UFC legend Mark Coleman has been hospitalized after saving his parents from a house fire on Tuesday morning. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
Coleman, 59, was airlifted to the hospital after pulling his mother and father from the scene. He later went into the burning house again in an attempt to save their dog. However, he failed to save their dog, Hammer, and passed out himself as a result of smoke inhalation.
His daughter, Morgan, wrote on Instagram that her father, “Managed to carry both of his parents out of the house but despite his best efforts was not able to save Hammer. He was life-flighted to the hospital where is currently battling for his life after this heroic act.”
Wes Sims, who also competed in the UFC and is good friends with Mark Coleman, told TMZ Sports that the 59-year-old was intubated and sedated at the hospital. As things stand right now, it is unclear as to what started the fire.
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Was Mark Coleman UFC’s first heavyweight champion?
Yes, Mark Coleman was the UFC’s first-ever heavyweight champion. The heavyweight championship in the promotion was introduced in 1997, for the title, Coleman and Dan Severn took on each other.
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However, it wasn’t Dan Severn who was initially supposed to take on Mark Coleman. Instead, Coleman was scheduled to fight Don Fyre, however, Fyre had to pull out of the fight.
Mark Coleman beat Dan Severn in the first round via submission and became the promotion’s first-ever heavyweight champion.
He then held the title for around 170 days before being defeated by Maurice Smith. Later, Coleman left the UFC for PRIDE and became its open-weight champion. After a stint there, he returned to the UFC in 2009 and retired in 2010 after losing to Randy Couture. He is also a UFC Hall of Famer.
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