like it because of the pro-wrestling side of it, I mean, I didn't like it. It could've helped, it could've not helped. It's a double-edged sword, either or."
Ortiz went on to reiterate that he's never "hated" anyone as much as he does Bonnar and it supersedes the hatred he had for his bitter-rival, Ken Shamrock. So much so, that he turned down a world title fight for a chance to get his hands on Bonnar, who Ortiz dubbed a "phony."
And if Bonnar's main objective was to piss him off, it worked, as Tito says now that "The American Psycho" is under his skin, he will be highly-motivated to teach him a lesson once they meet in the center of the cage.
And perhaps make Dana White eat some crow, in the process.