MANILA, Philippines – Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Hall of Famer Mark “The Hammer” Coleman sees UFC 109 as an opportunity to prove that he remains a dangerous foe in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA).

“I do wanna prove to these young guys that I'm still handful. Don't take me lightly,” Coleman said in a UFC promotional video.

To do that, the Hammer will have to face a fellow Hall of Famer Randy “The Natural” Couture in a light heavyweight match on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Coleman said his fight against Couture will be the biggest in his colourful MMA career.

“I've been in those great fights over the years, but none of those compare to this fight. This is the biggest fight in my life by far,” said The Hammer.

Coleman, the first UFC heavyweight champ, is the one who popularized the strategy known as the “ground-and-pound."

“Mark Coleman is the godfather of ground-and-pound. If he gets on top of you and start dropping bombs on your head, you got big-big problems,” said UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

Coleman has an MMA record of 16 wins against 9 losses.

Long wait is over
Couture, an MMA legend himself, said he was supposed to face The Hammer some time ago, but the fight did not push through.

He said he was supposed to face Coleman in the late 90’s when the latter was still UFC heavyweight champ.

“The fight with Mark Coleman was actually supposed to happen a long time ago when Mark was the heavyweight champion and I was one of the up and coming guys and just breaking in. And I popped a rib real bad in training, so this has been a long time coming,” said The Natural, who has compiled a record of 17-10.

Couture said he and his team have devised strategies to foil Coleman’s strengths.

“I’m training specifically to beat Mark Coleman and to win,” he said.

The Hammer said that although he respects Couture, he’ll make sure that he’ll exit the Octagon as the winner.

“I have nothing but respect for the guy. But once you get inside that cage, you have no choice but to try to take his head off,” said Coleman.

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