Sherdog’s Top 10: MMA Upsets

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8. Mark Coleman vs. 2000 Pride Open Weight Grand Prix Field
Pride FC “Pride Grand Prix 2000” -- Jan. 30, 2000-May 1, 2000
Tokyo Dome | Tokyo
Coleman was not one of the heavy favorites heading into Pride’s 16-man, open-weight tournament. A three-fight skid had earned him a pink slip from the UFC, and “The Hammer” had lost four of his last five bouts overall. In fact, Coleman’s training partner, Mark Kerr, was a much greater favorite in the bracket, having gone unbeaten in his first 12 professional appearances.

Coleman had a less-than-glorious exit from the Octagon. He was shocked by kickboxer Maurice Smith, and the toll of absorbing so many leg kicks resulted in a torn knee ligament during a training session a few weeks later. A hasty comeback led to a knockout loss to Pete Williams, and Coleman was out of the promotion after a third straight defeat to Pedro Rizzo nearly eight months later.

At 35 years old, with questions surfacing about his conditioning and commitment, Coleman put together a memorable and unlikely run in the tournament. While Kerr would be eliminated in the Round of 8, Coleman defied the odds, besting Masaake Satake, Akira Shoji, Kazuyuki Fujita and Igor Vovchanchyn to earn a $250,000 cash prize and a little slice of redemption.

The final, a showdown with the ultra-tough tournament co-favorite Vovchanchyn, was changed from a 20-minute time limit to no time limit, making Coleman’s odds even longer. The powerful wrestler found a way to finish the fight.

“Ground-and-pounding him could take three hours because the guy can just take a beating,” Coleman recalled to Sherdog.com. “I hit him with 15 or 16 knees and the guy still stood up and shook it off when it was over. I finally changed angles with my knee. Until he tapped my belly, I was thinking, ‘I don’t know what to do.’”

Number 7 » Takase vs. Silva