· On The Spot ~ Mark Coleman
If you ever scoffed at the notion of a mixed martial artist getting better with age, then look no further than this Saturday’s main event at “UFC 109: Relentless.” Two UFC Hall of Famers, 46-year-old five-time UFC champion Randy “The Natural” Couture and 45-year-old former Ohio State national champion wrestler Mark Coleman, will square off in a fight where the combined age of the competitors tops an incredible 90.
Couture and Coleman may be anomalies in the sports world, but the fact that these two legends can still be going strong is a testament to the work ethic and desire to compete that is prevalent in the world of mixed martial arts. The fact that two ageless veterans can headline a card during Super Bowl weekend, typically one of the biggest shows of the year for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, in a fight that has been dreamed about for years is almost unfathomable.
What is even better is that the two men, especially Coleman, seem to be getting better with age. Coleman was forced into the role of family man during the prime of his career and during his days in Japan’s PRIDE Fighting Championships, which forced him to stay in his hometown of Columbus to be near his two daughters while running his own training camps. Coleman’s daughters are now old enough to understand and accept that their dad needs the best training in the world, and Coleman has drastically improved with stints in Las Vegas for his last two fights.
David McKinney was recently able to catch up with Coleman in between training sessions for the fight, and he told me about how this is the biggest fight of his career.
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David McKinney: Tell me about how this fight with Randy Couture came about.
Mark Coleman: Pretty much just being in the right place at the right time. I won at UFC 100 against Stephan Bonnar, which had a lot to do with it. I wasn’t anticipating getting such a big fight from that, but there are a lot of injuries in the UFC right now and they needed a headliner and things just fell into place.
DM: This is a fight that has been more than a decade in the making. Are you excited that it has finally come to fruition between two UFC Hall of Famers and perhaps the two best wrestlers to ever step foot into the Octagon?
MC: Yeah, this is as big as it gets for me. This is a huge opportunity for me to take a closer step towards a title shot, which is still my ultimate goal. I don’t go around picking and choosing who I fight. I do consider Randy a good friend and I don’t want to fight him for any other reason than the fact that’s he’s a Hall of Famer and a legend. This is a fight that I’ve been asked over and over again for the last ten years about when I was going to fight Randy. It’s great that I can now answer that question: February 6.
DM: You really seemed like a different fighter in your last fight against Stephan Bonnar last July. Did you do the same training camp with 75 days in Vegas that you did for that Bonnar fight?
MC: Basically, my kids are old enough now that they can communicate with me, and I’m a father first and a fighter second and I really had a tough time leaving my kids to go get the proper training. They are my life. Now that they are old enough to communicate, they gave me permission to go leave to train and do whatever it takes to win this fight. That makes a world of difference – being out here makes me able to focus 100 percent on the fight and there are no distractions out here.
MC: I really didn’t get to train much with Randy the last time I was out here even though I trained at his gym. He was filming a movie with Sylvester Stallone, so he was gone most of the time. But just being out here in Vegas, which is the fight capital of the world, it’s great to be able to have five or six great gyms completely focused on mixed martial arts. The fact that everybody is excited out here about the sport makes it easier for me to want to train. I have moved to Tapout Gym, and I’m using one of his trainers who moved over here. But I really don’t see it as much of an advantage – there really are no secrets in MMA. I’ve seen the tape on him and I know what he likes to do. He’s capable of changing his gameplan based on what I’m going to do. I’m not sure if he’s expecting me to change since I’ve pretty much fought the same way every time, but I’ve worked on a lot of things and hopefully this is the one fight where I can make some changes and hopefully surprise him a little bit.
DM: Randy Couture has arguably lost his last three fights (against Brock Lesnar, Minotauro Nogueira, and a close decision victory over Brandon Vera in November), while you won your last fight and had good showings in the previous two. What are your thoughts on being the underdog despite this development?
MC: Well if you look at the two guys he lost to, Brock Lesnar is probably the toughest guy in the world right now. And then if you look at Nogueira, he’s in the top three or four in the world. There’s really no shame in losing to those guys. He had a great fight with Nogueira, and Brand Vera as well who is a young and talented fighter. So I’m not surprised at all that I’m the underdog. It’s something that I’ve brought upon myself due to my performances in the past. In my mind it’s a much closer fight than the spread has it, but I don’t have a problem with being the underdog. In my mind it’s going to be who wants it more. I think it’s going to be a very close fight and I fully anticipate coming out on top in this one.
DM: Randy has talked a lot about how he plans to avoid your wrestling in this fight. Are you going to stick with your wrestling roots and try to win the fight that way?
MC: Well what Randy says and what Randy does are two different things. I’m hearing different things. I’ve been hearing that he’s planning on doing a lot of wrestling. To counteract my wrestling he’s been working a lot on wrestling. To neglect wrestling in preparation for a fight with me would definitely be a mistake. But hopefully, I plan on using my striking and turning this into a standup game. I feel like I can hit a lot harder than him and like I can take a better punch than him. As far as practice goes, I’m very comfortable with the standup game. It’s just whether I can do it on fight night. I’m the one who has to worry about getting too excited with the standup and giving up the easy takedown to him.
DM: I know you’ve trained a lot with Shawn Tompkins. Do you credit your improved standup to working with a top-level kickboxing coach?
MC: Shawn has helped out, but I don’t give him all of the credit. Just the fact that I’ve been concentrating on it and getting myself in better shape and just being able to go out there and not worry about it. In the past I wasn’t comfortable standing up so it would lead to mental fatigue. The worries and the stress about being on my feet would make me tired. But now I’ve been doing a lot of sparring and I feel comfortable standing up.
DM: Dana White has said that you need this win more than Randy. You’ve said that this is the biggest fight of your career. How do you prepare for a fight with pressure like that on you?
MC: The pressure comes with the territory. That’s what a real athlete looks for. I accept and I want the pressure. If I can’t rise to the occasion under pressure then I don’t deserve to be here. I’m just very happy to have this opportunity for such a big fight. Really both of us are just going out there for the love of the sport. I see the billboards and the signs on the back of the taxi cabs, and I relish the opportunity to fight on a big stage. It’s not something that I shy away from. In this fight, it’s mainly about pride. We’re both want to be able to say that we won this fight.
DM: I know that a lot of your fans are happy to see you back in winning form on a big stage and they really appreciate the fact that you’re still out there fighting and giving it your all.
MC: That’s something that I really do enjoy. If there are ever any fans that are hesitant about approaching me, please don’t be. I enjoy all of the attention and if you want to come up and shake my hand then I’m more than happy to do so. It’s great coming from a wrestling background where you don’t really have any of that.
DM: You were scheduled to fight Tito Ortiz in November before you got hurt and had to pull out of the fight. After you were injured, Tito really talked a lot of trash about you. Is that fight with Tito something that you still want to do?
MC: I’m not very big on trash talking, but Tito is the type of guy that will force you to trash talk. He got under my skin, and he forced me to respond. We won’t really say what I called him, but let’s just say that I really look forward to that fight. I do think that fight will happen down the road. I don’t like the guy and I don’t think that he’s a class act. He has far more haters than he has fans. I can’t look past Randy Couture, but the Tito Ortiz fight is something that I look forward to down the road, because I would really like to shut his mouth up.
DM: Many people have said that you have the perfect style to defeat currently undefeated UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, even going as far as to give you the nickname “The Antidote.” How do you think you would fare against Machida?
DM: The UFC recently started showing “The Best of PRIDE Fighting Championships.” What do you think about the PRIDE fights being shown to a whole new generation of fans?
MC: I think it’s great and I’m very happy that more fans are going to get a chance to see the fights. It kind of hurt me being over there in Japan fighting, even though it probably was the greatest organization in the world, because a lot of people thought that I had retired for seven years. I was over there fighting the toughest guys in the world and a lot of people thought I was retired. I think it’s great that they’re going to be able to show the best of PRIDE on Friday nights. That’s really the UFC trying to make a little money back from when they bought the company. I think fans are going to be surprised by some of the great fights they see.
DM: What does the future hold for you after this fight, win or lose?
MC: Well whether I win or lose does determine a lot, but what I do know is that I will fight again. People don’t seem to understand, but I do continue to get better. I just hired a new strength and conditioning coach Josh Burns, and he’s really taken the guesswork out of my training. He’s mapped out a nice plan and I see myself getting better.
DM: Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. Anything else you’d like to say to your fans before the fight? Any sponsors to mention?
MC: I just want to say thank you to my fans. The support that I’ve received has been great. I really do appreciate it. I also want to thank my two daughters, Mackenzie and Morgan, for understanding that I had to leave and go do this. That meant the world to me, and I think you’ll see a different fighter out there because of them. The greatest thing about this is that I get to go see my two daughters when this fight is over. I also need to thank Columbus-based Cage Fighter and MMA Elite. They’re my two main sponsors. Without sponsors, fighters would have a tough time even getting prepared for a fight.
