COLEMAN GETS A HALL CALL
First-ever UFC heavy champ gets inducted March 1
By MMAMemories.com
Mark Coleman, a determined competitor who is one of the people who helped make the UFC what it is today, will be inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame at UFC 82, which will be held on March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The main event on that show will be a genuine marquee battle, as Anderson Silva tackles Dan Henderson in a middleweight unification bout.
The site is no coincidence, as Coleman, a native of Fremont, Ohio, lives in Columbus and made a name for himself there as a wrestling star for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Coleman had transferred from THE Ohio State University from Ohio University, where he was a champion in the Mid-American Conference. At OSU he not only won a Big Ten crown, he went all the way to the national title and eventually found himself in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, where he achieved seventh place in the freestyle competition.
Coleman then went into mixed martial arts, and used his wrestling skills to full advantage in the new format, winning in his debut event at UFC 10, where he beat double-tough Gary Goodridge and Don Frye in the same night, not to mention UFC 11, then officially became the first heavyweight champion in UFC history when he beat Dan Severn in UFC 12, using a choke hold to get the job done. He also made a huge mark in the PRIDE organization in Japan, winning an open-weight Grand Prix tournament in 2000 and competing there, amid much fanfare, for five years. Included in his illustrious career were memorable matches with the likes of Severn, Frye, Goodridge, Mirko Cro Cop, Fedor Emilianenko, Maurice Smith, Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera, Pedro Rizzo, Igor Vovchanchyn, and more. There is no question that Coleman has met the best the sport has to offer, and has developed a reputation that spreads throughout the world.
Coleman may be best known to casual fans as one of the principal subjects of the documentary “The Smashing Machine,” which ran on HBO. It was a raw and sometimes brutal portrait of mixed martial artists, including Coleman and his friend, Mark Kerr. Coleman is in the process of giving back to the sport; as his active career was in its twilight he began to get involved on a different level, and he has gained renown for his ability as a trainer, working at his Team Hammer House with a number of notable fighters, including Phil Baroni and Kevin Randleman.
Coleman has 15 wins and eight losses in his MMA fighting career, and he has been on record as saying he may not be through quite yet. Coleman thinks he may want to fight one more time, which has led to some speculation that he may actually appear as a special added attraction on the UFC card in Columbus at which he will be honored. That certainly would provide for an event to be remembered.
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