Instagram / Mark Coleman
The UFC Hall of Famer details the situation behind a heart attack that would have killed him if he hadn’t taken himself to the hospital.
Mark Coleman is one of the true pioneers of mixed martial arts, a man that was an originator of ground and pound and someone you didn’t want on top of you in the best of circumstances (let alone back in the early, early days when headbutts were still legal). He was the fifth man to be inducted in the UFC’s Hall of Fame in 2008, had his last fight in 2010, and officially retired from the sport in 2013.
Now in 2020 we have the sad job or reporting that Coleman has been hospitalized due to a heart attack. The good news, though: he’s expected to make a full recovery. Word got out Saturday night via one of Mark’s daughters on social media.
Thank you all I’m doing good ???
— Mark Coleman (@Markcolemanmma) November 8, 2020
And now “The Hammer” is giving us a first hand account of exactly how close he came to ignoring the signs of an impending cardiac disaster.
“I hadn’t been feeling so well for quite some time,” Coleman wrote on Instagram. “Something hit pretty hard Tuesday about 7:00 pm, chest locked up my arms went numb. Sounds pretty obvious but I didn’t want to believe. I walked around and laid down for about 6 hours it didn’t get better. I texted my daughters I didn’t want to go, wasn’t fair to them so I grabbed my keys made it to the hospital.”
“For sure there was nothing wrong,” he continued. “But yes there was complete blockage of a major artery. If I don’t go I’m probably not here today. I’m so glad I went, I have so many things I want to do. Tomorrow they will try to break through the artery and put a stent in.”
“For the first time in a long time I am motivated I am grateful and appreciate all your support. It wasn’t my time, it’s time to live.”
Here’s wishing Mark a speedy recovery and a new level of health now that he’ll have the proper amount of blood passing through that artery.