Mark Coleman

Coleman was born in Fremont, Ohio, in 1964. He began freestyle wrestling as a teenager and in 1981 was the first state champion wrestler for Saint Joseph Central Catholic High School. He then finished second in his sophomore year before claiming his second state championship in 1983. He continued to wrestle for Miami University, in Ohio, where he was a two-time Mid-American Conference wrestling champion and earned his first All-American honors in 1986. In his senior year, he transferred to Ohio State University and won an NCAA championship in 1988. Out of college, he started as an assistant coach at his alma mater. Additionally, he was awarded a spot on the US Wrestling team, placing second (100 kg) at the 1991 FILA Wrestling World Championships in Varna, Bulgaria, and placing seventh overall in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He participated 1996 Olympic Trials, but self-claimed lack of focus on wrestling hindered his performance, resulting in a loss in the semifinals. ==Mixed martial arts career==

Facing the twilight of his amateur wrestling career, Coleman transitioned to the then-new sport of mixed martial arts after accidentally turning on a TV channel where the UFC 1 was ongoing. In what turned out to be a long battle, Coleman lost a decision after 21:00 (regulation plus two overtimes). This was considered to be one of the largest upsets in UFC history at that time, largely because of the way Coleman had dominated his opponents in his previous fights. Coleman took nearly a year off after having to get ACL surgery and returned at UFC 17. Coleman was originally scheduled to face Randy Couture in a title match for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, but Couture was injured during training and was forced to pull out of the fight. Coleman instead faced a relatively unknown (at that time) last-minute replacement fighter, up and coming Lion's Den product Pete Williams. In what turned out to be another long and strenuous battle, Coleman appeared to be completely exhausted after 10 minutes; he was fatigued to the point of resting his hands on his knees during the fight. Williams took advantage of Coleman's fatigue and landed a heavy kick to the face, knocking 'The Hammer' out for the first time in his career. After his loss to Pete Williams, Coleman went to train with former UFC champion Ken Shamrock and his Lion's Den training camp for his upcoming bout with feared Brazilian striker Pedro Rizzo at UFC 18. The fight with Rizzo was part of the "Road to the Heavyweight Title", which was a four-man tournament between Coleman, Rizzo, Bas Rutten and Tsuyoshi Kosaka that would crown the next UFC Heavyweight Champion. After 15:00 the fight went to the judges, and they awarded a split decision win to Rizzo. The decision was controversial, with many and Coleman himself believing he did enough to win. In a 2010 interview, Coleman said he still feels the effects of the controversial decision loss to Rizzo. In response to questions about the fight's legitimacy, Coleman said, "It was what it was. I needed to support my family. They guaranteed me another fight after that and I needed that security. It was what it was. I'm going to leave it at that." Coleman won the Pride 2000 Open Weight Grand Prix tournament defeating Masaaki Satake, Akira Shoji, Kazuyuki Fujita, and Igor Vovchanchyn. The final was scheduled to be fought with a 20-minute time limit but according to Coleman, the day before the fight the rules were changed to no time limit. The change forced him to modify his game plan to attempt a quick finish as he did not believe he could put Vovchanchyn away with his ground and pound in a long match. An outraged Chute Boxe refused to accept Coleman's backstage apology. The Chute Boxe team was assigned a yellow card for instigating this infraction. Coleman's contract was fought out at this point, and he subsequently re-signed with the organization. and lost via submission (armbar) at 1:17 of round two. Mark Coleman appeared with teammate, Kevin Randleman, on the US pay-per-view broadcast of the final Pride event, Pride 34: Kamikaze, stating that he intended to keep fighting. Return to UFC (2008–2010) At UFC 82, Mark Coleman was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, making him the 5th inductee. Coleman announced that he was not retiring and would return to the octagon to fight Brock Lesnar on August 9 in Minneapolis at UFC 87. However, Coleman injured his knee while training, and was forced to pull out of the event. Heath Herring replaced Coleman for the fight. Coleman faced Maurício Rua in a rematch in their first bout in the UFC at UFC 93 and lost by technical knockout as a result of punches late in the third round. This fight earned him a $40,000 Fight of the Night award. Retirement from MMA After going over three years without competing Coleman announced via Facebook that he has officially retired from MMA competition at 48 years of age. UFC 300 After Coleman saved his parents from a burning house in March 2024, fighter Max Holloway suggested that Coleman be the one to present the symbolic "BMF" ("baddest motherfucker") belt to the winner of the title fight at UFC 300 on April 13, 2024. This request was granted and Coleman ended up wrapping the belt around Holloway, who was victorious in his bout against Justin Gaethje. Fight Circus On January 12, 2025, Coleman returned to the ring and competed at Fight Circus 12 in Phuket, Thailand in a "wheelchair boxing match" against the CEO of the promotion Jon Nutt. Both fighters were strapped into a wheelchair and were pushed around the ring by their cornermen with Coleman's cornerman being former UFC fighter Matt Brown. At the end of the fight, both men stood up from their wheelchairs and Coleman knocked out Nutt at the last second. ==Professional wrestling career==

New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling (2000–2002) In December 2000, Coleman had his first professional wrestling match when he was invited to the event Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2000, teaming up with Mark Kerr to defeat Takashi Iizuka and Yuji Nagata. He would also appear for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, defeating Nagata in a singles match. In 2002, Coleman would appear in All Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle-1 project, teaming up with Kevin Randleman to face Hiroshi Hase and Satoshi Kojima in a losing effort, and later Jan the Giant Convict and Singh the Giant Convict in a victory, with Coleman himself pinning Singh with a hurricanrana. Hustle (2004–2007) In 2004, Coleman started wrestling for Hustle and its partner promotion Pro Wrestling Zero-One. He debuted in the first as part of Generalissimo Takada's villainous faction Monster Army, going against babyface Toshiaki Kawada in a singles match which Mark lost by TKO. Coleman continued teaming up with other Monster Army wrestlers, including Dan Bobish, Commander An Jo and Giant Silva, but he was kicked out of the stable after failing to defeat top face Naoya Ogawa, thus becoming a babyface himself. Coleman then went free and ended up joining Wataru Sakata's team after losing a bout to him. Coleman and Sakata were successful as a tag team, but it was dissolved after Coleman left the promotion in 2005. Two years later, Coleman returned to Hustle under the masked persona "Coleman", teaming up with the superhero-like team of Randleman, Kintaman and Kurodaman. Their biggest victory was when Coleman and Randleman faced the trio of Giant Vabo, Kohei Sato and Tajiri and won the match despite the numeric disadvantage. Mark's last match in Hustle was in July 2007, leaving the promotion again afterwards. Inoki Genome Federation (2007-2010) From 2007 to 2010, Coleman was a usual member of Inoki Genome Federation, wrestling names like Naoya Ogawa, Tadao Yasuda, Shinichi Suzukawa and Hideki Suzuki. ==Personal life==

Coleman has two daughters, Mackenzie and Morgan, from his previous marriage. Coleman has a third daughter, Skylar, with his current partner Tina. He appeared in the documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr alongside fellow fighter and friend Mark Kerr. In June 2006, it was announced that Coleman was one of the new coaches in the International Fight League. However his team, the Columbus Razorclaws, were unable to get off the ground, and he was replaced as a coach by Frank Shamrock the following month. In 2018, Coleman revealed that he was one of the victims of Richard Strauss regarding the Ohio State University abuse scandal. In late 2020, Coleman reported that he suffered a heart attack due to a complete artery blockage, and underwent a surgery to have a stent installed. In an interview with Ariel Helwani in September 2021, Coleman revealed that Wes Sims persuaded him to participate in rehab due to a drinking problem. In the interview Coleman stated that multiple personal life issues contributed to the situation and also that he's been sober since the rehab. In March 2024, a house fire began at Coleman's parents' home in Toledo, Ohio. Coleman retrieved his parents, but his dog did not survive the fire. Coleman was hospitalized and put in critical condition due to smoke inhalation. ==Championships and accomplishments==

Mixed martial arts • Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame – Class of 2023 • Ultimate Fighting Championship • UFC Hall of Fame (Pioneer Wing, Class of 2008) and (Fight Wing, Class of 2016) vs. Pete Williams at UFC 17 • UFC Heavyweight Championship (1 Time, first) • UFC 10 Tournament Champion • UFC 11 Tournament Champion • UFC Viewer's Choice Award • Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Maurício Rua • Knockout of the Night (One time) vs. Moti Horenstein & Ranked #6 Upset of the Year • PRIDE Fighting Championships • Pride 2000 Grand Prix Openweight Tournament Winner • Fastest win in PRIDE Fighting Championships History (0:02) • One of only two fighters to win Tournaments in both Pride FC and UFC • Wrestling Observer Newsletter • Fight of the Year (1997) vs. Maurice Smith on July 27 • World MMA Awards • 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award • 2024 Fighting Spirit of the Year for bravery - fearlessly rescuing family and loved ones from a burning building Amateur wrestling • 1986 NCAA Division I Championships: (190 lbs 4th Place) • 1988 NCAA Big Ten Championships: (190 lbs 1st Place) • 1988 NCAA Division I Championships: (190 lbs 1st Place) • 1990 Pan American Championships Freestyle Wrestling: (90 kg 1st Place) • 1991 Pan American Championships Freestyle Wrestling: (100 kg 1st Place) • 1991 Pan American Games Freestyle Wrestling: (100 kg 1st Place) • 1991 U.S.A. National Freestyle Wrestling Championships: (100 kg 1st Place) • 1991 FILA World Freestyle Wrestling Championships: (100 kg 2nd Place) • 1992 Pan American Championships Freestyle Wrestling: (100 kg 1st place) • 1992 Summer Olympics Freestyle Wrestling: (100 kg 7th Place) ==Mixed martial arts record==