Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Fighters of the 1990s

4. Mark Coleman

A lot of people remember the great Coleman for his accomplishments in the 2000s, which were considerable. Fewer people realize what a superman he was for a while in the 90s, like a prime Brock Lesnar and Jon Jones rolled into one. Coleman was the first truly great wrestler in MMA. Sure, Dan Severn had come before, but as noted under his entry, Severn himself admits he was badly washed-up by that point. Coleman, meanwhile, was only a few years removed from competing at the 1992 Olympics and winning a silver medal at the 1991 World Championships, still very much in his physical prime. Moreover, he took like a fish to water with MMA. He had very good submission defense for his time and was a true pioneer of ground-and-pound, pulverizing foes with not only his fists, but his giant noggin. Headbutts were perfectly legal back then. No one could figure out how to beat Coleman, and he destroyed many fellow top 10 entries. He began by winning the UFC 10 tournament. Not only did Coleman stop the tough Gary Goodridge in the semifinals, but he defeated the tremendously talented No. 9 entry and “triple crown winner” Don Frye in the finals, The Predator's only loss during the decade. Not even talented fellow wrestlers with solid striking to boot could stand up to Coleman.

After easily winning the UFC 11 tournament, Coleman fought the other triple crown winner, No. 7 Dan Severn for the very first promotional heavyweight championship at UFC 12. Showing the vast difference between a good, aging wrestler and a great one in his prime, Coleman choked out Severn with a scarf hold in three minutes. At this point, “The Hammer” was considered utterly unbeatable, but as mentioned under Maurice Smith's entry, he would be the victim of the biggest upset MMA has seen or ever will see at UFC 14. Misfortune struck again at UFC 17, where Coleman was apparently pressured to compete despite being injured and ended up the recipient of a head kick knockout by Pete Williams, the first such finish in the promotion. Coleman came back strong at UFC 18 and should have delivered the first defeat to then undefeated Brazilian sensation Pedro Rizzo, only to be robbed in a split decision that I've written about previously. After allegedly—and admittedly—agreeing to take a dive against Nobuhiko Takada in Pride Fighting Championships in exchange for $50,000 and further opportunities in the promotion, which he desperately needed to support his family, the end of the 90s saw Coleman begin to rebuild his career by defeating 6-foot-8 Ricardo Morais, displaying much improved cardio after working with another previous entry, Pat Miletich. His crowning achievement, winning the Pride 2000 Grand Prix, would come just a few months later, and outside the scope of this list. However, for pushing the limits of MMA greatness in the 90s, and being its finest warrior for a time, Coleman deserves considerable appreciation.

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