My First Fight: Mark Coleman

Filed under: UFCIf you had asked Mark Coleman what he was up to in early 1996, he probably would have told you he was gearing up to earn a spot on another U.S. Olympic wrestling squad after his seventh-place finish in the 1992 games. But looking back n…

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UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman steps inside the cage.If you had asked Mark Coleman what he was up to in early 1996, he probably would have told you he was gearing up to earn a spot on another U.S. Olympic wrestling squad after his seventh-place finish in the 1992 games. But looking back now, “The Hammer” can admit that this is only partially true.

“I was still trying to be a competitive wrestler at 31 years of age, but really I was fooling myself,” he said. “I just wasn’t putting in the grind and the time I needed to put in. I wasn’t really training like an Olympic champion. I was training like a bum, to be perfectly honest.”

When he lost in the semifinals of the Olympic trials that year, Coleman knew he had only himself to blame. He hadn’t worked hard enough, hadn’t wanted it badly enough. Now his wrestling career was over and he had no idea what he was going to do with his life next. He didn’t have to wait long before he got an offer that changed everything.

“I went and lost at the Olympic trials, and that’s when a manager approached me and said, ‘You want to fight in 30 days at UFC 10?’ He also put this to [American wrestlers] Mark Kerr and Tom Erickson the same day and asked them the same question. I don’t think they gave him the right answer. I think they wanted to take the contract home and show it to some attorneys or something. But I talked my way into the UFC. I told this guy, I’m the man for job.”
Take these cats down and pound them out. That was the plan from day one.
— Mark Coleman

That guy was trainer/manager Richard Hamilton, who’d already helped shepherd several decorated wrestlers into the UFC. He was at the trials looking for his next big pickup, Coleman said, after his past relationships with fighters had fallen apart.

“Everybody had a falling out with this guy for a reason. I won’t give what the reason was, just a reason. Dan Severn left him. Don Frye left him. I’ll say this for him, he did notice that wrestlers were the wave of the future and he did go after us.”

After watching the UFC on TV for the past couple years, Coleman had a vague idea of what to expect. The first time he saw a UFC fight, he said, he thought “it couldn’t be real.” The concept of cage fights with no rules and no weight classes just seemed too far out there, yet the fights themselves also seemed too brutal and too messy to be choreographed. Once he realized it was legitimate, it seemed like a wrestler’s dream, and Coleman couldn’t wait to try it. He wanted a spot in the tournament so badly, in fact, that he said he didn’t closely examine the contract he’d signed with Hamilton.

“I just wanted in UFC 10. I wanted in there and thought the ramifications for signing a bad contract was something I’d deal with later, which I did.”

In the month between signing the contract and stepping in the Octagon for the first time, Coleman didn’t have a lot of gym time to learn striking technique or submission defense. He did, however, have a pretty solid game plan.

“Take these cats down and pound them out,” he said. “That was the plan from day one.”

On July 12, 1996, Coleman showed up at the Fairgrounds Arena in Birmingham, Ala., feeling pretty good about his chances. He’d have to win three fights in one night to claim the UFC 10 tournament title. His first opponent was Israeli heavyweight martial arts champion Moti Horenstein, who Coleman felt couldn’t possibly stop him.

“All the wrestlers, we were a family and we really felt like we were unappreciated, like we were some of the toughest cats in the world. Not just me — a lot of my friends. So I walked in with a lot of confidence, especially knowing I was fighting a stand-up guy. I knew the game plan and I knew it was going to work. I walked in thinking, this really isn’t going to be fair. But as I was walking to the cage, that worm of doubt worked its way into my head. It got pretty tense then.”

With just over 4,000 people in attendance and a meager pay-per-view audience at home, it wasn’t the bright lights of the big time that had Coleman nervous. After all, he’d wrestled in the Olympics and won an NCAA championship at Ohio State. He had plenty of experience in big matches with big stakes. What had him worried was a sudden fear of the unknown. Despite his long career as a wrestler, he’d never done this before. Maybe he wasn’t ready for what was about to happen.

“I was very confident walking in, until right when I got on the ramp and that’s when it hit me: holy s–t, I’m fighting a karate world champion. What if he does have some Bruce Lee crazy spinning back kick or something that’s going to knock me out?”

If Horenstein had such a move in his bag of tricks, he never got to use it. Coleman took him down and pounded him out exactly according to plan. A little under three minutes after it had started, Coleman’s MMA debut was in the books and he was on to the semifinal round at UFC 10. There he would face “Big Daddy” Gary Goodridge, who, with five UFC fights to his credit, was a veteran compared to Coleman.
What if he does have some Bruce Lee crazy spinning back kick or something that’s going to knock me out?
— Mark Coleman

In the years since, Coleman and Goodridge have become close friends. They spent time together on the Japanese circuit in Pride Fighting Championships, and they really got to like one another. But that night in Alabama, there was no fellow feeling. There was money at stake, after all, and they spent a grueling seven minutes in the cage together to decide who would go home with it.

Coleman’s superiority on the mat and conditioning edge eventually proved to be the difference-maker, as Goodridge finally gassed out and submitted. The bout took its toll on Coleman too, but he still had one more fight before he could claim the tournament title. This time he’d be going up against the man his manager had conditioned him to despise: UFC 8 winner Don Frye.

“[Hamilton] had a student come in and tell me Don Frye broke his knee on purpose and this and that. Honestly, I’m not a hateful person, but they tried to create some anger and some hate in me towards Don Frye and it kind of worked,” Coleman said. “I thought Don Frye was a bad guy, a cocky guy, and I went in there with bad intentions. Nothing more than normal I guess, but I really wanted to beat him for this guy who had his knee broken. But I think in the end it was all made up. I don’t know for sure.”

Both men came into the cage for the final fight looking worn down and battle weary, but after a combined 15 minutes in the cage between his two earlier fights, Frye seemed to be the worse off of the two. Coleman quickly put Frye on his back, pinned his head against the fence, and went to work with right hands on Frye’s already damaged face.

When the action drifted over toward Coleman’s corner, Hamilton was there to berate Frye from outside the cage, screaming for Coleman to punish him from the top. Even when the fight returned to the feet, Frye couldn’t keep it there against the much larger Coleman.

But no matter how Coleman tried, he couldn’t make the other man quit. Frye kept taking whatever Coleman dished out, and soon even Coleman had to admit that he was dealing with one tough individual, no matter what he’d been told about him before.

“At the eight to ten minute mark, I was looking this guy in the eye and feeling a lot of emotions go through my body,” Coleman said. “Like jeez, why aren’t they stopping this fight? I wanted them to stop it. I wasn’t really enjoying it at that point. But back then, you know, you had to tap out. They didn’t like to stop it unless you tapped out. I wanted them to stop it because I couldn’t finish the cat.”

After a brutal and exhausting eleven and a half minutes, a couple of Coleman headbutts (totally legal at the time) finally convinced referee “Big” John McCarthy to call a stop to it. Frye had taken a severe beating at the hands of Coleman, but he’d also made a lasting impression on the man who’d come into the cage hating him that night.
Stopping was the furthest thing from my mind. I couldn’t wait until the next show.
— Mark Coleman

“There’s a difference between the best and the toughest. Don was very good, but he wasn’t the best. He was certainly the toughest guy I ever fought in my life though, and he proved that many times. Thank God Big John stepped in and stopped it.”

Though Frye and Coleman gained a measure of begrudging respect for one another that night, they didn’t exactly become best friends. Not yet, anyway.

“Don Frye, as I understand, did not like me for a long time after that,” Coleman said. “He hated me, in fact. He wanted a rematch real bad, because that’s just the kind of cat he is. By the time we rematched four or five years later over in Japan, by that time we were good buddies. To this day, I respect him about as much as I respect anybody.”

After it was all over, Coleman was utterly exhausted from his frantic first foray into MMA. He was also “addicted” to the budding sport, and he knew he’d found his new career, even if he had no idea that it would one day take him across the Pacific to Japan and into the UFC Hall of Fame. All he knew at the time was that victory in the cage was a great feeling, and he had to have more.

“This was something I grew up wanting since I was five years old, even though there wasn’t this sport then,” Coleman said. “It’s respect, I guess. It’s knowing no one’s going to mess with you. Stopping was the furthest thing from my mind. I couldn’t wait until the next show.”

Check out past installments of My First Fight, including Joe Benavidez, Matt Lindland, and Jorge Rivera.

 

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UFC 134 Results: Is Shogun Rua on a Path of Redemption That Leads to the Title?

Last Saturday at UFC 134 in Brazil, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was able to do what many expected he would do and defeated Forrest Griffin in devastating Shogun-fashion—via first round knockout—thus redeeming his upset loss to Griffin back in 200…

Last Saturday at UFC 134 in Brazil, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was able to do what many expected he would do and defeated Forrest Griffin in devastating Shogun-fashion—via first round knockout—thus redeeming his upset loss to Griffin back in 2007 at UFC 76.

This marks the third time Shogun has been able to avenge a loss and do so by KO. With only five losses on his record, three of which while in the UFC, this former UFC light-heavyweight champion is that much more impressive and dangerous.

His first rematch came against Mark Coleman in 2009 at UFC 93. Coleman had handed Shogun his second career loss back in 2006 at Pride 31 by breaking his arm during a takedown. As astonishing as the arm break was, the post-fight brawl was the most surprising part of the night involving not only Coleman, but Wanderlei Silva, Shogun’s brother Murilo and Coleman cornerman Phil Baroni.

Next up was Lyoto Machida last year at UFC 113. This was one of the most anticipated rematches in MMA history, as Shogun lost a very close and controversial decision to Machida in each fighter’s previous outing at UFC 104. Shogun delivered on his promise and ended the fight by KO in the first round, thus dethroning The Dragon.

After he captured the title, Shogun was on the sidelines for a year. Upon his return, he met the young star that is Jon “Bones Jones.” While some believed Jones was not yet ready to fight for the title, he proved the critics wrong and gave Shogun his fifth career loss.

No one was calling for an immediate rematch this time around, but that should not be reason enough for their not to be one in the future. As Shogun has demonstrated on numerous occasions, he not only has what it takes to come back and get revenge, but he does so in knockout fashion.

The truest mark of any champion isn’t the ability to become an unstoppable force, but the ability to pick yourself up when you’re knocked down and recover to achieve victory. It is clear which kind of fighter Shogun is, and for that reason alone he will one day defeat Jon Jones and win UFC gold again.

And that’s the bottom line.

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Follow Justin Alonzo-Fuller on Twitter @jalonzofuller and become a part of the Justin Alonzo-Fuller Nation

Also, be sure to check out the non-profit Women’s Initiative for Strength and Empowerment (WISE) on Facebook to become a part of the solution and not the problem, and help stop domestic violence and violence against women.

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Father’s Day Tribute: Five MMA Father-Son Moments That Make Your Relationship With Dad Look Great

Yeah, if you’re looking for warm fuzzies, you can stop reading now. These two aren’t on the list. (Pic: MMAConvert.com)

Being a father must be one of the most thankless jobs on Earth. I say this not as a dad, but as a son who can only imagine what I put my father through. Sure, there are probably some happy times, like watching your son get his first hit on the baseball court, but largely it’s a never ending torrent of putting up with your son’s immature bullshit, and for that you get thought of one day a year at which time you’re rewarded with an ugly ass tie and a “Free Oil Change” coupon for the truck your son smashed up.

On this special occasion, take a few minutes to grab your old man, have a seat, and enjoy some good old fashioned shadenfreude with some of our sport’s less celebrated father-son moments. You may laugh, you may cry, but hopefully you’ll both realize that things could be a lot worse. Who knows, after a beer or two you may even decide to celebrate your strengthened bond by taking a class together.

To all the dads out there, keep fighting the good fight.

Yeah, if you’re looking for warm fuzzies, you can stop reading now. These two aren’t on the list. (Pic: MMAConvert.com)

Being a father must be one of the most thankless jobs on Earth. I say this not as a dad, but as a son who can only imagine what I put my father through. Sure, there are probably some happy times, like watching your son get his first hit on the baseball court, but largely it’s a never ending torrent of putting up with your son’s immature bullshit, and for that you get thought of one day a year at which time you’re rewarded with an ugly ass tie and a “Free Oil Change” coupon for the truck your son smashed up.

On this special occasion, take a few minutes to grab your old man, have a seat, and enjoy some good old fashioned shadenfreude with some of our sport’s less celebrated father-son moments. You may laugh, you may cry, but hopefully you’ll both realize that things could be a lot worse. Who knows, after a beer or two you may even decide to celebrate your strengthened bond by taking a class together.

To all the dads out there, keep fighting the good fight.

Chris Leben’s Breakdown On TUF Season 1

Maybe it’s just all the topless drunk dudes in acid wash jeans hanging around the pool, but in retrospect doesn’t TUF 1 look a little…you know… (original TUF footage)

After thirteen seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, it’s hard to believe that there was a time when fighters getting drunk in a house and smashing things was considered fresh and innovative television. Practically everyone has been calling for the show to be revamped, but long before the in-house antics grew stale there were brave pioneers like Chis Leben who broke down doors in the entertainment industry by breaking down doors in the TUF house.

Leben has his fair share of personal demons burning within, and adding alcohol to the mix serves only to fan the flames. During his stint on the show, “The Crippler” summoned the courage to confide in his TUF housemates that he had been abandoned by his father as a young child, which later served as ammunition for Bobby Southworth during a drunken argument. After calling Leben a “fatherless bastard” and telling him that he was so worthless that he was left in a garbage can, Southworth half-heartedly apologized, but he and Koscheck were only warming up. When Leben retreated to avoid confrontation and sleep it off outside, the two decided to turn a water hose on him. Pushed to his emotional breaking point, Leben lashed out at any object standing between him and his tormentors. And the rest, as they say, is reality tv history.

The 20 Greatest UFC Fighters of the Pre Zuffa Era

When one mentions the UFC, images of greats like Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva immediately come to mind.And why shouldn’t they?The men are legends, as are other well-known figures in MMA like Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz.However, ma…

When one mentions the UFC, images of greats like Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva immediately come to mind.

And why shouldn’t they?

The men are legends, as are other well-known figures in MMA like Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz.

However, many people forget that there was a generation of MMA before the current incarnation of the UFC—meaning before it was owned by Zuffa—and there were many fighters that were part of it.

While they may not hold a candle to the well-rounded fighters of today, here are the pre-Zuffa era’s best.

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Mark Coleman vs. Herschel Walker: Why This Fight Should Never Happen

A decade ago, it would have been nigh to think that NFL great Herschel Walker would fight former UFC Heavyweight Champion Mark Coleman.Why would there have been? How likely was it Coleman would still be fighting by 2011 and that Walker would embark on …

A decade ago, it would have been nigh to think that NFL great Herschel Walker would fight former UFC Heavyweight Champion Mark Coleman.

Why would there have been? How likely was it Coleman would still be fighting by 2011 and that Walker would embark on a journey into MMA when he was 48 years old?

Yet, these seemingly impossible events have happened, and here we are in May 2011 where there is a significant amount of buzz around a potential fight between Herschel Walker and Mark Coleman.

Coleman even told MMAjunkie.com that “an opportunity to fight Herschel Walker would be something that [he] would drop everything [for] and try to train and prepare for him.”

Despite Coleman’s desire to meet the former football player in the cage, there are several reasons that this fight should not take place.

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UFC News: Mark Coleman Contemplates Retirement; Willing to Fight Herschel Walker

UFC Hall Of Famer Mark Coleman is well aware of his capabilities at 46 years old and has strongly considered retirement.However, there is one bout Coleman would be willing to compete in before he calls it a career. “An opportunity to fight He…

UFC Hall Of Famer Mark Coleman is well aware of his capabilities at 46 years old and has strongly considered retirement.

However, there is one bout Coleman would be willing to compete in before he calls it a career. 

“An opportunity to fight Herschel Walker would be something that I would drop everything [for] and try to train and prepare for him,” Coleman recently told MMAJunkie.com.

A bout against an opponent who is around the same age as Coleman wouldn’t exactly excite fans to watch or pay the price of admission to see. Fans saw Coleman already get battered and beaten up by another middle-aged veteran in Randy Couture at UFC 109, and Coleman said he hasn’t felt the desire to train and prepare since then.

However a bout with the former NFL star would motivate Coleman to get back in the gym and train accordingly, at this point it is only a rumour, and “The Hammer” tries not to think too much about it. 

Coleman has been comfortable with his post-fight career, as he recently took a position at Ultimate Brand Management. The licensing company, which owns multiple MMA-related companies, allows Coleman to travel and make appearances and sign autographs. 

It is not a role most fans would imagine Coleman in, but it helps him remain financially comfortable and provides him with a different outlook on life, which he said he envisioned completely different.

“You think you can fight forever. I thought I could fight forever. And really, it comes to an end quick,” he said. 

And although he can’t claim any insurance from the new accident-insurance policy the UFC recently announced, Coleman is fortunate enough to afford his own health insurance and he believes it will benefit fighters competing in the organization. 

“Guys that can afford it are lucky. But a lot of guys can’t afford it. It’s not a regular job here. This is ultimate fighting. You’re doing multiple high-risk training sessions, and the potential for injury is there. As a former fighter, I think it’s great,” he said.

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