Mark Coleman American professional wrestler Date of Birth: 20.12.1964 Country: USA

Biography of Mark Coleman

Mark Coleman, an American professional wrestler, was born in Fremont, Ohio in 1964. He developed a passion for freestyle wrestling as a teenager and became a two-time champion in the Mid-American Conference while attending Miami University in Ohio. In his final year of studies, he transferred to Ohio State University and became the champion of the prestigious NCAA Division I.

After graduating from university, Coleman joined the United States national freestyle wrestling team and won a silver medal at the 1991 World Championships in Varna, Bulgaria. He also finished in 7th place at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Transitioning from his amateur career, Coleman ventured into the then-new and relatively unknown sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). He quickly made a name for himself by winning two tournaments (UFC 10 and UFC 11), defeating renowned fighters such as Don Frye and Dan Severn. Coleman became the first-ever heavyweight champion in the history of the UFC and is considered a pioneer of the "ground-and-pound" style, earning him the nickname "The Godfather of Ground and Pound."

In March 2008, Coleman was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, becoming the fifth person to receive this honor. Throughout his career, he also achieved notable success in the Pride Fighting Championships, winning the Pride Grand Prix 2000.

Coleman's first loss in the UFC came at UFC 14, where he defended his title against Maurice Smith. Despite being considered the favorite, the fight lasted 21 minutes (including two overtimes), and the judges ultimately awarded the victory to Smith.

Following a year-long hiatus to recover from a knee surgery, Coleman returned to the octagon and was scheduled to face Randy Couture. However, due to an injury, Couture was replaced by relatively unknown fighter Pete Williams. In a surprising turn of events, Williams defeated Coleman by knocking him out with a head kick, marking the first knockout loss in Coleman's career.

After the disappointing loss to Williams, Coleman began training with former UFC champion Ken Shamrock and his camp, the Lion's Den, in preparation for a fight against dangerous Brazilian striker Pedro Rizzo at UFC 18. The fight was part of the "Road to the Heavyweight Title" tournament, which also included Tsuyoshi Kosaka and Bas Rutten. Despite believing he had won the fight, two out of three judges gave the decision to Rizzo, causing frustration and anger for Coleman.

From 1999 to 2006, Coleman competed in the Japanese promotion Pride Fighting Championships and also participated in several professional wrestling matches under the HUSTLE promotion.

In his first fight in Japan at Pride 5, Coleman faced Nobuhiko Takada, who was also the owner of HUSTLE. Despite being the stronger fighter, Coleman lost the match due to a submission hold, leading to questions about the fight's fairness. In response to these questions, Coleman simply stated, "It is what it is. I needed to support my family. They promised me another fight after this, and I needed it. It is what it is. That's where I'll leave that topic."