UFC 100 Thoughts - Mark Coleman

It’s Hammer Time?

At UFC 100, Mark Coleman shocked the MMA world by defeating Stephan Bonnar. Given his age, his UFC comeback was considered a Hail Mary at best. People didn’t even know if he could make the light heavyweight limit of 205 pounds. His first mach back didn’t go very well. Although, he did give the now number 1 contender a run for his money. After his most recent win, it seems there’s some life left in the old guy. Somewhere, Randy Couture is smiling.

So, what to do now? The UFC could give him another mid-level opponent to make sure it wasn’t just a fluke. But if he loses, he will never get another chance to be in a headlining fight. The matchmakers need to strike while there’s still some lead left in his pencil. There must be someone under contract whom the Hammer wants revenge on.

People accepted the Shogun vs. Coleman as a headlining fight because there was an interesting back story involved. It was the perfect way to introduce two fighters who the casual audience was unfamiliar with. In that case, it was about Shogun’s revenge against the trash-talking Coleman.

Now, they need to find another match up that will give people a reason to get behind Coleman. He’s probably a lot nicer than he was shown to be in the old Shogun feud. When he fought Fedor in PRIDE, people wanted to get behind Mark because he was the underdog. Of course, the Hammer fell limp against the unstoppable monster – but that’s beside the point. What’s important is that Mark got one last chance to show the world he could be relevant in today’s MMA landscape.

He should be given a “last chance”…one more time. Rich Franklin is being tossed around as an opponent for Coleman. That would put Coleman in to the underdog role quite effectively. If the match happens, Chuck Liddell will probably ask for one last shot…but that’s another story.

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