Fansided MMA
FanSided

The 10 best MMA fighters from the 1990s

By Chad Porto

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 06: Actor Bas Rutten arrives at the premiere of "The Zookeeper" at the Regency Village Theatre on July 6, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 06: Actor Bas Rutten arrives at the premiere of "The Zookeeper" at the Regency Village Theatre on July 6, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) /

5. Mark Coleman

By today’s stats, Mark Coleman is an incredibly uneven fighter, having lost to guys to who he really never should have lost to. With his frame, wrestling pedigree, and the fact he was one of the early adopters of the ground-and-pound technique, Coleman should’ve had more success than his 16-10 record would suggest.

Yet, he implemented wrestling into MMA arguably better than anyone else and did it in the two top promotions in the world via the UFC And PRIDE. During his first stint in the UFC, he started his career 6-0, with wins over Gary Goodridge, Don Frye, and Dan Severn. It was the Severn fight that would serve as not only his biggest win over a big-name opponent but would also give him his first taste of non-tournament gold in the UFC by winning the UFC heavyweight championship from Severn.

By defeating Severn, he also unified the UFC Superfight championship with the heavyweight title as well.

He’d then drop his next four, losing to notable names like Maurice Smith and Pedro Rizzo. He’d then jump to PRIDE where he’d have some success, getting another over Frye, while adding the likes of Allan Goes, Igor Vovchanchyn, and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua before heading back to the UFC.

His last win would be over Stephen Bonnar, which came after a rematch with Rua that saw the Brazilian get revenge for his earlier loss. He’d finally face off with (then) fellow-40-something Randy Couture in Coleman’s last bout, a loss that saw Couture get the victory early in the second round.