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Mark Coleman – The Hammer Talks UFC 100 By Dave Carpinello
Former UFC Heavyweight Champion and PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix Champion, Mark “The Hammer” Coleman returns this Saturday Night to face Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100. Coleman recently talked with PDG about this fight, his training and what it means to be a part of UFC 100.
PDG: So how do feel that the training went leading up to your fight on Saturday Night? Mark Coleman: It was one of the better camps that I had in a very long time. I finally got out of Columbus, Ohio and have been training down here in Las Vegas for the last 75 days. For the first time in a long time I was able to get away from all of the distractions and there have been so many people out here willing to help me that it has been great. My head trainer Shawn Thompkins and a number of other guys have really helped me prepare for this fight with various new training techniques and I'm just happy that I chose to come out here to train. It was really difficult to leave my kids back home and I can hear it in their voices when I talk to them but I think that frustration is going to pay off in the end and we are going to have some great times after this fight.
PDG: The first fight in your career was at UFC 10 and your fight on Saturday will be in UFC 100; what does that mean to you to be fighting in this landmark event? Mark Coleman: I am just very honored, happy and very excited to still be a part of the UFC after all of this time. I remember back at UFC 10 that I said I was going to be in this sport for a long time....maybe I didn't think this long but I have kept myself in good shape and I believe that I have done the right things and by doing so I have been blessed by the Lord, remained healthy and everything just fell into place. I have to give thanks to the UFC, Dana White, the Fertitta brothers and Joe Silva for giving me this opportunity. I hope to be able to put on a great show for the fans. UFC 100 is going to be a great show and being out here in Las Vegas I am able to witness firsthand the magnitude of this event. This is the fight capital of America and the excitement level for this event has been brewing for weeks out here.
PDG: What are your thoughts on your opponent; Stephan Bonnar? Mark Coleman: I respect him quite a bit and he has never been stopped in the UFC. He has fought some wars in the cage and he has a huge heart. Stephan has good reach and a good standup game that you have to respect. I have been working a lot in training on my standup and I was hoping to use that in my next couple of fights but I'm going to have to be smart with him and probably take him to the ground. Where I do what I do best – Ground and Pound. I have nothing but respect for Stephan Bonnar and his fight with Forest Griffin was an amazing fight that put the UFC on the map.
PDG: Going into the fight what advantages do you think that you will have in the cage? Mark Coleman: I am definitely the stronger fighter and the better wrestler. As far as heart goes, I think that both of us are probably at an equal. He may have the advantage in the standup but I will have the advantage on the ground and that is where I see the majority of this fight taking place. The fact that I have re-dedicated myself to training, I am sure that I will come into this fight in great shape and I feel like I will be able to take him out and be the first guy to finish him off in the UFC.
PDG: Compared to your fight with “Shogun” Rua earlier this year; on a scale of 1 to 10 what would you say the difference is between then and now in your training and conditioning? Mark Coleman: 7 out of 10.
PDG: What kind of training schedule did you keep leading up to this fight? Mark Coleman: It is all about the quality of each training session that you are in and not how often or how long you are at the gym. I trained myself for the “Shogun” Rua fight which is basically what I have done throughout my whole career. It took a while but in hindsight I realized that I don't push myself like I used to and I started taking it easy. Now that I have people watching and pushing me, there were no corners to be cut and so I had some very high quality workouts leading up to this fight. My trainers didn't take it easy on me once and they pushed me to the limit at every practice. Obviously I still see some room for improvement but I think I have done my best for the last 75 days. I am not looking past my fight with Stephan Bonnar but I do see myself fighting again after this fight and being in even better shape than I am now. It has definitely been a different kind of learning experience training here in Las Vegas than what I am accustomed to when I train back home in Columbus, Ohio. A lot of the exhaustion in fights comes from a lack of knowledge and not so much from a lack of cardio. I don't have anybody to blame but myself for that and so hopefully I worked enough on my problems that I will go into that cage on Saturday a lot more comfortable and prepared to go a lot harder in that fight.
PDG: So win or lose are you going to continue to train in Las Vegas at Xtreme Couture’s? Mark Coleman: More than likely I will return to Las Vegas to train because I am very comfortable out here. It is definitely a fight town and I am not swayed by all of the distractions that are offered here. There are gyms everywhere and the city is loaded with fighters and trainers and everybody out here has been so nice and willing to offer me assistance that it has been a blessing that I wish I took advantage of a long time ago in my career. The last 10 years I have been a father first and a fighter second and maybe in hindsight I should have gone away and trained properly for my fights but I wouldn't change the time that I got to spend with my kids. I'm not going to complain about the past and I am just going to take advantage of the rest of the time that I have in this sport.
PDG: If you can remain healthy and competitive, how much longer would you like to continue fighting? Mark Coleman: Looking at the state of the economy I don't think that there are a whole lot of jobs available. This is the one job that I love and the one job that I don't want to give up so as long as my body is capable of doing it and I am not out their embarrassing myself and the good Lord willing that I stay healthy. As long as I am willing to dedicate myself to the training....which wasn’t the case over the last 10 years because I let distractions affect my training. I let people into my life that tried to derail and sabotage my career and they were very close to succeeding but I am not going to let that happen anymore. As long as I dedicate myself 100% to being a champion again, there is no reason why I can't do this for two to four more years. Obviously it all comes down to being healthy and I'm willing to put in the work. I have the Eye of a Champion again!
PDG: UFC 100 is a stacked card; what other fights that night are you looking forward to seeing? Mark Coleman: I am interested in seeing almost every fight on that card and for sure the big three fights, Lesnar vs. Mir, GSP vs. Alves and Henderson vs. Bisping. Everybody likes watching the main events and the co-main events and that is why they are there, I am a fan as well as a fighter and so I look forward to seeing the outcome of those big fights. Being on the undercard at this event is kind of like a wake-up call for me and I am not too happy about it but it is going to serve as a motivator to make sure that it doesn't happen again. I want to win this fight and get back on the main card where I should be.
PDG: Appreciate the time Mark; is there anything else you want to add? Mark Coleman: I want to thank everybody out here in Vegas and not just the fight community but the people in general that have made training down here so enjoyable. I want to thank all the guys that helped me prepare for this fight and of course my sponsors Cage Fighter, MMA Elite and Rolling Stone because without them I wouldn't be able to do what I do.
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