(Exclusive) UFC featherweight credits Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar for being 'instrumental' in 'reviving' the promotion

A UFC featherweight recently weighed in on the legendary fight between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar on The Ultimate Fighter season one finale and their impact on the promotion.

During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Kyle 'The Monster' Nelson opened up about his introduction to the sport and when he became a fan. He mentioned that the first season of TUF got him interested in MMA as a fan, which later got him familiar with some of the other fighters.

He said:

"I started with The Ultimate Fighter...The very first Ultimate Fighter... Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture were the coaches, watching Forrest Griffin come up, Diego Sanchez, were some of my favorites. And that's what got me into the sport and then Georges St-Pierre kinda came on the scene and he was Canadian, so obviously he was my favorite guy." [16:43 - 17:05]

The Canadian UFC featherweight then brought up the impact that the light heavyweight final matchup between Griffin and Bonnar had on the promotion at the time. He credited both fighters for their incredible fight and mentioned that they played a crucial role in saving the promotion, saying:

"Stephan Bonnar vs. Forrest Griffin...I had only seen whatever like 8 or 9 MMA fights up to that point and then I saw that fight, which is still considered one of the best and definitely an instrumental fight in bringing fans and kind of reviving the UFC and bringing it into the mainstream." [17:26 - 17:48]

The fight between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar on the TUF season one finale was later the first fight to be inducted into the Fight Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame in 2013.

Check out the full exclusive interview:

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UFC featherweight Kyle Nelson calls out Cub Swanson for January bout

UFC featherweight Kyle Nelson wasted little time in setting the stage for what he hopes to be his next bout inside the octagon as he called out Cub Swanson for January.

During the aforementioned exclusive interview, the Canadian explained the reasoning behind the call-out and why January would be preferred. He mentioned that the promotion is reportedly returning to Toronto, Canada for an event and wants the opportunity to compete in front of his home fans, saying:

"Being able to fight again in Canada, especially if they come again to Toronto, would mean the world to me...It would be nice to get a full camp and get to really enjoy the experience of fighting in Toronto and then I think an opponent like Cub Swanson, it doesn't really get much better than that." [6:07 - 6:35]