UFC Hall of
Famer
Former UFC
Heavyweight Champion
Nick Name: The Hammer
Weight Class: Heavyweight
DOB: 12/20/64
Height: 6.1
Weight: 224 lbs
Style: Freestyle Wrestling
MMA Record: 16-10-0
UFC History:
-
UFC 10:
(7/12/96) Coleman defeated Moti Horenstein by
submission due to strike at
2:41 in the First Round. Coleman
defeated Gary Goodridge by submission at 7:00 in the First Round.
Coleman defeated Don Frye by TKO at 11:34 in the First Round.
Coleman won UFC 10 Tournament.
-
UFC 11:
(9/20/98) Coleman defeated Julian Sanchez by submission at 0:45 in
the First Round. Coleman defeated Brian Johnston by submission at
2:20 in the First Round. Coleman defeated
Scott Gerrozzo
by submission in the First Round.
Coleman won UFC 11
Tournament.
-
UFC 12: (2/7/97) Coleman defeated
Dan Severn by submission. Won
first ever UFC Heavyweight Title.
-
UFC 14:
(7/27/97) Coleman lost
to Maurice Smith by unanimous decision at the end of the First
Round.
-
UFC 17:
(5/15/98) Coleman lost
to Pete Williams by KO at 12:38 in the First Round.
-
UFC 18: (1/8/99) Coleman lost to
Pedro Rizzo by split decision at the end of the First Round.
-
UFC 93: (1/17/09) Coleman lost to
Mauricio Rua by TKO at
4:36 in the Third Round.
-
UFC 100: (7/11/09) Coleman
defeated Stephan Bonnar by
uannimous decision at the end of the Third Round.
-
UFC 109: (2/6/10) Coleman lost
to Randy Couture by submission
(Rear Naked Choke) at 1:09 in the Second Round.
Official Website:
Mark "The Hammer" Coleman (born December 20,
1964) is an American mixed martial arts competitor, former NCAA National
Champion Wrestler from The Ohio State University, and former Olympic
amateur wrestler. Coleman is credited with proving the ability of
wrestlers to dominate in the developing sport of mixed martial arts, and
with being the inventor of the strategy that came to be known as "ground
and pound".
Coleman began his career freestyle wrestling, going on to win an NCAA
wrestling championship, and competing in the 1992 Summer Olympics,
taking seventh place overall. Following his amateur career, Coleman made
the transition to the then-new sport of mixed martial arts, winning his
first two tournaments, UFC 10 where he beat defending champion and
fellow superstar, Don Frye and UFC 11 in 1996, and becoming the UFC's
first Heavyweight Champion when he submitted Dan Severn via neck crank
at UFC 12. Coleman lost his title to Maurice Smith, was knocked out by
Pete Williams, and lost a decision to Pedro Rizzo in his last UFC fight.
From 2000 through 2006, Coleman resurrected his career with PRIDE
Fighting Championships in Japan, while also making appearances with the
professional wrestling promotion HUSTLE in Japan. He won the Pride 2000
open-weight Grand Prix tournament defeating Masaaki Satake, Akira Shoji,
Kazuyuki Fujita, and Igor Vovchanchyn. Coleman was once again at the top
of the mixed-martial arts world. He continued to thrive the next 5 years
facing top flight competition and maintaining his reputation as on of
the toughest heavyweights in the world. He appeared with teammate, Kevin
Randleman, on the US PPV broadcast of the final Pride event, Kamikaze,
stating that he intended to keep fighting, even though many have said
that his career is winding down and he should retire.
More recently, in July of 2007, in an interview with MMAWeekly.com,
Coleman stated his intentions to return to fight at least one more time
in The Ultimate Fighting Championship. He believes that even though he
is 4-4 in his last 8 matches, he has more fight in him, and he even goes
as far as to state that he would match up well against current UFC
Heavyweight Champion, Randy Couture. Mark Coleman is also the founder of
Team Hammer House, a mixed martial arts team and training facility in
Columbus, Ohio. His next fight will be against
Brock Lesnar.