Friday, 24 July 2009

UFC Legend and Ohio State Grad Mark “The Hammer” Coleman Speaks

By David McKinney

The list of accolades reads like the attendee list at a Harvard alumni dinner: NCAA wrestling champion at Ohio State, second place in the 1991 World Freestyle Wrestling championships, seventh place in wrestling at the 1992 Summer Olympics, first-ever Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) champion, UFC 10 and 11 tournament champion, Pride Grand Prix 2000 champion, and UFC Hall of Fame inductee. The man is Mark “The Hammer” Coleman, and he is a legend in both amateur freestyle wrestling and the ultra-popular sport of mixed martial arts (MMA).

 Coleman, stately at the age of 44, recently won his first MMA fight in over three years, when he defeated Stephan Bonnar – a veteran of the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter reality TV show – at the organization’s centennial event, UFC 100 on July 11.

 The Hammer is known as the “Godfather of Ground and Pound,” a reference to the fact that he was one of the first successful wrestlers in the sport. In his early career, he used his world-class wrestling and power to dominate other fighters, winning his first six fights in the UFC with ease. The competition eventually caught up with Coleman, and he lost three fights in a row before leaving the UFC for Japan and the newly-founded Pride organization during what is referred to as the “Dark Ages” of the sport in the United States, where the sport was banned in nearly every state and was referred to by Arizona Senator John McCain as “human cockfighting.”

 Coleman flourished in Pride, winning the organization’s inaugural Open-Weight Grand Prix in 2000. Coleman went just 3-3 during the rest of his stay in Japan, but his three losses were to legends Fedor Emelianenko (twice) and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. After losing to Emelianenko in 2006, Coleman took a hiatus from the sport before returning at UFC 82 in March of 2008 in his hometown of Columbus to become the fifth inductee into the UFC’s prestigious Hall of Fame. 

The legendary wrestler announced that he wanted to return to the sport during his induction, and he informed the sellout crowd in his hometown that he was slated to face another former NCAA champion, Brock Lesnar, later that year. Unfortunately, Coleman was injured during training and was unable to face Lesnar. Coleman returned to the cage this January after a layoff of over two years, but he lost to old rival Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, in part due to the fact that he was extremely tired and could barely stand to start the third round.

 Intent to not repeat his performance against Rua at UFC 100, Coleman held a rigorous training camp, as he spent 75 days in Las Vegas, training with legends like Randy Couture and kickboxer Shawn Tompkins. And the hard work paid off, as The Hammer looked as good as he had in a long time against Bonnar. I was lucky enough to recently catch up with the Hall of Famer to talk about his recent win, a little bit of history of MMA, his future, and the two things closest to his heart, his daughters.

 UWeekly: First of all, how does it feel to be back at home with your two daughters after your big win over Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100?

Mark Coleman: That’s been the best thing about it. I’ve been home for about two weeks now, and time has flown by, because I’ve taken it off and spent most of it with my daughters. It’s been a lot better because of the win…let’s face it. We’re having a lot of fun right now.

 UW: Speaking of your daughters, are either of them interested in being fighters?

Coleman: They both already fight plenty [laughs]. When they were younger – they’re 10 and 11 now – I did show them how to work some of the stuff, like the pads. They both had the knack for it. If they had wanted to go into wrestling, they would have been great wrestlers as well. My oldest one is a five-time state champion in gymnastics, and she’s a regional champion as well. She’s well on her way to, who knows, maybe the Olympics, or at least competing in college or professionally. My youngest daughter, Morgan, has been playing softball for two years now and she has been an All-Star in both seasons. I actually missed out on her whole softball season, which felt horrible, but in the end it paid off and we’re making up for lost time.

 UW: What was it like being a big part of UFC 100, an event that was much-celebrated in the MMA community?

Coleman: It was very special to me. If I would have let it, it could have overwhelmed me. I was out in Vegas, and they were hyping up the event for over a month. The final week, it was on the front page of newspapers every day. It was really neat and very special to be a part of, but as a fighter, the most important thing for me was to stay grounded and not let the magnitude of it get to me mentally. Like any sport, come fight night, it’s more than 50% mental out there. Come fight night, you have to mentally keep it together.

 UW: What’s your next career move? Are you still going to fight, and if so, against whom?

Coleman: Well I’m definitely going to be fighting. This was kind of a do or die situation in the UFC. I had to win – or at least look great in losing – to stay involved with the UFC. It was a winner stays and loser goes home situation, at least that’s the way that I looked at it. That doesn’t mean that my fight career would have ended, because I would have definitely picked up the pieces and would have gone to a different organization. But winning secured my place in the UFC, and I’ll probably get at least two more fights.

 UW: What are your thoughts on possibly facing another UFC legend in your next fight, such as new Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell or even Tito Ortiz, who seems to be made up with [UFC President] Dana White and could be back in the UFC?

Coleman: It’s kind of funny that you mention it, because I’m not really sure which way the UFC is going to go. They could give me another legend, or they could use me as a gatekeeper to fight against the young guys. For example, the name of 21-year-old Jon Jones has been popping up quite a bit. I’ve been getting Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, but at the same time, I’ve been hearing that it could be Jon Jones. I would prefer the oldest of the outfit there. I think it would be more beneficial to my career, but at the same time, all three fights that we’re talking about would be a handful. We’re talking about three great fighters, and there’s no such thing as an easy fight out there anymore.

 UW: What would it mean to you to possibly fight in Columbus next March [at UFC 111, an event that will coincide with the Arnold Classic on the first weekend in March]?

Coleman: It seems like your last fight is always your most important one, and it would be pretty hard to top UFC 100, but fighting in Columbus next year would be the pinnacle of my career. That would be great and it would be the highlight of career, but that would come with a lot of pressure as well. Like I said, this sport is mental as well as physical, and fighting in Columbus would be an incredible experience, but the pressure would definitely be on that night. I guess there’s a good possibility that could happen. If I stay healthy, I’ll still be fighting in March, but it’s all up to [UFC matchmaker Joe Silva]. They may just do that…who knows.

 UW: That’s great. I’ll definitely be there, and it would be a dream come true to see you fight in your hometown and my hometown.

Coleman: I really appreciate that. I appreciate all of the fans that I have. It’s truly amazing how good I’ve been treated. After that win, I’ve given my fans something to talk about. They’ve had to be quiet because I haven’t given them much to talk about, but I’m really happy that I gave my fans something to brag about. It means a lot to me. Hopefully somebody out there reading this put some cash down on me and made some good money on those odds.

 UW: Speaking of the fans, is that your favorite part of the sport, or what is your favorite part of the sport of MMA?

Coleman: They all go together, but I just love the fact that I’ve been competing since I was five years old, and I just love the fact that I can still compete at my age, and that’s something that I’m still out to prove. There’s nothing else out there right now that really excites me as far as work goes. This is my job, and I’m not ready to give up on this job, and there’s no reason to. I’m not out there embarrassing myself, and I can still win as long as I remember my roots. You know, coming from Ohio State, that’s where I learned about hard work. When I won the national title, I realized that I never won anything without working hard. As long as I work hard, I can still compete with these guys, especially at the new weight class that I’m at – 205 suits me a lot better.

 UW: When you first competed in the UFC at UFC 10 and won the heavyweight title over Don Frye, did you ever think that the sport would be where it is today?

Coleman: Well, to be honest with you, I always personally felt like it could be and that it should be, but that’s just me and it shows how much I love the sport. And the people that I hung out with loved it. I really wasn’t thinking as far as politics go. Once I realized how much of a political battle it would be, then I started to doubt myself. I’m just so pleased that Dana White and the Fertitta Brothers bought this company and they invested a lot of time and they went to war themselves. They had to fight a lot of battles to get the sport to where it is today. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I’m at, and I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing – or I’d be over in Japan. I thank them for what they did and I thank them for believing in me and giving me another shot at this thing. And I can give back to them, because I bring something to the table again.

 UW: UFC President Dana White touts the accessibility of fighters as a reason for the sport’s success. Do you think that events like the Arnold Classic and UFC Fan Expo, where fans can actually talk with their favorite fighters, plays a part in the sport’s success?

Coleman: Well yeah, most definitely – the fan interaction with the fighters has always been there. In a lot of the sports, the athletes have to stay away, but interaction with fans in this sport has been there since day one. And it’s not just the fan expos – you can see a fighter just about anywhere and they are going to sit there and chat with you.

 UW: How did it feel to be relegated to the undercard for your fight at UFC 100?

Coleman: I have to accept my cards where they fall, and I had to be appreciative for what they did for me, but at the same time, I was disappointed. I tried to get myself worked up to the main card, and I was even willing to move to a different card to be on the main card. But after having a conversation with the UFC, they assured me that it was nothing personal. I was coming off of a loss, and Stephan Bonnar was coming off of a loss, and we were on the biggest card in the history of the UFC. I was one bout away from being on TV, and if a couple of fights would have gone quicker I would have made TV. But I can’t complain. I think eventually this fight will be shown on SpikeTV [on UFC Unleashed], so people will get a chance to see this fight..it’s just going to take a little while. But in saying that, I was definitely motivated by the fact that I was on the undercard. That’s not a place that I really want to be, so that was definitely a motivating factor, and I want to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

 UW: I’ve seen the fight and it was a great fight. You definitely showed up and I was really proud of you in that fight. I finally got to root for you again.

Coleman: I appreciate that. I finally won a lot of fans over. I guess that when you get older people start to root for the old man. It was a neat feeling to have the fans chanting my name. Fans are really important to me. The fans and my kids are the reason that I keep fighting.

 UW: You trained at Randy Couture’s Xtreme Couture gym in Vegas in preparation for Bonnar. Are you planning on staying there, or are you going to go back to running your own camps?

Coleman: I’m not sure where I’m going to end up. I did a lot of training at Xtreme Couture, but mainly I was just in Vegas for two and a half months. It got me away from any kind of distractions that I have here in Columbus – you know, you have bills and everything that you have to take care of. I was able to go from my hotel room to the gym, and that’s all I had to do for 75 days. It was a good feeling. I looked forward to going to practice again for the first time in a long time. It was a good situation, but now I’m back to the real world. Soon I’m going to get offered another fight, and I’ll have to decide then when and where I’m going to train again. The reason that I won this fight is because I went back to my roots and I was able to focus 100% on trying to win a fight.

 UW: You are the oldest person to ever actually win a fight in the UFC at the age of 44. How does that feel?

Coleman: I’m not sure if I am or not, because Randy Couture won a fight at 44 too. I’m not sure if I’m the oldest or not – he’s fighting next month at 46 years of age. He’s a guy that I look up to. He let me train at his gym, and there is a possibility that we may meet up in the cage down the road. But if I wasn’t the oldest, I was the second oldest, and that’s a special feeling. I take pride in fighting at my age, because there are a lot of doubters out there who say that it can’t be done. It can’t be done for a lot of people, but for me, it can be done. I admire all of the old pros who go out there and get it done – Randy Johnson, Jamie Moyer, and Brett Favre. Nobody enjoys quitting and walking away from something that they love.

 UW: Do you still hang out with all of the old guys from Hammer House, like Randleman, Kerr, and Baroni?

Coleman: That is the Hammer House, basically. You have [Kevin] Randleman was the first member, Branden Lee Hinkle was the second member, Wes Sims was the fourth big name, and [Phil] Baroni was added right after Sims. We’re a tight team, and those five guys are the Hammer House. We all hang out, but we’re just spread out, because if you get us all in the same room together for too long, things can go wrong. Wes Sims is coming up on the next Ultimate Fighter show, and that’s huge for him.

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