One of the very first stars in the UFC and in MMA in general, Coleman fought his first five bouts in the promotion. He won all five fights. In his sixth outing, he faced Dan Severn for the inaugural UFC Heavyweight Championship belt. He submitted Severn in the very first round. Coleman never successfully defended his belt as he lost to Maurice Smith five months later. He also lost his next two bouts in the UFC.
Coleman then decided to try his luck in PRIDE. He was submitted by Nobuhiko Takada in his debut. After that, however, he went on a tear to win the Pride FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix. In his stint at Pride, Coleman lost to legends like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Fedor Emelianenko, and Mirko Cro Cop. In 2009, Coleman returned to the UFC but got knocked out by Mauricio Rua. He decisioned Stephan Bonnar in the same year. In 2010, Coleman fought Randy Couture and got submitted. This was his last fight.
Coleman was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2008. In late 2020, Coleman suffered a heart attack due to an artery blockage. He underwent a surgery to have a stent installed.
Maurice Smith
Randy Couture
Bas Rutten
Kevin Randleman
Josh Barnett
Ricco Rodriguez
Tim Sylvia
Frank Mir
Andrei Arlovski
Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira
Brock Lesnar
Shane Carwin
Cain Velasquez
Junior dos Santos
Fabricio Werdum
Stipe Miocic
Daniel Cormier
Francis Ngannou
