Pete Williams knew he was a sizable underdog heading into his UFC 17 bout with Mark Coleman, who was already a former UFC heavyweight champion prior to their May 1998 encounter. But Williams refused to feel like he was a longshot.

“That’s one of the strange things I remember about that fight and the lead up to that fight,” Williams told MMAjunkie. “Because I was the heavy underdog, and there were a lot of instances there that reminded me of that – just being in the hotel and having people react to you or certain situations. I remember all those situations just kind of fired me up.

“Backstage, I remember we were both getting ready to come out. Mark’s on the other side of the backstage area about to walk out to his side, and I just was, like, so calm. That’s the best I can say. I was very calm for that fight and very, very focused. It was all business that night.”

Williams stepped into the UFC 17 contest as a lightly regarded late replacement for then-UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture. Just 22 years old at the time, it was Williams’ UFC debut, but the prospect knew what it would take to win after laying out the gameplan with his Lion’s Den teammates.

“I knew the standup game was where I was going to have to keep Mark,” Williams recalled. “He is such a powerful wrestler and he’s so good on the ground-and-pound that I’m not going to try and outwrestle this guy. I have to box him up and try to get a knockout, but whatever happens, keep it on the feet.”

Williams didn’t succeed in the opening minutes of the fight, as Coleman took him to the floor and looked to implement his patented top-game offense.

But after referee “Big” John McCarthy brought the fight back to the feet several minutes later, it was obvious Coleman was fading. Williams kept the fight on the feet for the remainder of regulation time. Then, less than a minute into overtime, Williams fired a high kick – “the only high kick I threw in the fight,” Williams remembered – that landed flush and sent his opponent crashing to the floor.

“The time I had on the feet, I was using that low kick to kind of soften him up and set up the high kick,” Williams said. “After a few hard low kicks, I noticed he was trying to protect the leg, dropping his hands. I just kind of timed it.

“I threw a fake right hand and threw the kick instead, and it landed right on the money.”

What followed was pure elation. Williams had shocked the world.

He would challenge for the vacant UFC heavyweight title in his next appearance, coming up short against Kevin Randleman. Two more wins would come on the regional stage, competing under the King of the Cage banner, before three consecutive losses in the UFC saw him walk away from the sport, plagued by injuries.

“It was tough,” Williams admitted of his early retirement, which came at just 26 years old. “It’s kind of tough to be told that you just can’t do something anymore. You’re always kind of disappointed at the time, but it really put me on a different path.”

That direction initially included a foray into the culinary field, and after a few pit stops along the way came full circle, back to MMA. Looking for relief from bilateral frozen shoulder syndrome, Williams discovered Marinovich Training Systems.

“A lot of therapy I was doing or prescription drugs really weren’t able to rehabilitate the shoulders,” Williams said. “What was finally able to help was this Marinovich system, and it changed my life. It actually allowed me to move again.”

The discovery inspired Williams, and he wanted to help others. “El Duro” now works as a strength and conditioning coach, with emphasis in movement therapy. He’ll be in Las Vegas this week coaching Bahrain’s national amateur team as they look for glory in the IMMAF world championships.

Williams (12-6) will also become a member of the UFC Hall of Fame, as his UFC win over Coleman (16-10) will be indicted into the shrine’s fight wing.

“It’s definitely going to be an interesting, very busy week,” Williams said. “It was never something that I had in my mind to accomplish or something that through getting into this sport and falling in with a great team like the Lion’s Den thought that I would be able to achieve this.

“It blows my mind, actually.”

The 2016 UFC Hall of Fame induction ceremony is set to take place Sunday at Las Vegas Convention Center.