UFC 109: Mark Coleman Put Out To Pasture After Loss to Randy Couture, Says Dana White

“I think tonight was probably [“The Hammer” Mark Coleman's (16-10)] last fight in the UFC,” UFC President Dana White confided to the post-UFC 109 press conference in Las Vegas Saturday.

Coleman was submitted by “The Natural” Randy Couture (18-10) in a rear naked choke at 1:09 of round two.  Though he dotted Couture’s jaw with sporadic punches, backing up his fellow UFC Hall of Famer, Coleman was never really at an advantage in the fight.  Couture hit Coleman more often during exchanges, controlled Coleman in the clinch, and submitted him on the mat.

“He’ll always be a part of this organization,” added White. “I just think he’ll have a hard time competing with the guys at the top level. Age is a factor with him.”

Coleman came into the fight from a unanimous decision over “American Psycho” Stephan Bonnar (11-6) at UFC 100 in Las Vegas last July, his biggest win since 2006 when he TKO’d Fighters.com’s third-ranked light heavyweight “Shogun” Mauricio Rua (18-4) at PRIDE 31 north of Tokyo. Rua suffered a broken arm during a Coleman slam and the fight was ended.

But, White didn’t like what he saw of Coleman versus Couture.  He said, “[Coleman] went in there, and he wasn’t able to do anything. He didn’t get off. Randy pretty much beat him everywhere.”

At 45-years old, Coleman is obviously still competitive at a certain level, as he demonstrated versus Bonnar.  Coleman hasn’t spoken out about White’s comments to clarify his future.