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UFC legend Mark Coleman remains hospitalized after rescuing his parents from a tragic house fire early Tuesday morning in his childhood home near Toledo, Ohio.

Coleman, 59, was airlifted from the scene after pulling his mother and father out of the house, and then suffering smoke inhalation after rushing back in a third time to save his dog. Members from seven different fire departments responded to the scene after the fire reportedly broke out in the kitchen of the home, although the cause of the blaze has not yet been revealed.

Coleman’s longtime friend and fellow former UFC fighter Wes Sims provided an update on him via Facebook on Tuesday.

“I’m a very firm believer in the power of prayer,” Sims wrote. “I sent family and some friends a few pictures of Mark Coleman’s current condition. I know Mark, if he could talk he’d say ‘film this s***, Wes, we are going viral!’

“Mark’s parents’ house burnt down last night. Mark saved both [his parents] and went back for Hammer, his dog. He was life flighted to Toledo and is currently intubated and sedated. I swear to God he’s one of the toughest individuals ever created, been through so much a movie at this point could not give his life’s work justice!”

Local authorities haven’t made any further statements regarding the fire, aside from the house being called a total loss after crews were able to extinguish the flames.

Inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2008, Coleman is widely considered one of the greatest heavyweight fighters in the history of the sport. He first became heavyweight champion at UFC 10 and then repeated as champion at UFC 11 as well.

Coleman eventually moved over to PRIDE Fighting Championships, where he became the first ever Pride grand prix champion with a stunning run through the 2000 tournament, which included three wins in one night capped off by a knockout of Igor Vovchanchyn in the finals.

In recent years, Coleman dedicated himself to getting back into fighting shape again while also serving as a coach and mentor to fellow UFC fighter Matt Brown.

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Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

It’s been a crappy week for Marlon Vera.

Vera came up short in the main event of UFC 299 on Saturday (March 9, 2024) from Miami, Florida. Not only did he leave the cage without the title, but champion Sean O’Malley mostly used his face as a speed bag (watch highlights), landing dozens and dozens of nasty shots in a master class performance. It was a rough night at the office, to say the least, but Vera’s misfortunes don’t end there.

On Instagram, “Chito” posted a picture of a busted front door, revealing his home had been burglarized while he was away fighting in Miami. Vera wrote, “The f—king a—hole that broke into my home, I’m gonna find you.”

“The context is last night there was a robbery,” Vera also wrote online (via LowKickMMA). “They broke into our house. Though they are material things, they are things that have been bought with a lot of effort and hard work. But hey, these types of things happen and the truth is tonight will be a good one.”

Unfortunately, Vera is not the first fighter to have his home broken into while away on business. Last year, former UFC interim Heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane was robbed while fighting in Paris, losing an estimated six-figures in the break-in. Robberies like this have become an issue for athletes beyond MMA as well — part of the danger of having one’s location known far and wide months ahead of time.

After the loss at UFC 299, Vera faces a long road ahead to return to the title picture. He’s now lost two of his last three, and both five-round defeats saw “Chito” struggle to win a round. Nevertheless, he’s vowed to return for the belt.

Insomnia

I have a difficult time understanding why Cedric Doumbe should have a loss on his record because someone wore boots into the cage.

Am I crazy in think Michael Page is a bad match up for Ian Garry? I could also see it playing out like Darren Till vs. Stephen Thompson (boring).

A Lightweight showdown of jiu-jitsu black belts:

Tim Elliott has been around the Flyweight block!

Daniel Lacerda’s historic 0-5 (1) UFC run will not be forgotten.

Two of Dustin Poirier’s rivals were thrilled to see him victorious at UFC 299 — pretty cool!

A throwback boxing match between current boxing greats:

Slips, rips, and KO clips

As mentioned, the finish is indeed very cool, but the transition from initial takedown exchange into triangle choke made me rewind three times to understand what happened.

Quick lead leg high kick sneaks right over the hands:

Circled him right into the elbow — nasty!

Random Land

The engine appears ready to explode.

Midnight Music: Alternative, 1989

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Kayla Harrison may never get to fight Cris Cyborg, but she still can’t escape the former UFC and Strikeforce featherweight champion.

Harrison and the Brazilian legend circled one another over a potential fight for years, however Harrison signing with the UFC and moving down to bantamweight seemingly ended whatever glimmer of hope remained for making it happen. Yet even as Harrison prepares for her octagon debut at UFC 300, she still has to hear that same old name, as Cyborg traveled to New Mexico to help Holly Holm prepare to face Harrison on April 13.

“She just loves to stir the f****** pot, doesn’t she?” Harrison said when asked about Cyborg training with Holm during a UFC 300 fan Q&A. “Go home already, nobody cares.”

Harrison may not have much nice to say about Cyborg, but the same can’t be said about Holm. After signing with the UFC, Harrison welcomed any challenge the promotion threw at her, but she was honored to get the chance to face someone like Holm, who’s a former UFC bantamweight champion and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

“I don’t use the word legend lightly, but I think Holly is very much a legend in the sport,” Harrison said. “She’s been in the top 10 for years now, been a former champ. I didn’t come over here to just see how I can do and fight amongst everyone.

“I’m here to come over and win a UFC title and finish my career on top. So Holly’s a good start to that.”

Harrison’s move to UFC came with some surprise considering she fought the majority of her MMA career at 155 pounds, plus a one-off at featherweight. The move down to 135 pounds serves as arguably her toughest test yet, but she promises she’s ready for the challenge.

To add to that, the two-time Olympic gold medalist always wanted to add a UFC title to her résumé. She knew the only way to do that was cutting down to the bantamweight division.

“I mean, when I first started MMA, the goal was always to become UFC champion,” Harrison said. “It’s been a lot of highs and lows, some bumps along the way, but ultimately this was the goal when I came to MMA. I knew that whatever contract I signed was probably going to be the last contract I sign. If not now, then when? I’m ready, I’m willing, I’m able.

“I don’t want to look back and be 70 years old and say, ‘F***, I wish I had given it a shot.’ It’s time to go, baby.”

Harrison acknowledged nothing will come easy in her first appearance at bantamweight, but she expects that the risk is worth the reward.

“Really, bantamweight became a reality and is going to become a reality on April 12,” Harrison said. “It’s not something that I had considered before, but I knew whatever contract I signed was going to be the last contract. This opportunity arose. I don’t want to look back on my life and say, ‘What if, what if, what if.’

“Yes, it’s a sacrifice. Yes, it sucks. I miss pizza, I miss cookies, I miss brownies. But I do believe that UFC gold will be worth it.”

As far as winning gold, Harrison declined to say whether she’s been promised a title shot with a win over Holm at UFC 300. It would nonetheless be awfully hard to deny her that, especially with the attention she’s received since signing with the organization.

Rather than leave it up to chance, Harrison said she’ll leave no doubt she’s the most deserving person for a title shot after she gets through Holm at UFC 300. She also sent a rather emphatic message to the rest of the bantamweight division now that she’s arrived.

“My focus is on April 13, UFC 300, Las Vegas, live, Holly Holm and me are going to throw down in the cage,” Harrison said. “I plan on putting on such beating that they have no choice but to give me the title shot after that. It’s in my hands.”

“My thoughts [on the bantamweight division] are there’s a new sheriff in town, and on April 13, everybody is going to find out.”

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UFC bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley continues to show interest in boxing, this time targeting Floyd Mayweather.

O’Malley is fresh off a phenomenal performance against Marlon Vera, dominating the entire 25-minute fight. After his first successful title reign, ‘Suga’ has never been a bigger name, the fights he can be involved in will only get bigger should he continue down this path. 

O’Malley does not seem the keenest on setting a title defence record, however, calling out featherweight champion Ilia Topuria during his post-fight speech. O’Malley has also continued to call out high-level boxers in podcast and media appearances, claiming he could beat the likes of Ryan Garcia should the two square off. 

The 29-year-old spoke on The MMA Hour regarding Garcia, who had mentioned the idea of transitioning to MMA. Garcia has also been posting bizarre videos and messages to social media over the past couple of weeks, it is unclear what exactly is going on with him.

“Again, I think mentally that kid isn’t where he needs to be.” Sean O’Malley began. “We’ll see how he looks against Devin Haney and go from there. I think that an MMA fight is so unrealistic, there’s a zero per cent chance he would ever even make it to that fight. It would take one MMA session, one wrestling day, one jiu-jitsu with anyone who knows anything for him to realize this is a bad idea.”

Sean O’Malley name drops Floyd Mayweather

O’Malley would then suggest the idea of boxing Mayweather, who has continued to do regular exhibition contests up until June of last year.

“If anything happened it would be boxing I mean, I don’t even know if I want to build up with that kind of fight given where his head is now,” O’Malley continued. “You know, just because it would be massive. It might not be it, but there’s still big fights up there still. Floyd’s still kicking, Floyd’s still running around in the boxing room.”

“I keep doing what I’m doing, I might just skip Ryan. I might just skip Gervonta [Davis].” Sean O’Malley concluded on The MMA Hour. “Go straight for the big dog.”

Who wins right now in boxing, Sean O’Malley or Floyd Mayweather?

LowKickMMA.com

Fresh off his his first title defense, bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley wants to headline the UFC 306 fight card at the Sphere on Mexican Independence Day.  

“Headlining the Sphere in Vegas.  Let’s do it,” O’Malley told The MMA Hour when asked about his next fight.  “I think that makes sense.  I don’t think anybody would agree against that.  I think that would be legendary.”

O’Malley successfully defended the 135-pound title in the UFC 299 main event last Saturday winning a one-sided decision over Marlon “Chito” Vera.  After the fight, he called out featherweight titleholder Ilia Topuria, but top contender Merab Dvalishvili has been assured that he’s next in line.  

“I go back and forth with Ilia and Marab,” O’Malley said about his next opponent.  “Ilia, this guy’s acting like he’s running the show.  Like, ‘no, you wait.  You sit out and wait.’  UFC is going to decide buddy.  This guy’s acting like he gets to call.  He wants me to fight Merab next.  I have more title defenses, so he’s talking about of his mouth a little bit too much.  At the end of the day it’s going to be what Uncle Dana [White], Uncle Hunter [Campbell], it’s going to be what they want.  I’m open for whatever.”

Topuria captured the featherweight championship by knocking out longtime titleholder Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 on Feb. 17.  He’ll likely have to defend the belt at least once before taking challenged outside the weight class.  Dvalishvili seems like O’Malley’s next adversary.  

“I definitely think a Merab fight would be pretty big,” O’Malley said.  “He’s on a 10-fight win streak.  He’s was kind of known for being boring, boring, boring.  Now he’s popular from being boring.  It’s kind of a weird way to get popular, but he did it which is impressive.”

“I think that fight could be marketed well,” O’Malley continued.  “10-fight win streak.  I knocked out his cousin.”

UFC 306 takes place on Sept.  14 at the high-tech venue in Las Vegas.  It’s a fight card that former two-division champion Conor McGregor and O’Malley are lobbying to be on.  

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

UFC 300 is almost upon us — and it is ridiculous.

On April 13, UFC 300 takes place in Las Vegas, headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill, and featuring a truly ludicrous lineup of matchups. And in the official trailer for this upcoming event, the UFC leaned into that, showcasing not just the main and co-main event fighters, but also featuring a number of the other former champions that make up the fight card.

Alongside Pereira and Hill, the trailer shows the women’s strawweight co-main event fight between Zhang Weili and Yan Xiaonan, and the “BMF” title bout between Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway. But it doesn’t stop there, also setting the stage for the superfight between Holly Holm and Kayla Harrison, the return of former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, and even the first fight of the evening — the bantamweight matchup between former UFC champions Deiveson Figueiredo and Cody Garbrandt.

Even UFC legend Jim Miller makes an appearance, and all of this happens with “Baba O’Reilly” playing in the background, a staple of UFC pay-per-view events.

Watch the full trailer for this epic fight card above.

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