As bad as Shogun gassed at UFC 93, his opponent, Mark Coleman, gassed worse.
They both looked terrible, but since Coleman is 44, apparently, it was a requirement for him to speak with the NSAC about his recent performance, and reassure them he’s going to put in the necessary training for the Bonnar fight before they would grant him a license.
Coleman did that yesterday at the monthly commission meeting, and fortunately, they granted him a limited one-fight license.
“We mentioned that [Coleman] had quite a layoff before he fought Rua,” Kizer said. “We mentioned that he kind of ran out of gas in the third round and got stopped.
“Obviously with his age and his inactivity and the fact that he’s lost four of his past six bouts, there was definitely a concern. [The NSAC] asked, ‘What’s your plan for this fight?’ And to his credit, he owned up and said, ‘Look, I need to train harder and be in better shape.”
“Because of the age and the inactivity, the commission decided to give [Coleman] the limited license, limited to one bout,” Kizer said. “At the end of the day, that’s how you best can observe a fighter, is in actual competition. He’ll be fighting Stephan Bonnar, and I think that’s a fair matchup for both gentlemen. We’ll be good to go come July 11.”
Coleman admitted following the Rua bout that he couldn’t afford the training he needed to get in peak physical condition. So, the question now is: Will he actually be able to get the proper training for Bonnar? By the sound of things, that answer is a resounding yes.
‘My plan is I’m moving to Las Vegas this weekend and I have offers to train with Frank Mir’s group. I have offers to train with Wanderlei Silva’s group. I have offer to train with Randy Couture’s group. I definitely plan on taking advantage of that, and I plan to be here from this upcoming weekend through the fight. I’ll be Las Vegas, and I’ll be training constantly here with one or more of those groups.’
Sounds like Coleman can’t lose. Admittedly, I’m not the biggest Coleman fan in the world, but there’s no discounting what he’s done in his career, and how much he has meant to the sport of MMA. So, yeah, it would be pretty sweet to see him get one more big win before he hangs it up.
But, in case he doesn’t, and looks as bad as he did in January, you’re probably not going to see it since the fight’s been relegated to the prelims.
Image courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com
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He needs to train ahred or hang it up. His last fight was no teseament to his true skill.
The Grammar in the above one sucked. I meant to say, “His last fight was no testament to his true skill. He needs to train harder or hang it up.”