Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

Lifetime wrestler, veteran mixed martial artist, pioneer of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and first ever UFC Heavyweight Champion of the World, Mark Coleman first fought in the UFC when events were still in the tournament format. At UFC 10, he defeated Moti Horenstein, Gary Goodridge and Don Frye to win the heavyweight competition. He followed that by winning UFC 11 when he punched Brian Johnston to submission in just over two minutes into the first round. The year after that, Coleman unified the UFC Heavyweight Championship with the UFC Superfight Championship by submitting Dan Severn in the first round.

Coleman would lose the strap a few months later to Maurice Smith in a unanimous decision at UFC 14. From there Coleman careened into a losing pattern, stacking four back-to-back losses—those losses being the last three fights of his first UFC journey and his Pride debut. Coleman was successful in Pride, going on a six-win streak between 1999 and 2001 and winning the Pride FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix. The following years provided Coleman with lukewarm career, as younger talent arose and began making waves in the sport—Coleman lost to Mirko Filipovic, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fedor Emelianenko. Coleman was able to score some wins, including one over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Stephan Bonnar during his second spin through the UFC.

The fifth UFC Hall of Fame inductee, Mark Coleman retired with a record of 16 wins and 10 losses. His final fight was versus Randy Couture, to whom he lost via second round rear-naked choke.

This historic titan now needs your help. The Hammer had hip replacement surgery in 2013, right before joining Team Penn as wrestling coach on The Ultimate Fighter 19. Since then he has had several complications with his hip, and when they opened him up for another surgery on March 9th, the doctors found that he was almost septic. Currently hospitalized until the full surgery can be completed, Mark’s insurance is coming to an end, and he has no income.

You can help Mark Coleman deal with this serious condition with donations to his “Save the Hammer” GoFundMe campaign. This guy gave his life and body to building the sport of mixed martial arts, paving the way and laying down the brick for what it is today. A lifetime of his hard-nosed wrestling style is finally taking its toll on this 50-year-old legend. It’s the right thing to do for the community to come together and help out this man in need.

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