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UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman Hospitalized with Hip Complications

One would think after having a UFC Hall of Fame career that Mark “The Hammer” Coleman should be living in the lap of luxury. But that’s not the case at all.
According to a GoFundMe page set up by Wes Sims titled “Save The Hammer…

One would think after having a UFC Hall of Fame career that Mark “The Hammer” Coleman should be living in the lap of luxury. But that’s not the case at all.

According to a GoFundMe page set up by Wes Sims titled “Save The Hammer,” Coleman is dealing with some major medical complications.

Mark had a hip replacement in 2013 and after surgery was named Wrestling Coach for Team Penn on Season 19 The Ultimate Fighter. After filming and returning home his hip popped out several times and pain began on the other side. He has struggled and lived with the pain for well over a year and became sick a couple weeks ago. He was taken to hospital where a doctor checked him out and had to stay for four days on antibiotics, when released he went to see hip doctor again and scheduled to have surgery on March 9th, only to discover while open on operating table he was full of infection and very close to being septic and lucky to have caught this!

Coleman remains hospitalized with a plastic hip until doctors can perform a full surgery in April. The page expresses that Coleman has no income and that his insurance is about to run out. Coleman’s financial troubles are nothing new. The UFC Hall of Famer put his Pride Grand Prix tournament trophy up for bidding on eBay last year.

It’s sad to see someone who had such a storied career in this position.

Prior to the Zuffa days of the UFC, Coleman became a certified monster inside the cage. He entered the UFC after winning a NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship at Ohio State University and a seventh-place finish at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Coleman dominated the competition at both UFC 10 and UFC 11, winning back-to-back UFC tournaments. Included in those tournament bouts were wins over early MMA stalwarts Gary Goodridge and Don Frye.

At UFC 12 Coleman would become the first-ever UFC heavyweight champion after tapping out Dan “The Beast” Severn in under three minutes.

It’s this run fans of Coleman point to when they mention him as “The Godfather of Ground-and-Pound.” Coleman’s UFC success wouldn’t last much longer however, and he dropped three consecutive fights inside the Octagon.

Although he exited the UFC on bad terms, Coleman rebounded greatly by winning the Pride Grand Prix tournament in 2000. Finding mixed success, Coleman did battle with some of MMA’s legendary icons such as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

His Pride 31 victory over Rua presented MMA fans with a quality memory as two rival camps nearly entered an all-out brawl following the fight.

Coleman’s MMA career came full circle as the legend wrapped it up for the same company he began with. He would only find one victory in his second UFC tenure but did take part in a rematch with Rua and the first-ever UFC Hall of Famer vs. UFC Hall of Famer bout in UFC history with his UFC 109 clash against Randy Couture.

As many MMA fans know, few fighters break into the MMA game to make it rich. This is even more true for guys who competed prior to Zuffa running the show or “the dark ages” of the UFC as some will call it.

There have been a flood of donations in only a matter of hours, including from former Pride announcer Mauro Ranallo. Let’s all hope this MMA legend can get back to just having the ability to live a normal life after the hours of torment Coleman endured in the cage and gym to provide entertainment for us fans.

Get well soon, Hammer.

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Ian McCall Says Team Alpha Male Are ‘Douchebag Frat Guys’ of MMA

Ian McCall has never been shy when speaking to the MMA media. Although he has a pivotal fight with John Lineker coming up at UFC 183, McCall took a potshot at one of MMA’s top gyms.
Speaking with Steph Daniels of Bloody Elbow, McCall addressed hi…

Ian McCall has never been shy when speaking to the MMA media. Although he has a pivotal fight with John Lineker coming up at UFC 183, McCall took a potshot at one of MMA’s top gyms.

Speaking with Steph Daniels of Bloody Elbow, McCall addressed his upcoming opponent along with some recent comments made by fellow flyweight Joseph Benavidez:

I’ve never had a problem with Joe, but apparently, he has something to say. Team Alpha Male are nice guys, but they come off as the douchiest camp, and I’ve told some of their guys this. They’re the douchebag frat guys of MMA. They walk around flexing with their shirts off, bumping chests and just seem like they would be the guys that would try to bang your girlfriend when your back is turned. Good for you, you’re the coolest guys in Sacramento.

McCall was responding to Benavidez’s comment on Submission Radio that the last thing the UFC flyweight division was a champion nicknamed “Uncle Creepy.” Benavidez and McCall faced one another at UFC 156, with Benavidez picking up an unanimous decision victory.

McCall’s confidence seems to be at an all-time high as he heads into UFC 183. The flyweight contender dismissed his opponent’s skills, saying Lineker is “basic.”

The two were originally paired up at UFC Fight Night 56, but McCall’s viral infection forced a last-minute cancellation of the bout. Ahead of this match, Lineker offered to “take it easy” on McCall, a fighter whom the Brazilian believes is nothing more than a “stepping stone.”

The McCall-Lineker bout has title implications given how highly ranked both men are. McCall is currently sitting at No. 3 in the UFC flyweight division, while Lineker is ranked at No. 6 in the official UFC rankings.

McCall looks to make it three wins in a row at Lineker’s expense, while the Brazilian bounced back from an ugly loss to Ali Bagautinov to defeat Alptekin Ozkilic last July.

Luckily for UFC fans, this fight is on the preliminary portion of the UFC 183 card, which means this battle of top-10 flyweights can be seen for free on TV. Headlining UFC 183 on Saturday night is the middleweight fight between former middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva and a returning Nick Diaz.

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Joe Schilling Says Anderson Silva ‘Would Get Wasted Under Kickboxing Rules’

Joe Schilling has been helping to prep Nick Diaz for his UFC 183 showdown with Anderson “The Spider” Silva. Through studying, the Brazilian and helping Diaz get ready, Schilling believes he has a good idea of Silva’s striking abilities.
Speaking to Joh…

Speaking to John Joe O’Regan of BloodyElbow.com, Schilling didn’t heap the praise MMA fans are used to hearing in regards to Silva’s striking.

“I think it would be embarrassing for him in there with me,” Schilling said. “The more I have studied Anderson Silva for this fight camp of Nick’s the more I think he is good at kickboxing for MMA but in a professional kickboxing fight he would get wasted.”

Schilling certainly has the background to provide a proper critique of Silva’s striking ability. The Brazilian has been widely panned as being among the best in MMA, combat sports fans have always debated how Silva would fare in striking-only sports.

Discussions of Silva engaging in a boxing match with Roy Jones Jr. were rumored, but ultimately nixed by Silva’s decision to sign a new contract with the UFC. That would’ve been an interesting match, even if it was just an exhibition, as Silva has a lot of similar traits to the former boxing star.

Schilling’s breakdown of Silva’s striking is nothing new of stars in combat sports discussing MMA fighters’ striking level.

James Toney, prior to his one and only UFC appearance, claimed that MMA wasn’t “a real sport.” In 2013, heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury told ESPN.com that MMA is rubbish and that he would take Cain Velasquez out. Dana White promptly invited Fury to step into the Octagon, but nothing ever came of the back-and-forth.

The criticism of the level of striking in MMA by boxers/kickboxers is ultimately an apples-to-oranges argument. While there is certainly some crossover between the two (Schilling told O’Regan that Chris Weidman wouldn’t look out of place and that Donald Cerrone would get murdered in glory), there are things that would work in one but not the other.

For example, kickboxers tend to stand more upright (not having to worry about a takedown), use a defensive shell more often (bigger gloves), and often choose to stand in front of one another instead of circling around. An example is Pat Barry claiming he used the wrong block for smaller gloves in his knockout loss to Cheick Kongo.

Despite Schilling’s critique, Silva will still be considered one of the greatest strikers in the MMA world. And considering that’s where Silva will remain, that’s likely all that matters to the future Hall of Famer.

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John Dodson Comments on How Demetrious Johnson Affects UFC Flyweight Division

Demetrious Johnson is widely considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters competing in MMA today. Yet, despite his success inside the Octagon, UFC flyweight contender John Dodson believes Mighty Mouse is having a negative impact on the division….

Speaking with Shaun Al-Shatti of MMAFighting.com, Dodson praised the champion’s abilities inside the cage but pointed to his actions outside of fighting being a hindrance on all UFC flyweights.

He’s showcasing his ability to be a true champion by being able to finish by strikes, submissions, or a winning decision without squeaking by anybody. With that being said, him not being able to pop kind of ruins it for all of us. That’s why we all need to step up as athletes and start doing it ourselves. If the division wants to have some limelight, then we need to start having some other fighters who can present that opportunity.

Indeed, the UFC flyweight division has been on an uphill climb since the creation of the division. UFC middleweight Michael Bisping infamously called his showdown with Brian Stann at UFC 152 “the real main event” despite the fact Johnson and Joseph Benavidez were headlining the card for the inaugural UFC flyweight championship.

According to MMAPayout, Johnson’s UFC 174 title defense managed a meager 115,000 pay-per-view buys, and his most recent title defense at UFC 178 barely eclipsed the 200,000 buyrate. Johnson has also struggled in the TV ratings as well.

It’s not the first time a fellow flyweight has called out Johnson for his lack of promoting himself or upcoming fights. Back in October, Ian McCall was blunt in his criticism of the champion when speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.

“No one really gives a s–t about us, and it’s true,” McCall claimed. “The guy has the personality of my coffee mug. Actually, my coffee mug has more personality because it’s a Joe Rogan coffee mug, so never mind. He doesn‘t do his job as far as marketing.”

McCall is also doing his part to create some intrigue in the division with his upcoming fight against John Lineker. Originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night 56, the two men exchanged verbal jabs at one another through Twitter in the lead-up to their fight.

McCall also hilariously took his time to sip on some fluids prior to the two men having a post-weigh-in staredown after the Brazilian missed weight.

McCall would be admitted to a hospital the night before the bout was to happen and the two would be rescheduled to compete at UFC 183. Lineker has since offered McCall a “peace offering” of sorts.

While fighters have been quick to point to Johnson’s personality traits as a reason why the flyweight division has struggled, it’s not the main factor. Numbers are down across the board, which doesn’t help, but it’s also due in large part to the dominance the champion has displayed in his contests.

Johnson has already defeated most of the top contenders in the division and has made it look easy in the process. The only man to give Johnson trouble since he became champion was Dodson, but the challenger is still recovering from an ACL injury.

Without credible challengers, it’s going to be hard for the UFC to promote Johnson’s title fights as something of a special event. Lineker has struggled with making weight, Kyoji Horiguchi is a rising contender but is still likely at least two fights away from a title shot, and most of the top 10 already has a loss from Johnson.

Johnson isn’t the most marketable champion in terms of drawing fans in, but as Dodson pointed out, that puts the ball squarely in the court of rising challengers to do their job of selling fights with or without the belt on the line.

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Dana White Explains Why Jose Aldo Didn’t Face off with Conor McGregor

The UFC appeared to botch a golden opportunity to have Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo face off after the Irishman’s victory Sunday night.
But UFC President Dana White would later explain to Ariel Helwani why the two future adversaries did not face off in…

The UFC appeared to botch a golden opportunity to have Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo face off after the Irishman’s victory Sunday night.

But UFC President Dana White would later explain to Ariel Helwani why the two future adversaries did not face off in the cage.

“He is superstitious, White said. “He will not step foot inside the octagon unless it is to fight. I just wanted to clarify that because it looked weird but nobody told Jose and he doesn’t go in there except to fight.”

Indeed, it did appear weird considering Joe Rogan had called for Aldo to step into the cage to square off against McGregor during the Irishman’s post-fight interview. Those plans would be nixed on the fly and instead we had Aldo speaking through an interpreter following McGregor’s interview.

Despite the fact that the Aldo-McGregor staredown photo-op didn’t happen, fans still were able to see one of heck of an image immediately after the fight.

Following a dominant win over the out-matched Dennis Siver, McGregor hopped over the cage and went straight towards Aldo. The image of McGregor screaming into Aldo’s face while being restrained by security with Aldo simply laughing figures to be shown numerous times in the lead-up to their clash.

The fight has the potential to be one of the biggest the UFC has put on given the following McGregor has. In a short amount of time McGregor has gone from touted prospect to UFC megastar. It’s pretty telling that McGregor main-evented a card on just his third UFC appearance.

Meanwhile Aldo is the reigning champion and hasn’t lost since 2005. He was recently pushed to the limits by Chad Mendes in their epic UFC 179 fight, a fight that will surely be on anyone’s short list for Fight of the Year.

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UFC: Matt Wiman Compares ‘Sleazy’ Sponsorship Managers to Drug Dealers

Let it be known that any potential sponsors wishing to discuss business with UFC fighter Matt Wiman had better come prepared to be up-front and honest.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour on Monday, Wiman explained the lack of sponsors for h…

Let it be known that any potential sponsors wishing to discuss business with UFC fighter Matt Wiman had better come prepared to be up-front and honest.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour on Monday, Wiman explained the lack of sponsors for his UFC Fight Night 57 showdown with Isaac Vallie-Flagg:

I think if it was a good opportunity, I’m not opposed to it…I compare it to this, it’s going to be kind of a crude analogy, but I’ve heard and I was never a pot head or anything like that. But, I’ve heard that the worst part about taking drugs was dealing with drug dealers. I think that the worst part about sponsors is the people around them; sleazy wannabe managers.

It was odd to see Wiman wearing a plain pair of UFC-brand shorts without any sponsor labels. He may not be a household name, but he is a former competitor on The Ultimate Fighter and was fighting on the main card of a Fox Sports 1 card.

Wiman’s comments resemble those made by Mac Danzig, as The Ultimate Fighter winner decided to forgo dealing with sponsors for his UFC on Fox 9 clash against Joe Lauzon.

Considering how much of a hot-button issue fighter pay has become these days, along with comments about the importance of sponsors by former UFC competitor Nate Quarry, it’s pretty telling that guys like Wiman and Danzig would opt against sponsorship income for the convenience of not having to deal with the hassle.

Wiman was making his return to the Octagon after almost two years on the sidelines. He had last competed in January 2013 in a TKO loss to T.J. Grant. Wiman also wore plain, sponsor-less UFC-brand shorts for that bout as well.

He and Vallie-Flagg put on an entertaining performance to kick off the main card of UFC Fight Night 57. Wiman picked up the unanimous-decision victory due to his superior grappling.

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