Can Mark Coleman Defy The Odds Again?

UFC Hall of Famer Mark "The Hammer" Coleman is the granddaddy of ground and pound, and he was a beast with the head-butts, knees to the head, and elbows after a hellacious take down. Unfortunately for him two of his best ground and pound assault tactics were taken from him as the sport grew in size and notoriety. For Coleman, a man who just recently stopped wearing wrestling shoes to the ring, the fight with Couture is a chance to show some of the new school heads what he is all about and to gain some of the accolades that have alluded him in the modern era of MMA. I for one am loving the fact that Coleman is getting main event status on the Super-Saturday card, he deserves it, he was around when the money and fame were non-existent compared to today's opportunities and fanfare. This is a guy who is a trailblazer in the sport yet leading up to the Shogun fight he was unable to afford a proper training camp to get ready to re-emerge on to the UFC scene. For a man who is 45 years old, he beat one of the modern era stars in Stephan Bonnar at the much ballyhooed UFC 100 last year, and although it ended up on the preliminary portion of the card the fans in attendance let "The Hammer" know they were happy he was finally home. Bonnar isn't a world beater, but he's no chump either. He is a much better striker than Coleman with a boxing background and Thai-Boxing training with one of the best kick-boxers in Rick Roufus. His ground game is solid and he earned his jiu jitsu stripes under the tutelage of Carlson Gracie Jr. in Chicago. Simpy put he was supposed to beat Mark Coleman, but as we know now "The Hammer" won't just roll over because the odds say so, and as Dana White put it "You better eat your Wheaties if your fighting Mark Coleman".  Randy Couture had taken the proper steps to evolve with the sport of MMA as it grew and became a Martial Art all it's own, whereas Mark Coleman was a little more resistant to change the style up that got him where he was. Couture has been on a tear for a long time and just as soon as you think it's time for "The Natural" to hang them up he reemerges and proves people wrong. On paper Randy Couture should beat Coleman more than he doesn't beat Coleman which gives Randy the oft-alluded spot of being the favorite in the fight. For two guys that are so often underdogs in their respective bouts it is probably a weird feeling being favored to win, but if the odds are against Coleman this time he may just be the better off for it and we can all say "The f#%king Hammer House is back baby!" and give Coleman some of the shine he deserves.

Catch Coleman in action on Saturday February 6. The full fight card is below:


MAIN CARD
Mark Coleman vs. Randy Couture
Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen
Mike Swick vs. Paulo Thiago
Demian Maia vs. Dan Miller
Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)
Justin Buchholz vs. Mac Danzig
Melvin Guillard vs. Ronnys Torres

PRELIMINARY CARD (Un-aired)
Rob Emerson vs. Phillipe Nover
Phil Davis vs. Brian Stann
Tim Hague vs. Chris Tuchscherer
Joey Beltran vs. Rolles Gracie