| Mark Coleman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Coleman in 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1964-12-20)December 20, 1964 (age 60) Fremont, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other names | The Hammer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Division | Light heavyweight (2009–2010) Heavyweight (1996–2006) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reach | 75 in (191 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Style | Freestyle wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fighting out of | Columbus,Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | Team Hammer House[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | NCAA Division IWrestling OlympicFreestyle Wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 1996–2010 (MMA) 2000–2002, 2004–2010 (professional wrestling) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mixed martial arts record | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By knockout | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By submission | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By decision | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Losses | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By knockout | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By submission | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By decision | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Ohio State University Miami University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mixed martial arts record fromSherdog | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Mark Coleman (born December 20, 1964) is an American retiredmixed martial artist,professional wrestler andamateur wrestler. Coleman was theUFC 10 andUFC 11 tournament champion, the firstUFC Heavyweight Champion, and thePride Fighting Championships2000 Open Weight Grand Prix champion. AtUFC 82 Coleman was inducted into theUFC Hall of Fame.
Coleman is credited with proving the ability of wrestlers to dominate in the developing sport of mixed martial arts, and with being one of the first in American MMA to use the strategy that he coinedground-and-pound successfully,[2][3][4] earning him the moniker, "The Godfather of Ground & Pound".[5] In the sport of wrestling, Coleman was aWorld Championship runner-up andPan American Games Gold medalist in 1991, won threePan American Championships,competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics and was anNCAA Division I National Champion for theOhio State Buckeyes.[6]
Coleman was born inFremont, Ohio in 1964. He began freestyle wrestling as a teenager and in 1981 was the first state champion wrestler forSaint Joseph Central Catholic High School (Fremont, Ohio). He then finished second in his sophomore year before claiming his second state championship in 1983.[6]
He continued to wrestle forMiami University, in Ohio, where he was a two-time Mid-American Conference wrestling champion and earned his firstAll-American honors in 1986. In his senior year, he transferred toThe Ohio State University and won anNCAA championship in 1988. Out of college, he started as an assistant coach at hisalma mater. Additionally, he was awarded a spot on the US Wrestling team, placing second (100 kg) at the1991 FILA Wrestling World Championships inVarna, Bulgaria, and placing seventh overall in the1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He participated1996 Olympic Trials, but self-claimed lack of focus on wrestling hindered his performance, resulting in a loss in the semifinals.[6]
Coleman's collegiate wrestling record totaled 101 wins and 12 losses. He had 50 wins and 2 losses in his final season, in which he won the NCAA D1 national title at 189 pounds.[7]
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 theUFC 1 was ongoing.[8]
Coleman won his first two tournaments in dominating fashion, including a win over UFC 8 championDon Frye atUFC 10 in 1996, and becoming the firstUFC Heavyweight Champion after submittingUFC Superfight ChampionDan Severn via neck crank submission atUFC 12.
Coleman made his firstUFC Heavyweight Championship title defense atUFC 14, facing kickboxer (and heavy underdog)Maurice Smith. In the pre-fight interview withJoe Rogan, Coleman stated "I'm going to ground him and pound the goddamn shit out of him" thus coining the nameground-and-pound.[9] 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 getACL surgery and returned atUFC 17. Coleman was originally scheduled to faceRandy 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 comingLion's Den productPete 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 championKen Shamrock and hisLion's Den training camp for his upcoming bout with feared Brazilian strikerPedro Rizzo atUFC 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 andTsuyoshi 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.[10][11][12] In a 2010 interview, Coleman said he still feels the effects of the controversial decision loss to Rizzo.[12]
From 1999 through 2006, The Hammer continued his career with Japanese promotion,Pride Fighting Championships while also making appearances with theprofessional wrestling promotionHUSTLE.
AtPride 5, Coleman foughtNobuhiko Takada, who would become HUSTLE's owner andbooker. Though thought to be the much better fighter, Coleman was caught by a heel hook from Takada and submitted. The validity of this fight has been questioned, with many believing the fight wasfixed.[13][14][15][16][17] 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."[18]
Coleman won thePride 2000 Open Weight Grand Prix tournament defeatingMasaaki Satake,Akira Shoji,Kazuyuki Fujita, andIgor 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.[8] 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.[8] The Hammer's training and 2000 tournament victory are depicted in the documentaryThe Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr.
After a quick TKO victory overAllan Goes atPride 13 - Collision Course, Coleman faced possibly his toughest challenge ever inAntônio Rodrigo Nogueira atPride 16. "Minotauro" was able to catch the Hammer in a triangle/armbar at 6:10 of the first round, breaking Coleman's six-fight winning streak.
Coleman would take nearly two years off following the fight with Nogueira, spending time with his wife and children, and focusing on developing his martial arts training facility and stable of fighters atTeam Hammer House. Training such notable fighters asKevin Randleman,Wes Sims andPhil Baroni, Team Hammer House quickly gained a reputation of turning out world-class fighters.
Mark Coleman returned to MMA competition atPride 26 to faceDon Frye in a rematch of their meeting atUFC 10; this proved to be a much tougher battle. Coming back from a career-threatening neck injury, Coleman ultimately won a unanimous decision victory after 20 minutes. Following the fight, Coleman apologized to the fans for the lack of action during the fight, in which he had spent the majority of the time taking down and maintaining positional dominance of Frye with his superior wrestling ability.
Between training fighters and spending time with his family, the Hammer was now fighting roughly once a year. He returned to competition to take place in the Pride 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix, as the returning Grand Prix champion in the Open Weight Division. His first-round match atPride Total Elimination 2004 was against Pride heavyweight championFedor Emelianenko. In what turned out to be a short bout, Coleman was submitted by armbar at 2:11 of the first round, eliminating him from the tournament.
Coleman returned to the Pride ring in February 2005, this time facingMirko Cro Cop atPride 29: Fists of Fire. Suffering the second knockout of his career, the Hammer fell to strikes by Cro Cop in the first round. In November 2005, Mark Coleman appeared inBushido Europe-Rotterdam Rumble, Europe's first Bushido event, and choked out Milco Voorn at 0:56 of the first round.
The Hammer returned to action atPride 31 with a victory overChute Boxe team memberMaurício "Shogun" Rua after the fight was stopped when Shogun suffered a dislocated elbow during a Coleman takedown. With Team Hammer House memberPhil Baroni in his corner, Coleman began the match by taking Shogun to the ground. At 0:49 of the first round, Rua got up and as he took the first step Coleman grabbed his feet. Rua fell and broke his arm. Coleman then started peppering Rua with strikes before the referee stopped the fight.
Backstage in his post-fight interview, Coleman stated that the whole melee happened in the heat of the moment and that he did not blame the Chute Boxe team for coming in and backing their fighter. He then added that similar to Chute Boxe, Hammer House is also like a family, and thanked Baroni for coming in and watching his back.[19] 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.[8]
On October 21, 2006, Mark Coleman again faced Pride heavyweight championFedor Emelianenko at Pride's first American show,Pride 32: The Real Deal,[20] and lost via submission (armbar) at 1:17 of round two.
Mark Coleman appeared with teammate,Kevin Randleman, on theUSpay-per-view broadcast of the finalPride event,Pride 34: Kamikaze, stating that he intended to keep fighting.
AtUFC 82, Mark Coleman was inducted into theUFC Hall of Fame, making him the 5th inductee. Coleman announced that he was not retiring and would return to the octagon to fightBrock Lesnar on August 9 inMinneapolis 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 facedMaurício Rua in a rematch in their first bout in the UFC atUFC 93 and lost by technical knockout as a result of punches late in the third round.[21] This fight earned him a $40,000Fight of the Night award.[21]
AtUFC 109, Coleman faced fellow UFC Hall of FamerRandy Couture, after originally being scheduled to meet atUFC 17 in 1998 twelve years prior, in which an injury forced Couture to drop out of the fight. Coleman went on record, multiple times during the build-up for the fight, in which he claimed this was his dream bout. After being outboxed on the feet, Coleman was taken down and defeated shortly after by (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:09 in round 2. The bout marked the first time two UFC Hall of Fame inductees had fought.
Following Coleman's loss to Couture in themain event ofUFC 109, his sixth loss in his last 10 fights, he was released by the promotion.[22][23]
After going over three years without competing Coleman announced viaFacebook that he has officially retired from MMA competition at 48 years of age.[24]
After Coleman saved his parents from a burning house in March 2024, fighterMax Holloway suggested that Coleman be the one to present the symbolic "BMF" ("baddest motherfucker") belt to the winner of the title fight atUFC 300 on April 13, 2024.[25] This request was granted and Coleman ended up wrapping the belt around Holloway, who was victorious in his bout againstJustin Gaethje.[26]
On January 12, 2025, Coleman returned to the ring and competed atFight Circus 12 inPhuket, Thailand in a "wheelchair boxing match" against the CEO of the promotion Jon Nutt.[27] Both fighters were strapped into a wheelchair and were pushed around the ring by their cornermen with Coleman's cornerman being former UFC fighterMatt Brown.[28] At the end of the fight, both men stood up from their wheelchairs and Coleman knocked out Nutt at the last second.[29]
In December 2000, Coleman had his firstprofessional wrestling match when he was invited to the event Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2000, teaming up withMark Kerr to defeatTakashi Iizuka andYuji Nagata. He would also appear forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling, defeating Nagata in a singles match. In 2002, Coleman would appear inAll Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle-1 project, teaming up withKevin Randleman to faceHiroshi Hase andSatoshi Kojima in a losing effort, and laterJan the Giant Convict andSingh the Giant Convict in a victory, with Coleman himself pinning Singh with ahurricanrana.[30][31]
In 2004, Coleman started wrestling forHustle and its partner promotionPro Wrestling Zero-One. He debuted in the first as part ofGeneralissimo Takada'svillainous faction Monster Army, going againstbabyfaceToshiaki Kawada in a singles match which Mark lost by TKO. Coleman continued teaming up with other Monster Army wrestlers, includingDan Bobish,Commander An Jo andGiant Silva, but he was kicked out of the stable after failing to defeat top faceNaoya Ogawa, thus becoming a babyface himself. Coleman then went free and ended up joiningWataru 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 thesuperhero-like team ofRandleman,Kintaman andKurodaman. Their biggest victory was when Coleman and Randleman faced the trio ofGiant Vabo,Kohei Sato andTajiri and won the match despite the numeric disadvantage. Mark's last match in Hustle was in July 2007, leaving the promotion again afterwards.
From 2007 to 2010, Coleman was a usual member ofInoki Genome Federation, wrestling names like Naoya Ogawa,Tadao Yasuda,Shinichi Suzukawa andHideki Suzuki.
Coleman has two daughters, Mackenzie and Morgan, from his previous marriage.[32] Coleman has a third daughter, Skylar, with his current partner Tina.[33]
He appeared in the documentaryThe Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr alongside fellow fighter and former friendMark Kerr.
In June 2006, it was announced that Coleman was one of the new coaches in theInternational Fight League.[34] However his team, the Columbus Razorclaws, were unable to get off the ground, and he was replaced as a coach byFrank Shamrock the following month.[35][36]
In 2018, Coleman revealed that he was one of the victims of Richard Strauss regarding theOhio State University abuse scandal.[37]
In late 2020, Coleman reported that he suffered a heart attack due to a complete artery blockage, and underwent a surgery to have astent installed.[38]
In an interview withAriel Helwani in September 2021, Coleman revealed thatWes Sims persuaded him to participate inrehab 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.[39]
In March 2024, a house fire began at Coleman's parents' home inToledo, Ohio. Coleman retrieved his parents, but his dog did not survive the fire. Coleman was hospitalized and put incritical condition due tosmoke inhalation.[40]
| 26 matches | 16 wins | 10 losses |
| By knockout | 7 | 3 |
| By submission | 5 | 5 |
| By decision | 4 | 2 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 16–10 | Randy Couture | Submission (rear-naked choke) | UFC 109 | February 6, 2010 | 2 | 1:09 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | FirstUFC Hall of Famer vs.UFC Hall of Famer bout in UFC history. |
| Win | 16–9 | Stephan Bonnar | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 100 | July 11, 2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Loss | 15–9 | Maurício Rua | TKO (punches) | UFC 93 | January 17, 2009 | 3 | 4:36 | Dublin, Ireland | Light Heavyweight debut. Fight of the Night. |
| Loss | 15–8 | Fedor Emelianenko | Submission (armbar) | PRIDE 32: The Real Deal | October 21, 2006 | 2 | 1:15 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 15–7 | Maurício Rua | TKO (broken arm) | Pride 31 - Dreamers | February 26, 2006 | 1 | 0:49 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |
| Win | 14–7 | Milco Voorn | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | Bushido Europe: Rotterdam Rumble | October 9, 2005 | 1 | 0:56 | Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands | |
| Loss | 13–7 | Mirko Cro Cop | KO (punches and soccer kick) | PRIDE 29 | February 20, 2005 | 1 | 3:40 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |
| Loss | 13–6 | Fedor Emelianenko | Submission (armbar) | PRIDE Total Elimination 2004 | April 25, 2004 | 1 | 2:11 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | Pride FC 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix Opening Round. |
| Win | 13–5 | Don Frye | Decision (unanimous) | PRIDE 26 | June 8, 2003 | 3 | 5:00 | Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan | |
| Loss | 12–5 | Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira | Submission (triangle armbar) | PRIDE 16 | September 24, 2001 | 1 | 6:10 | Osaka, Osaka, Japan | |
| Win | 12–4 | Allan Goes | KO (knees) | PRIDE 13: Collision Course | March 25, 2001 | 1 | 1:19 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |
| Win | 11–4 | Igor Vovchanchyn | TKO (submission to knees) | PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Finals | May 1, 2000 | 2 | 3:09 | Tokyo, Japan | Won the Pride FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix Tournament. |
| Win | 10–4 | Kazuyuki Fujita | TKO (corner stoppage) | 1 | 0:02 | PRIDE FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix Semifinal. | |||
| Win | 9–4 | Akira Shoji | Decision (unanimous) | 1 | 15:00 | PRIDE FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal. | |||
| Win | 8–4 | Masaaki Satake | Submission (can opener) | PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round | January 30, 2000 | 1 | 1:14 | Tokyo, Japan | PRIDE FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix Opening Round. |
| Win | 7–4 | Ricardo Morais | Decision (unanimous) | PRIDE 8 | November 21, 1999 | 2 | 10:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Loss | 6–4 | Nobuhiko Takada | Submission (heel hook) | PRIDE 5 | April 29, 1999 | 2 | 1:44 | Nagoya, Aichi, Japan | |
| Loss | 6–3 | Pedro Rizzo | Decision (split) | UFC 18 | January 8, 1999 | 1 | 15:00 | New Orleans, Louisiana, United States | |
| Loss | 6–2 | Pete Williams | KO (head kick) | UFC 17 | May 15, 1998 | 1 | 12:38 | Mobile, Alabama, United States | |
| Loss | 6–1 | Maurice Smith | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 14 | July 27, 1997 | 1 | 21:00 | Birmingham, Alabama, United States | Lost theUFC Heavyweight Championship. Fight of the Year (1997). |
| Win | 6–0 | Dan Severn | Submission (scarf-hold) | UFC 12 | February 7, 1997 | 1 | 2:57 | Dothan, Alabama, United States | Won the inauguralUFC Heavyweight Championship and unified it with theUFC Superfight Championship. |
| Win | 5–0 | Brian Johnston | TKO (submission to punches) | UFC 11 | September 20, 1996 | 1 | 2:20 | Augusta, Georgia, United States | Won theUFC 11 Tournament. |
| Win | 4–0 | Julian Sanchez | Submission (scarf hold) | 1 | 0:45 | UFC 11 Tournament Quarterfinals. | |||
| Win | 3–0 | Don Frye | TKO (headbutts) | UFC 10 | July 12, 1996 | 1 | 11:34 | Birmingham, Alabama, United States | Won theUFC 10 Tournament. |
| Win | 2–0 | Gary Goodridge | Submission (exhaustion) | 1 | 7:00 | UFC 10 Tournament Semifinals. | |||
| Win | 1–0 | Moti Horenstein | TKO (submission to punches) | 1 | 2:43 | UFC 10 Tournament Quarterfinals. |
| 1 win (1 TKO), 0 losses | |||||||||
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Jon Nutt | Knockout | Fight Circus 12 | January 12, 2025 | 2 | 0:59 | Phuket,Thailand | Wheelchair boxing |
| |||||||||
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | UFC 10Heavyweight Tournament winner July 12, 1996 | Succeeded by Mark Coleman |
| Preceded by Mark Coleman | UFC 11Heavyweight Tournament winner September 20, 1996 | Succeeded by |
| New championship | 1stUFC Heavyweight Champion February 7, 1997 – July 27, 1997 | Succeeded by |
| New championship | Pride Grand Prix Tournament winner 2000 | Succeeded by |
| Pioneer Wing | |
|---|---|
| Modern-Era Wing | |
| Contributors | |
| Fights | |
| Community Award | |
| International | |
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| National | |
