Issue 065

August 2010

The laundry list of items inside Bonnar’s gym bag means he comes prepared for any eventuality, but there’s an explanation for every item – even why he has two protective cups… 

Nike Bag 

I got that back in Chicago probably about 2002. I’ve had it most of my career. You can throw whatever in there. If I ripped a hole in it it’d be sad – I’d have to go shopping for a new one – but it’s held up and I hope to get a couple more years out of it.

Raja Shin Guards

Those are like the Cadillac of shinpads. The Rajas are really pretty-looking shin pads but they’re heavy duty. I wear those when I’m doing the heavy banging. I’ve also got smaller, Combat Sports shinpads for grappling or if you’re just play-kicking and working on grabbing kicks and that. You don’t want to do that with the big ones.

Twins MMA Sparring Gloves

You’ve got the big Twins MMA gloves with the bigger pad if you’re doing MMA stuff with more striking, more punches – Mark Dellagrotte gave me those. I liked them and they served a purpose and they’ve held up pretty well.

Raja 16oz Sparring Gloves

A lot of my equipment is from Thailand. It’s a very good price over there and they make good equipment so I just got the big Raja sparring gloves – they’re 16oz. They’ve held up pretty good. I’ve had them a couple of years now.

Rival Gloves

I love those Rival gloves for hitting pads and hitting the bag. Your bag gloves have got to be different than your sparring gloves. I like the Velcro too because I’m lazy and I can just do it myself. I don’t like that helpless feeling of needing to be laced up. I just throw them on myself; I use my teeth to tighten the straps.

Mouthpieces

For the heavy-duty stuff I have my Unbreakable. I can take some big shots with that mouthpiece. Then I’ve got a smaller one for grappling, just a little one that’s comfortable. Just to get used to having something in your mouth.

Cups

I’ve got my Thai cup with the ties. With the heavy banging and [sparring with] a nut kicker, you’ve got to wear that one. When I’m lazy and I don’t feel like lacing up I’ve got another one without strings on it that I’ll just throw into a jock. The reason I use a steel cup is the Thais have been fighting Muay Thai for hundreds and hundreds of years and really, no one gets kicked or kneed in the nuts as much as Muay Thai boxers. You’ve got these people who have been kicking each other in the nuts for hundreds and hundreds of years swearing by steel cups. Why argue with them?

Knee and Elbow Supports

You’ve got your little sleeves for grappling on the canvas. The gym has an old WEC canvas apron so it tears the shit out of your skin. So I just like to cover knees, elbows and ankles just to save your skin and possible staph infection.

Shower Bag

You’ve got everything in there: your deodorant, your brush, your moisturizer, razor, your Lamisil. I actually have Super Glue for cuts. I don’t stitch myself anymore, I just Super Glue it. It’s the way to go; I swear by it. Really, you kind of live out of your bag – you always want to be able to do whatever kind of training you need, get cleaned up afterwards and put on a fresh pair of clothes.

Stephan Bonnar spoke with Gary Alexander