Sherdog’s Top 10: Ground-and-Pounders

3. Mark Coleman
Hailed as “The Godfather of Ground-and-Pound,” Coleman was a decorated amateur wrestler who brought a new dimension to MMA. He simply took down opponents and beat them up.

In his prime, “The Hammer” was easily one of the most frightening fighters in the sport. His initial run in the UFC saw him carve up Moti Horenstein, Gary Goodridge, Don Frye and Brian Johnston before he captured the heavyweight title by submitting Dan Severn in February 1997. After suffering four consecutive defeats, Coleman recaptured some of his past magic and won the 2000 Pride Fighting Championships open weight grand prix. He struck Igor Vovchanchyn into submission with knees in the tournament final.

Coleman lost six of his final 10 bouts -- all six losses were to all-time greats, two of them to Fedor Emelianenko -- but his contributions to MMA are undeniable cannot be overlooked.

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