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PRIDE TOTAL ELIMINATION INTERVIEW: MARK “THE HAMMER" COLEMAN
By Mick Hammond, MMAWeekly.com
It’s been four years since MMA legend Mark “The Hammer" Coleman won the inaugural PRIDE Grand Prix. Now, in 2004, he’s in the unfamiliar territory of being the underdog in a field comprised of some of the best heavyweight fighters in the world. On the eve of his journey to Japan, MMA Weekly’s Mick Hammond spoke with Mark to get his thoughts on the tournament, his personal life, and his relationship with the fans.
MMA Weekly: First off, it’s pretty obvious what everyone wants to know about, you’re returning after 4 years to defend your Open Weight Grand Prix title. In the first round, you’ve got current PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko; tell us about the fight.
Mark Coleman: Fighting Fedor is one hell of a challenge. It’s quite a different challenge than I had back in 2000 when I fought Satake in the first round. I’d say Fedor is probably the most well rounded fighter out there, so it’s going to take the best in me to beat him.
MMA Weekly: We haven’t seen Fedor much on his back during his time in PRIDE. You being a wrestler first and foremost, I’m guessing your strategy is to take him down and get top position as quickly as possible, right?
Mark: You haven’t seen Fedor on his back because he’s pretty hard to get there. I’m going to try my hardest to get him on his back. He’s pretty good on his feet too and when it goes to the ground, he usually ends up on top. So, obviously, the game plan is to get him on his back, hopefully pass his guard, and then do some damage that way. I’m going to have to find a way to take him down which I’m sure I can do.
MMA Weekly: In the past you’ve won a couple of matches with side chokes, but it’s not something we’ve seen from you of late. Is there a possibility we could see you attempt any submissions?
Mark: Well, people don’t think I have much experience with submissions, but I’ve been in this sport for over 8 years now and I do them all the time in practice. But doing them in practice and doing them in a fight are two totally different things. It’s fun to play around with submissions in practice and I’ve gotten quite a few of them in my game, triangles, arm bars, and ankle locks, but doing them in a fight would be rather difficult and not something I’m looking for. Possibly a neck crank, but I don’t really consider that a submission, it’s more like a wrestling thing. I’m looking to ground and pound this guy, that’s what I do, no sense in changing it now, nothing has really changed about me. Hopefully, I can hang in there and do some damage to his face.
MMA Weekly: Your teammate Kevin Randleman is also fighting in the Grand Prix against Mirko “Cro Cop" Filipovic, are you guys heading out to Japan together and have you thought about the chance you may face each other?
Mark: Kevin is leaving a day later, but only because it was more convenient for him. We’re a still a team, we’d welcome the fact if we had to fight each other because that means we did pretty well in the tournament so far. We’ll worry about that when the issue comes, because Cro Cop and Fedor is enough to worry about at this point. Fighting Kevin is the least of my concerns right now; I’m just worried about Fedor.
MMA Weekly: There are a lot of fighters in this tournament with very little or no MMA experience. Guys like Stefan Leko, Henry Miller, and Giant Silva combined only have one MMA fight between them. Do you feel that you got the worst of the draw having to fight Fedor in the first round instead of one of those guys who surely would have been a much easier fight?
Mark: Well, I don’t question things. All I know is what they (PRIDE) give me. Some people say that I asked for Fedor, which is absolutely not true. I’m not that crazy. (laughs) I’d like to win this thing, you know? I’m not saying I can’t beat Fedor, but obviously, the easiest road to the finals is the best road and I wouldn’t call him the easiest road at all. But for them to offer me Fedor, I look at it like someone has to be the main event and I’m honored that they saw main event material in myself versus Fedor. Is it a tough fight? Hell yeah, but it’s a huge opportunity for me to fight him in the first round, it’s my title shot right there. That doesn’t win the tournament for me, but I’m looking at it as a huge stepping stone for my fighting career. It’s an opportunity to me. It’s something I got offered and something I had to contemplate because I could have fought someone of lessor caliber and could have made it past the first round a little easier, but I decided that’s what they wanted for a main event. I’m just honored they offered it to me. Now, I got to deal with Fedor because of it, but that’s life. I’m getting paid for it, that’s my job, and let’s just hope it goes well.
MMA Weekly: Regardless of how you do in the tournament, what plans do you have for yourself after it’s over?
Mark: I’m feeling good, I’m finally getting my personal life back in order, and basically I’m really just now starting to train with the fire I had way back in ‘96, ‘98, and 2000. I’ve really got that fire back now. No matter what happens here (in the first round), I’ve got a 3-fight deal and I’m going to honor that contract and whatever happens, it’s either going to be in the Grand Prix or against someone else. I just look to continue to get better in all areas, work hard, and stay in this sport as long as I possibly can while I’m healthy. I feel lucky and I’m going to fight until I can’t anymore or until nobody wants to see me (laughs). I owe them at least two more fights and I’m looking forward to that. Plus, two weeks after this fight, I’ve got to do a professional wrestling match in Japan and I’m excited about doing that as well. Both careers I’m trying to perform well in and hopefully take off and create some kind of future for myself.
MMA Weekly: Speaking of your personal life, that’s the side of the sport many people don’t see. Can you tell us how a fighter’s personal life affects their fighting career?
Mark: Well, people don’t care about personal life status. To them, personal life doesn’t matter and I don’t expect it to matter to them. Just go watch The Smashing Machine and see what personal problems can do to a person. You got to be on your game and in the zone. It’s no different than any other athlete; if you’re not in the zone and on your game, bad things will happen. I’m trying to stay focused and stay in my game.
MMA Weekly: So one little break in concentration or thought to something else during a fight can completely get you off your game?
Mark: Well, during a fight, one little mistake and you’re done. You’re life has to be in order. It helps to have your family life and your home life in order to be able to do these types of things. To be a PRIDE Grand Prix Champ, you’ve got to have your P’s and Q’s in order.
MMA Weekly: I know you have to go soon so let’s close this out for now. Is there anything you’d like to say to the fans out there or any sponsors you’d like to give a shout out to?
Mark: I don’t have any sponsors out there, but the fans support me and have stuck with me. I’m getting old now and I might have some people sticking with me just for my age. But I appreciate the fans support and I’ll just continue to work hard. I feel the fans are my sponsors, I always fought for the fans, they’re very important. I fight for myself obviously, too. I’m not going to deny that I fight for myself and my family, but the fans are very important to me and treated me well and made me feel special wherever I went, that’s a bonus for me. It was nice to go to the UFC and have the fans remember me for what I did in the past. I appreciate it a lot and I’m doing my best to hang in there and just continue to work hard and do my best and be the champ.
MMA Weekly: One last question and then we’ll let you go. What’s your prediction for the fight?
Mark: I’m just going to have to find a way to win and I’m going to find a way to beat this guy. That’s the plan.
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