UFC 139 Live Blog: Stephan Bonnar vs. Kyle Kingsbury Updates

By Ben Fowlkes - Senior Writer

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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- This is the UFC 139 live blog for Stephan Bonnar vs. Kyle Kingsbury, a light heavyweight bout on tonight's UFC pay-per-view from the HP Pavilion.

Bonnar (13-7) will be fighting for the first time in 2011. He has won his last two fights against Krzystof Soszynski and Igor Pokrajac. Kingsbury (11-2) is on a four-fight win streak and has two Fight of the Nights under his belt.

The live blog is below.

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Round 1: Referee Dan Snell gets us started. They touch gloves and then a pumped up Bonnar immediately starts bouncing around like he's spring-loaded. He looked very emotional in his entrance. You have to wonder if he can sustain this energy level. Good overhand right from Bonnar staggers Kingsbury, followed by an inside leg kick that slips up into Kingsbury's cup area. We'll pause while he collects himself. After the restart, Kingsbury stings Bonnar with a couple nice punches. A chant of 'Let's go Kingsbury!' starts up in the crowd. They tumble to the mat and both come up swinging. Big shots from both men, and this crowd is amped. Kingsbury is bleeding from his nose as Bonnar looks for a takedown. He can't get it, and settles for chasing Kingsbury across the cage with jabs. Bonnar again looks for the takedown, and this time he gets it and moves to side control. Bonnar moves to mount and ends the round with short punches on a turtled up Kingsbury. What a round. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Bonnar.

Round 2: After getting a thorough shouting from his corner, Kingsbury starts the second with an increased pace. Bonnar slips under a punch and gets around behind him before flinging him to the mat. He nearly takes Kingsbury's back, but has to settle for side control. Bonnar is manhandling Kingsbury whenever the fight hits the mat. Bonnar moves to north-south, and the crowd turns into a room full of seventh-graders for a moment. Bonnar looking for the crucifix, but having trouble getting both of Kingsbury's arms under control. He makes a failed bid to gain mount, but Kingsbury seems too worn out to capitalize on the opportunity to scramble up. Bonnar ends the round throwing punches from half-guard. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Bonnar.

Round 3: Bonnar still looks fresh to start the final round. He slips around behind Kingsbury and hauls him down again, now with a little more than four minutes to work. Bonnar's into side control and it's looking like a carbon copy of round two so far, which does not please the crowd. In Kingsbury's corner, Jon Fitch is pleading for him to find a way to get to his feet, but he's stuck on his back with Bonnar in total control. Bonnar opens up his offense a little in the final ten seconds, but it's not enough to make the crowd forget that what started as an exciting brawl turned into a plodding grappling match for the last ten minutes. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Bonnar.

Stephan Bonnar def. Kyle Kingsbury (30-27, 30-25, 30-27)

In his post-fight remarks, Bonnar explained that he had originally planned to call out Josh Koscheck after their battle of t-shirt rights, but instead decided to admit that he was wrong and Koscheck was right. He then offered a somewhat surprising apology. Who saw that coming?

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