Fighter Profile: Mark "The Hammer" Coleman

Overall Record: 15-9

UFC Record: 6-4

Hometown: Fremont, OH

Height: 6’1” Weight: 205

Age: 44

Mark “The Hammer” Coleman is a former amateur, collegiate, and professional wrestler turned mixed martial artist who fights in the light-heavyweight division for the UFC. The forty-four year old Ohio native manages his own training facility in Columbus, Ohio appropriately named, Team Hammer House.

Coleman was a two-time Mid-American Conference wrestling champion at Miami University (incorrectly referred to by many as Miami of Ohio) in Oxford, Ohio, where he wrestled up until his last year. He transferred to Ohio State for his senior year where he won the NCAA championship in the heavyweight division. Upon graduation from college, Coleman was given a position on the United States Wrestling Team where he wrestled to a seventh place finish at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

“The Hammer” began his current occupation, MMA fighter, in the summer of 1996 while fighting for the UFC. His first event was “UFC 10 – The Tournament” where he defeated Moti Horenstein, Gary Goodridge and Don Frye to win the one-day tournament. He continued with the organization two months later at “UFC 11 – The Proving Ground” and stopped both Julian Sanchez and Brian Johnston to win his second consecutive UFC one-day tournament. It was Coleman who helped coin the phrase “ground and pound” by utilizing his powerful wrestling strategy to punish opponents.

Coleman continued to dominate by becoming the first ever UFC Heavyweight champion at UFC 12. In February 2007, Coleman was able to take down fellow wrestler, Dan Severn and used a neck crank to choke him out less than three-minutes into the bout. The win over “The Beast” gave Coleman his sixth straight victory, all coming by way of stoppage, 5 submissions and 1 TKO.

The dominating wrestler looked unbeatable early in his fighting career but ran into problems at UFC 14 in July of ’97 against kick-boxer, Maurice Smith. Smith battered Coleman for the regulation period as well as two overtime periods, using his high and low kicks as well as keeping his distance from the powerful wrestler so he could avoid takedowns. He eventually won the decision, handing Coleman his first professional loss. The disappointment would continue as Coleman suffered his first knockout loss when Pete Williams dropped him with a highlight-reel kick to the head at UFC 17 in May ’98. He was dealt his third consecutive loss when up-and-comer Brazilian Pedro Rizzo outlasted Coleman to win a decision at UFC 18 in January 1999.

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After three straight losses Coleman left the UFC for Japan, fighting for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, with his debut at PRIDE 5 in April 1999. He lost his PRIDE debut by submission but did have great success with the Japanese promotion during his seven-and-a-half years there.

His PRIDE success would begin in early 2000 at the PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix. In January, Coleman utilized his strength to move into dominant position then worked a neck crank to defeat his opening round opponent, Masaaki Satake. He returned in May to complete the tournament, defeating Akira Shoji, Kaz Fujita, and Igor Vovchanchyn in succession to become the 2000 PRIDE Open Weight GP champion.

Coleman would continue in Japan for PRIDE while fighting sparingly over the next three years. He would stop Allan Goes at PRIDE 13, with a TKO, after punishing him with knees to the body. After six strong minutes, Coleman made a mistake in his next fight against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria and was submitted with a triangle choke at PRIDE 16. He rebounded at PRIDE 26, after almost two years off, to win a unanimous decision against American, Don Frye.

Coleman would return to action against Heavyweight kingpin, Fedor Emelianenko at PRIDE Total Elimination 2004. Coleman wasn’t able to keep Fedor on the ground, instead was submitted in a little over two minutes. He was knocked out again at PRIDE 29 by Mirko Cro Cop with punches in a little more than three minutes, marking only the second two-fight losing streak of his career.

After suffering a devastating KO at the hands of Cro Cop, “The Hammer” put together an impressive two-fight win streak. He competed in the Bushido – Europe promotion opposite of Dutch fighter Milco Voorn late in 2005, then returned to Japan for PRIDE 31 against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in February 2006. Coleman produced stoppages in consecutive fights, submitting Voorn with an arm-triangle choke then taking out Rua with TKO after he suffered a broken arm when being taken to the mat.

The PRIDE organization held PRIDE 32 in the United States at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas in October ’06. Coleman made a final appearance for PRIDE, in Las Vegas, in a highly-anticipated rematch against Fedor. Coleman’s hopes of an upset quickly disappeared early in the second round as the Russian heavyweight got dominant position and submitted “The Hammer” with an armbar.

After compiling an 8-4 record in PRIDE, Coleman was unsure whether or not to continue his lengthy career. With PRIDE folding in early 2007 and the UFC buying the remaining assets, including some of the fighters’ contracts, Coleman still hadn’t made a decision. In March 2008 at UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio, Mark Coleman became the fifth fighter inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. An emotional Coleman graciously accepted the award but also announced that he would be returning to the octagon to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 87.

A knee injury kept Coleman out of the UFC 87 event, but did eventually return at UFC 93 in January to fight his PRIDE rival, Mauricio Rua. The forty-four year old Coleman showed signs of wear and tear including stamina problems, against Rua, but made it through all but the last 30 seconds of the fight before he was knocked out. For their efforts, the UFC awarded Coleman and Rua a “Fight of the Night” bonus.

While not as effective in the octagon as he once was, Coleman still believes that he can be a factor in the UFC light-heavyweight division. He is scheduled to compete at the historic UFC 100 against Stephan Bonnar. Both fighters are coming off losses in their most recent bouts and will need an exciting fight to be relevant in the division.

Recent Mark Coleman MMA News:

• Defeated Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100 on July 11, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada - UFC 100 results

• Lost to Randy Couture via Submission in the main event at UFC 109 on February 6, 2010 - UFC 109 results

By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer
Published June 2009, Updated January 2010