Coleman’s second spell in the UFC lasted just three fights, with his victory over Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100 being his most notable result.   He looked a shadow of his former self in his losses to Mauricio Shogun Rua and Randy Couture though, leaving the UFC with little choice but to let the ‘Godfather of ground and pound’ go.

The question now is whether this also spells the end for Coleman’s career?

As we previously reported on this site, Coleman appeared ready to continue with his career after his most recent loss, but whether he will have second thoughts now that he is no longer in the UFC remains to be seen.

Personally I won’t be surprised if he tries to continue fighting elsewhere, perhaps back in Japan, though I think it’s clear to most fans at this stage that he should call it quits at the age of 45.

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Meanwhile it appears that heavyweight fighter Tim Hague has also been cut from the roster.  The  news comes directly from the fighters facebook account.

Hague lost a controversial decision to Chris Tuchscherer at UFC 109, despite many observers believe he had done enough to win.

Speaking on Twitter after having had a chance to re-watch the fight, Hague stated, “Joe Rogan said it was the worst decision he’s ever seen in his life. I gotta say I agree.”

Hague got off to a winning start in the UFC with a victory over Pat Barry, but a seven second knockout loss to Todd Duffee, followed by the loss to Tuchscherer appears to have been enough to convince the UFC to release him from the roster.

It appears that neither has made up their minds to do so just yet though.  Here’s what they had to say after their fight’s on Saturday night.

“I’m not ending on this note.  I’m gonna train harder, smarter, better, longer – the whole shebang.  I’ll be back.” – Mark Coleman

“I’ve gotta go back and talk to the wife, talk to the kids and kind of see how things go.  The problem is that even though the athlete may still want to compete, the family tends to have a better idea of what you should be doing, so I’ll talk to them and figure it out, that’s just how it goes.” – Frank Trigg

If the two fighters do decide to continue to compete then it seems likely they will have to do so somewhere other than the UFC as Dana White appeared to believe that they have made their final visits to the octagon.

“Time is a bitch man, it takes it’s toll on all of us.,” he told Ariel Helwani. “I think we probably might have seen the last time that Mark Coleman fights.”

When asked by Mike Straka whether Frank Trigg was in any danger (of being cut) after his second loss in a row White simply said, “Probably…yeah, I would say so.”

Will both fighters retire if they are indeed released from their contracts?

Trigg has previously stated that he has no interest in fighting anywhere other than the UFC any more, and would retire rather than go back to the smaller promotions.  It remains to be seen whether he goes through with it now that this potential situation has become a reality.

It’s unclear how Coleman would react to being cut from the roster, but it would not be a surprise to see him go back to fighting in Japan where he spent much of his career rather than hang up his gloves.

Watch the post-fight interviews with the two fighters below.

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Mark Coleman:

Frank Trigg:

There were no major talking points on this occasion.  If anything  Frank Trigg looked weary after what may have been a tough cut and appeared relieved to be told he had made the welterweight limit of 171lbs.

See the official weigh in results below:

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Main Card:

Randy Couture (205) vs. Mark Coleman (205)
Nate Marquardt (186) vs. Chael Sonnen (185)
Mike Swick (171) vs. Paulo Thiago (170)
Demian Maia (186) vs. Dan Miller (185)
Frank Trigg (171) vs. Matt Serra (169)

Prelims:

Justin Buchholz (156) vs. Mac Danzig (156)
Ronys Torres (156) vs. Melvin Guillard (155)
Rob Emerson (155) vs. Phillipe Nover (155)
Phil Davis (205) vs. Brian Stann (205)
Chris Tuchscherer (263) vs. Tim Hague (263)
Joey Beltran (238) vs. Rolles Gracie (247)

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Randy Couture:

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Mark Coleman:

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Chael Sonnen:

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Nate Marquardt:

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Mike Swick:

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Matt Serra:

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Phil Davis:

The UFC did however get a boost this week with the news, courtesy of mmapayout.com, that the Countdown preview for the event on Spike pulled in an impressive 881,000 viewers.  That significantly outperforms the 559,000 who tuned in for the UFC 108 preview show at the turn of the year, and only UFC 100 has pulled in more viewers (1.1 million) in recent times.

The figure doesn’t necessarily suggest that the popularity of the upcoming PPV event has been underestimated however, as the countdown show had a strong lead-in via a Brock Lesnar: UFC unleashed repeat, followed by a replay of the UFC 107 event which earned an impressive 2.2 million viewers.

Still it’s a positive sign for the UFC, and the hope will be that some of the additional viewers who caught the preview will now go on to buy the PPV event on Saturday night.

The Countdown To UFC 109 show previews the main event, as well as featuring the co-main event between Nathan Marquardt and Chael Sonnen, and a welterweight clash as Mike Swick takes on Paulo Thiago.

This is one of the better Countdown shows of recent times, and you can watch it in full below:

Part 1:

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Part 2:

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Part 3:

Further Reading:

• UFC 109 Fight Card
• UFC 110 Fight Card
• UFC On Versus 1 Fight Card

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See what they both had to say below:

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Randy Couture:

“Even though he’s a good wrestler, he’s not a greco guy, and so if he doesn’t do his homework he’s going to find himself with his back against the fence and he’s going to be stuck.”

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Mark Coleman:

“Once you get inside that cage, you have no choice but to try to take his head off, try to win this fight. I’m going to try to beat him any way possible.”

In a new video preview released by the UFC the fight between Randy Couture and Mark Coleman is broken down by Joe Rogan, Dana White, and the two fighters themselves.

Key Quote:

Dana White - “Randy Couture needs this win because he’s a fierce competitor and always likes to win, but as far as livelihood and career – Mark Coleman needs this win a lot worse than Randy Couture does.”

Watch the video for yourselves below:

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See The full fight card for UFC 109 here

After Anderson Silva pulled out of his expected title fight with Vitor Belfort due to injury, a battle between the UFC’s two oldest competitors, Randy Couture and Mark Coleman will now serve as the main event.

(Note: Watch a video preview for the main event here)

One of the middleweights top contenders Nate Marquardt will be looking to stake his claim for a title shot in the co-main event when he faces Chael Sonnen, who beat Yushin Okami in his last outing in the octagon.

Josh Koscheck was originally expected to fight on the card in a rematch with Paulo Thiago but after injury his team-mate Mike Swick now takes his place, and will be hoping to get back to winning ways after his loss to Dan Hardy.

Meanwhile Damien Maia, who is looking to bounce back strongly after his first round knockout defeat to Maquardt at UFC 102, takes on the always tough Dan Miller in a bout that has been promoted to it’s rightful place on the main card due to injuries.

Rounding off the main card will be another battle of the veterans as Matt Serra looks to banish the memory of losing by decision to Matt Hughes in his last fight against Frank Trigg who will be fighting with the knowledge that a loss would end his second stint for the promotion.

There are also some notable debuts in the undercard of the event, with 4-0 wrestling stand-out Phil Davis taking on Brian Stann, and a member of one of mixed martial arts most famous families, Rolles Gracie, taking on Mustapha Al-Turk in just his third pro fight.

See the full list of scheduled bouts for the event below.

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Main Card:

• Randy Couture Vs Mark Coleman
• Nate Marquardt Vs Chael Sonnen
• Mike Swick Vs Paulo Thiago
• Damien Maia Vs Dan Miller
• Matt Serra Vs Frank Trigg

Undercard:

• Mac Danzig Vs Justin Buchholz
• Melvin Guillard Vs Ronys Torres
• Tim Hague Vs Chris Tuchscherer
• Brian Stann Vs Phil Davis
• Phillipe Nover Vs Rob Emerson
• Joey Beltran Vs Rolles Gracie

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Further Reading:

• Countdown To UFC 109 Show
  
• UFC 110 Fight Card
• UFC On Versus 1 Fight Card

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Earlier this week we published an article suggesting possible opponents for Randy Couture, and one of those was indeed the 44 year old wrestler.  In the article we have been running a poll to ask who fans wanted to see ‘The Natural’ fight next, and currently tied in first place with 28% of the vote is Coleman (the other is Tito Ortiz).

Now sherdog.com is reporting that both parties have verbally agreed to the bout.  If they do go on to sign the contract then they will face each other in the octagon on Feb 6th in Las Vegas.

The speed at which the bout has been arranged highlights The UFC needs to make the most of it’s available stars during the injury crisis that has weakened many of their upcoming events.

The bout would be historic for the organization, bringing together it’s two oldest stars in Couture (46) and Coleman (44), both of whom fought for, and been champions of, the promotion when it was still in it’s early stages.

The two also share a common link in that they both wrestled at the highest level before entering MMA.  Both have used that skill to their advantage in the sport and helped pave the way for many other wrestlers to make the transition to fighting in mixed martial arts.

As I said in the article I wrote after UFC 105 I believe Coleman (16-9) to be as much of a ’soft ball’ as the promotion can throw Couture (17-10) at this stage.  The down side for him is that it does little to further his current ambition to take a run at the light heavyweight title.

Meanwhile the bout is perfect for Coleman.  A win over Couture could well be the biggest achievement of his career and would cement his legacy in the sport.