The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Daniel Cormier TV - UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman tells his story of saving parents in house fire

Episode Date: April 20, 2024

In a special edition of the DC check-in, former UFC Champion, Mark "The Hammer" Coleman stops by to chop it up with Daniel Cormier. Coleman tells DC the entire story of surviving the house fire and sa...ving his parents, going through all of what happened and why at several points he thought "it was over." And Coleman talks about overcoming his battle with alcohol during his career in the UFC and changing his life for the better. Plus, DC and Coleman talk UFC 300, and what it means to have Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway ask Mark to honor them with the BMF belt. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:03:27 and they are doing hypothetical matchups. They do John Jones and Izzy, they do Connor and Sean O'Malley, And they start to pan to guys in the octagon. They show Habib and Tony Ferguson, George St. Pierre, this guy. And then lo and behold, the hammer shows up. But he is staring across the octagon from one of, if not, the most dangerous light heavyweight of all time Daniel Carmier. And it got me to think how bad I would have kicked your ass, Colin.
Starting point is 00:03:56 How me, Colie, I would. Colie, did you see that, Cooley? Oh, God. Yeah, it would have been a mismatch, D.C. No, totally. You would have been in a lot of trouble. I don't have been finding out of my ass on, people don't know my stand-up game.
Starting point is 00:04:11 We ain't taking each other down. Wait, no, no, no. We would not have had a gentleman's agreement, Coleman. You ain't, you ain't getting me on the ground. You have been sniffing your ankles all night, biting, trying to take it out. You have no clue. Look at the size of those fuck. Yeah, it wouldn't have been fair.
Starting point is 00:04:24 It would have been a full-on wife on, Colman. Probably. If I would have trained. If I wouldn't have trained. But, no, that would have been the fight to nobody. No, it would have been. what it got to see. And to be real,
Starting point is 00:04:37 no, DC, you would have been the guy that would have kept me up late at night thinking because, yeah, it's going to be on the feet. It's going to be a fight. I better be in shape.
Starting point is 00:04:47 I was excited. I felt honored that they put us in there together. I loved it. Because you know, wait up a second. Guys, I'm with the hammer, Mark Coleman. He's in my hotel room checking.
Starting point is 00:04:59 And look, guys, listen, nobody gets to come inside of my personal space. Mark Coleman does. Because when I, just to kind of peel the curtain back a little bit, first off, Mark, thanks for checking in with me. I appreciate it, man.
Starting point is 00:05:14 Taking some time. I know you've been busy this week and into everything that happened, as we will get into later. But my first time ever experienced mixed martial arts, Mike de Sabino, close friend of both of ours,
Starting point is 00:05:26 took me out to Philadelphia. I watched BJ Penn Defendant's Championship against Kenny Florian, Anderson Silva fought against Forrest Griffin I don't know that you can remember this You and I were together the first time My first night Mixed Martart I spent with you
Starting point is 00:05:42 Another day I spent with you We were in New York City At Walmart So some of the biggest moments That I still remember in my mind I got to spend with you So you get to come inside my circle But I'm thanking for you for taking the invitation
Starting point is 00:05:56 Yeah I remember DC Listen you I struggle back then You know my addiction problem but you would look at me and say you know why you why you just drink them so fast calling me i say i don't know the next one's going to get me where i'm looking to be yeah and uh there was nowhere to be you know i mean yeah but i found that out three three years in a couple months sober and uh my life has been amazing since i uh checked into rehab you can't do it alone
Starting point is 00:06:27 uh alcoholism i ain't worried about the stigma uh um lot of people worried about that but i'm gonna talk about because i'm gonna help people get sober because i would say probably multi multi millions of people out there struggling yeah and uh you you got to get help i checked into rehab uh it was a complete fuzz i don't remember much at all i mean i remember being there remember knowing i belong with the same people that were in there i i surrendered and I put it in my higher power's hands and God took away that obsession to drink and now I work to stay sober.
Starting point is 00:07:09 I will have to work the rest of my life. The 12 steps, I've worked the 12 steps. I still go to meetings once in a while just to keep my ass humble because it's going to be a lifelong battle. Right now I'm winning. But if I keep fighting and keep working to work, I'll win. Coleman, isn't it crazy that you went through so much
Starting point is 00:07:28 from the wrestling mat to the mixed martial arts cage to pride and all those things and to go through those types of fights and ultimately have to go find help to fight the greatest battle that you ever had to fight with alcoholism and drugs and everything it's hard for a guy like you to really lend yourself and just hey take care of me because like you said you can't do it alone just like you can't fight alone that probably was the hardest part about going into rehab and trying to find that help that ultimately lends you to because you look healthier today than you did back then I know but I didn't look at you no different because I only knew Mark the Hammer Coleman and I was going to treat you in that way yeah I always I always wanted to quit drinking I didn't think uh and I was uncoachable DC you you probably heard that nobody coached me even in fighting I like to learn things on my own and do things on my own and then uh with the With rehab, O West Sims showed up at my hotel room, an extended state hotel room, the ultimate absolute rock bottom. I could hardly even walk to my car without running out of gas, D.C.
Starting point is 00:08:39 I hadn't worked out in 12 years. You know, just a toxic relationship. And it just kept getting worse and worse. But, you know, I knew I wasn't, I knew I was an alcoholic. I was not in denial, but I just wasn't ready because I was ready, but I was ready. wasn't ready until you know West Sims had the courage to because nobody showed up there you you you you alienate yourself from everybody your family your friends and you might talk on the phone you let him know everything's good you lie you lie a lot when you're an alcoholic and and and uh
Starting point is 00:09:18 West Sims kind of was starting to get it you know I was lying to him of course and he showed up there and he He walked into the room and probably the most disgusting sight he's ever seen in his life. You see, the mates hadn't been in there for a year. I didn't let him come in there at all. And I wasn't interested in cleaning just thousands and thousands of beer cans everywhere. And I probably had cleaned it out. Every once in a while I would clean it out. But thousands probably from just the last two months or so,
Starting point is 00:09:55 three months and Jabil back up and what since showed up there. I don't know. It doesn't matter what time it was. It got to the point where there was no, it was 24 hours, not days and nights. And he convinced me to give her he have a try. You know what's so sad about that is that that's a story for a lot of legends in MMA and professional wrestling, right? You go to Rock Bottom where all the lights have dimmed, the fans have kind of calmed,
Starting point is 00:10:25 and you lose that attention. But then there comes a moment of clarity, right, when you're in rehab, and you start to come around the opposite side. What does that feel like? When you start to say, hey, I'm Mark Coleman, right? Because you don't recognize yourself during that time. But when you get that first moment of clarity
Starting point is 00:10:41 and you say, I'm Mark the Hammer Coleman, and I feel like Mark the Hammer Coleman, life can start again. Like, what does that feel like to you? It took a while, but I remember about 30 days in, you know, one of the patients in there, in there, she came up to me. She said, how's it going, Mark? I said, it's about 30 days in. I'm like, man, everything's going great. Everything's good. I just wonder when it's going
Starting point is 00:11:03 fall apart. You know, that's the way people, that's the way I used to look at things. What's next? When's something bad going to happen again? And she looked at me and said, well, maybe it never will. I remember that to this day, I get goosebumps. And then about, you know, they kept me in there a long time. I think I was ready to go away before they let me out, but they started loving the hammer being around. about three, four months in, I got that feeling about I get this, man, I got it. How much longer you go keep me in here? But them therapists are good, and they wanted to make sure.
Starting point is 00:11:37 And then I remember checking out, talking to the two guys, checking me out, to ask me if I wanted to work for them, go around and recruit people and give talks and stuff. And I just had a, I just remember talking to them with a complete sense of calmness like this. and just complete calmness which I'm not not my strongest asset and especially not during those times not during those time before that before you went to rehab you you could talk still because you're very smart man but it wasn't as you have as much clarity so it was no harder for you to get through those conversations but you got through it and I remember last summer we were here in
Starting point is 00:12:19 Vegas and we did a panel the greatest heavyweight of all time it was you and and me and Velasquez and Meir and all these great heavy weights. And you were speaking the truth of your sobriety and the journey you are on. And I was like, look at my man Coleman, you know. You even tried to grab me like a little rustling, you know? Oh, yeah. I was like, come on, Colie. We are going one more time.
Starting point is 00:12:42 I'm feeling good. You look good, Coleman. This clarity. It was still a year ago, but, you know, it takes a long time, you know, to get. get 20 years, 30 years, 40 years of drinking out of your system. Oh, you're wearing your necklace there, huh? It says four? This is the, no, no, this is my dog.
Starting point is 00:13:04 Oh, your dog hammer? Oh, I didn't see that. Oh, that's good. I thought it might be. These ashes aren't in there yet, but they got me. That's awesome, cool. We'll talk, we'll talk about that. No, sobriety, you know, what was the question?
Starting point is 00:13:16 I just saw that you look better when we saw each other last summer. It was as good as it was. I don't know. How long ago was? That was last year already, like June, July. January 1st of last year, I started that journey of transforming myself back into the hammer because I hadn't worked out in 12 years DC. And January 1st, me and Liver King, we good friends, we struck a deal.
Starting point is 00:13:40 And I was just waiting why in the fuck, that's all I ever did is work out my whole life. And I just walked away. And maybe I was afraid to start training again because I knew I would want to fucking do it again. Makes you want to fight. And sure enough, it did. But I just, Liver King told me transform him back
Starting point is 00:14:00 and promote the carnivore diet and the nine ancestral tenants. And now it's a big, friendship, big relationship going. And that's it. I generally, first struck that deal. I started walking.
Starting point is 00:14:13 And I never fucking stopped. I put in some 19-hour days sometimes this year. I'm not, everybody says, oh, bohadi, they trust me, I did it,
Starting point is 00:14:21 you know, because I was obsessed. didn't like laying down in the bed because it reminded me of my drinking day just leaning so i get up 4 a.m. 5 a.m. 6 a.m. and then call her a night around 10 11 o'clock and my shit was sore and I loved every second of it. I fasted for a year straight without missing 20 20 hours a day and I'll eat for a two-hour window and I wake up starving every day just all day long just thinking about food, baby. And then it get me through today and
Starting point is 00:14:56 source can be, how the fuck you're going to do it tomorrow but then six, seven hours of sleep, wake up and start while that might take my dog hammer out, take a cold shower, get cold, real cold in the morning for three minutes and get that day started and take the dog out and just keep rolling.
Starting point is 00:15:13 Mark, you've mentioned your dog a few times. Clearly the dog meant something to you. I mean, the experience you had, I remember when I got the text message, Mark's in trouble, right? It was after the fire. I want to know because so many of us say that in extreme situations, we will respond in one way, but we don't know because we're never faced with that situation. I try to put myself in a situation to understand that if I'm
Starting point is 00:15:46 faced with the same thing, I will make that same motion that you did and I will go in there to find my parents. Talk me through that, Mark. Like when the whole world is coming down and you are the guy tasked with making sure your parents are still alive and knowing that, I don't know, a year and a half ago, you would not have had that ability to do that because of where you were then compared to where you are today. Well, I've had four hip surgeries too in the last five months. So right place at the right time. So even a month ago, I had a major, major limp. It would have been, it wouldn't have happened. You want me to talk you through what happened that night?
Starting point is 00:16:34 I just kind of want to talk a little bit, Mark. I don't want you to have to relive. Probably a very tough night, but like. But for me, you know, I'm, you know. Were you sleeping at the housework? Yeah, I'm sleeping. I hadn't been home to see my parents in a while, only because I go home every weekend to see him a couple hours.
Starting point is 00:16:51 drive but my car had been down but I got to car back after a month a bad mechanic man had it took a month to change they're the worst yeah so I'm doing a lot of walking during that month but a daughters let me use their car but um drove home to see him a long day training cook some ribs in the the oven that night and went to bed about 10 and I wake up every hour take a piss every you know but you know 3 a m I woke up and walked out into the kitchen and and got some cookies. You know, when I'm at my mom's house, I'm going cheat.
Starting point is 00:17:26 But even at 3 a.m., you know, something didn't feel right, you know what I mean, in the house. You know, I was in this house, something. And I only took a couple cookies. Normally I'm going to eat the whole bag, but I'm like, I just, I don't know what. I went to lay back down and I went back to sleep for a good hard hour. I have a lot of nightmares. I like them. But something woke me up.
Starting point is 00:17:48 I'm pretty sure it was now I figured out it was probably hammered jump. underneath the bed, the thud, woke me up, and immediately it was super hot in there. But I thought I was just having a night sweats which I do sometimes. I didn't put nothing together yet. It's like hot, gloomy. And I'm feeling the fucking devil in the house, man. And it's black as hell in there because I usually sleep with a nightlight on in my door open, but I got to keep my dog in the room and black wake up, it's hot, sweaty.
Starting point is 00:18:19 I go grab my door, open the door. I'm walking out towards the kitchen. I don't know. I don't know nothing. I don't know nothing that's up. Just felt real creepy. I turn and I see the kitchen and I see some clouds out in the, you know, clouds. I don't put it together, that dumb smoke.
Starting point is 00:18:37 You know, I mean, I just seen the devil again, like something. And I took a couple steps towards it. And we got a door out the back door. And I grabbed the doorknob. And it was all fire. It was third degree burns on my hand just lit me up And that's when it started reality started setting in I'm realizing this is what's going on
Starting point is 00:18:58 But then I heard the worst sound ever Glass windows falling from up above That's when it clicked in Time to fucking perform React I gotta do something quick I turned around ran back to my I knew the fire was everywhere inside Had to show it
Starting point is 00:19:15 No I could feel it no the heat The heat was crazy. I didn't see any flames anywhere, but it was inside the walls. And the house was hot, and I'm not sweating from a dream, man. It's real. And I run back into my mom and dad's bedroom. Were they still asleep, Mark? Were your parents still asleep?
Starting point is 00:19:32 Oh, hell yeah. Oh, my God. They were way back in the back. They were, I opened the door. I yelled mom, dad five fucking times. Mom, dad, I got a voice, and they don't respond. And it's just immediately the sickest feeling ever. I thought they was already dead from something to smoke or whatever.
Starting point is 00:19:52 And finally my mom says, what? What the fuck did you? Get the fuck out of here, Mark. What did you? She thought I was doing a 5 a.m. Instagram video being Hammer House for Live. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. She did.
Starting point is 00:20:08 She thought I was just doing that or something on my dog. And I said, let's go, man. We did the house on fire. We got to go fast. And they both get up. there in their underwear and they're coming around and oh fuck man you know I grab my dad and he's got my mom and I walk him down the hallway it's smoky now but it's okay I'm gonna get my mom and dad out and then go get my fucking dog but I get my dad all the way out to the door I turn around
Starting point is 00:20:37 and he doesn't have my mom with him man oh my god I don't know what the fuck happened And fuck, I'll get her. I turn back, I looked down the hallway. I could see my mom standing in the room. And what you do it? She's like, Can't bring. She got asthma real bad. She had her shit covered up.
Starting point is 00:20:55 I wasn't smart enough to cover my nose up. And I talked to some firemen. They asked me if I was all my hands and knees. I wasn't smart enough to get down there because the smoke's up here. And I run back. But how in the world could you be and have the world with all to do it whenever you're, I guess you're in a full-on panic? No training, man. Yeah, but no, like you're in a.
Starting point is 00:21:13 They say, well, can you get on your knees, do all the, like, everything's going to 1,000 miles a minute at that point. It's called practice, man. I had no practice. Yeah. But, so I grab my mom, and I turn back around, and now this hallway is ugly. I mean, it's black. I can't see it. No light for work.
Starting point is 00:21:31 It's black, but I can still see the smoke somehow. And now the smoke is bad. And I got my shoulder up against the wall. I just got to go like, you know, 20 yards, 15, 10 yards, well, how far it is. down this hallway and then I'm going, we're going. I got my mom, I got my mom, and then, well, I fell off into like a bathroom, the door was open.
Starting point is 00:21:52 I'm holding myself up with the wall and I fell off in and I looked up and it was just ugly. And for the first time I said to myself like, man, he ain't gonna make it because I was lost. I didn't know where to, I didn't know what step to take next. It was all. And I said that,
Starting point is 00:22:13 to myself, I didn't say a lot of course, but I thought it was over. And then I just took a step and the, you know, God guided me. God guided me down the hallway. I got my mom out the door. And I turned around. I'd probably been in there. I don't know, five, six, seven minutes by now. And I ran back in. I went back to my bedroom. And I swiped underneath the bed. And I jumped to the end. I swiped again.
Starting point is 00:22:39 And when I was down low, it got me away from the smoke for a second, it gave me a false sense of I'm okay. But then I leaned up after I took the second swipe. I was going to jump to the third side of the bed and try to find this dog, man. And I leaned up and the smoke hit me real hard. And now I'm terrified this whole time to see. It was a sense of urgency. It was, you know, luckily I had been training because I'm tired.
Starting point is 00:23:08 I mean, I'm tired and I stand up and I stood up and I'm still thinking about going over here and swiping, but then when I stood up, I kind of wobbled and fell into the bed. I realized it's time to get the hell out. And I turned and I blindly was guided out the fucking house and I got out the garage door, reunited with my dad. I walked him around to get my mom and then we turned around and basically, the whole fucking house engulfed it was over we live out in the country by time
Starting point is 00:23:45 by time anybody got there it was total gone you know they did save some things but they did find my my Olympic walk opening ceremonies here man how about that you know so I lost I had all my stuff there all my memorabilia from over the last 30 years
Starting point is 00:24:06 and shit and a lot of lot of stuff there But it's just stuff, but man, there's some cool shit. Some good stuff. Well, a lifetime of achievements. To end their story. So then it's getting pretty bad. I'm coughing real hard, but I'm thinking I'm fine. I'm thinking I made it.
Starting point is 00:24:22 It's the highest of highs and the lows and the lows. The lows at the same time, man. It was just D.C. It's unbelievable. And then the ambulance got there. I remember being in the ambulance, and I told him, I said, I'm fine. I don't need to go to no hospital.
Starting point is 00:24:37 And I just want to go see my parents. and I wasn't fine, man, you know. I wasn't fine. And when they got to the hospital, they found pretty much a ton of smoke on the lungs. They were able to, they got a way of blasting it off down there. And sometimes it works, sometimes it don't. But it worked.
Starting point is 00:24:57 They got a ton of the black shit out of my lungs. And then I remember being out. My daughters were there the whole time. And I remember being out, but half awake. them talking to me and uh and uh and i you know i knew i was coming through man you know i knew i was going through this shit we didn't and we were all watching it and it was like this has to be the scariest thing ever because obviously knowing you it was it was worrisome but then the heroic act to us spoke volumes and spoke to who you are as a human but have you seen
Starting point is 00:25:33 the pictures have you seen the pictures of you at the hospital have you looked at them When you see that, like... The doctor's diagnosed me as a... We have a young, handsome black man here. I know they didn't, Mark. Mark, you're lying. You're lying. Mark, you were...
Starting point is 00:25:56 They still had, you know, the stuff. No, I was black from the smoke. They did not say that, and... No, they did not... They were working on a black man, but they also threw in their young, handsome. You're such a fucking liar. No, they did have a black man.
Starting point is 00:26:10 That would have been awesome. They did have a black man they were working on, man. So when you look at that picture, though, like what is that, like, what is that, like, what is that, I mean, how haunting is that to see that? Like, you in that state. It's just, it's the highest, highs, lows, but it's not haunting, man. It's like, I had to go through that to be here today. And I accept everything now. That's what you do when you get sober.
Starting point is 00:26:32 You have to, you have to let go of all your resentments, which I had a lot of them, you know, let them go, man. They're gone. and you got to accept things. There's going to be good things that happen and bad things. Good things are going to happen. Things are going to be taken away. And it's not, it's how you respond to a situation that matters. And I was not always the best because I wouldn't think I would respond with anger and hate and yelling.
Starting point is 00:26:59 But I'm working on that character defects. But, you know. Getting better every day. Yeah, you have to. Imagine an Olympics where doping his job. is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.
Starting point is 00:27:14 Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.
Starting point is 00:27:39 Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith Rule of Two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app,
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Starting point is 00:29:03 And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Mark, we're at UFC 300 as we kind of spent forward. You fought at UFC 100. How far has this thing come? Is it even recognizable to you to be here on the verge of such an historic event, knowing that you competed on UFC 100 to see what the UFC is today? Did you ever think when you started and you were headbutting people and ground and pound, the godfather of it
Starting point is 00:29:33 that this sport would soar to these types of heights that we see today well honestly I did I I remember three fights one night UFC 10 I got down Friday in the finals I remember that
Starting point is 00:29:47 oh Jesus I you know what the fuck I've been in some street how did they fight three how did you guys fight three times in one night oh I got better just like in wrestling bro I got better as we went by the down fry fight they thought I was
Starting point is 00:30:01 going to be a little tired after Goodrich they came back because they wanted Fry to win so after good rich had a you know eight-minute fight with him they came back in the locker room my hands were hurting that's a good problem to have my hands were already fucking hurting but uh they said well you're up in 20 minutes fight Fry in 20 minutes let's go and then all of a sudden they came back and said it's going to be a little longer because though down Fry was still hurting from his last fight they You know, but I remember walking out after that and just, I was saying, you know, the Russians are coming. And fucking Russians are coming soon. But I said, I said, I'm pretty sure this is going to be the biggest sport in the world.
Starting point is 00:30:44 And this is what I meant, this is what we're seeing right here. Overtaking the NFL, world, world famous, because not everybody can play football. Everybody can do that. But the whole world can fight and the whole world loves it. And here we are. It's the greatest sport in the world with wrestling tide. Yeah, it's, it is, everybody loves, everybody can fight, or everybody hopes that they can fight, and everybody loves watching tough guys and girls nowadays, you know.
Starting point is 00:31:13 Oh, yeah. They love watching tough people fight, and that's what the UFC gives you. Mark, think back to UFC 100, though, when you were getting ready for that. Centennial event, when you were sitting there getting prepared for the competition, how nervous, how nerve wrecking was it? Because I competed at 200. And I felt the enormity of it. I knew it was big.
Starting point is 00:31:33 Talk about that night. Oh, wow, I had a good training camp, D.C. You know, I was struggling with my addiction. But when I put shit together, and that's one, I would say I only put it together for a handful. But the Stephan Bounder fight, I knew 44 years of age, and I knew I'm fighting for my job for sure. I just got beat by Shogun Hoor.
Starting point is 00:31:56 And, hey, man, I was confident going into that fight, very, very confident. I had a great training camp. I was healthy. 205 cut was easy. You know how that is? You look strong, too, at 205. You used to look strong, Colman. Oh, yeah, of course.
Starting point is 00:32:13 I was strong. I mean, what the fuck? I'm one of the strongest guys in the world. I'm not about that. As Stefan Butter. That's that motherfucker. Well, we can't ask that. Oh, unfortunately.
Starting point is 00:32:23 Sadly, yeah. We were good friends, but. I've had many people tell me, step by as one of them, I am the strongest human being they've ever touched. We wrestled in Philadelphia.
Starting point is 00:32:33 You and I? Well, we just kind of hand fought a little bit. Just a little bit. And then Mike started moving in his stance, but he kept switching his lead leg. I was like, he must not be very good. The guy that switches his lead leg
Starting point is 00:32:44 over and over, it's like, this guy's not that good, right? No, you're not. Barely ever. Yeah, when they start doing that, you know, it's not good to see, man. But, but, and then that was, that's one of my favorite all-time fights by far because it's the only fight.
Starting point is 00:33:03 The only fight in my career where I'm getting whooped in the first round, not really, well, whooped, whatever. I lost the first round, let's put it that way. I went to the corner and I've never been in a fight where I'm losing and came back at one. It was either I'm dominating or I'm dominating and then got tired and lost, something like that. You know, but I went to my corner and said, it's now, now or never. I went back out there and he tried a big old like some kind of spinning head kick on me or something. Foolishly changed the level, got him on the ground and then one violent, one violent elbow
Starting point is 00:33:39 busted him wide open and when I seen that blood, you see it made me feel young again. I was 44 but all of a sudden I just started attacking that. It gave me the energy I needed. You create your own luck and I created luck there by his blood because I knew it was gonna give me energy. I just kept attacking that. It was a pretty close fight, but I made it through and like once again, I'll let you all know when I'm fucking finished. Yeah, yeah. I was kind of out for the dead so many times, D.C. right after, you know, champion three straight losses, I'm dead. You got to go over to Japan to revitalize my career. Yeah. That's it. Don't bet the house
Starting point is 00:34:21 against the hammer. I just turned 45. I could not have Imagine still fighting when I was 44. Oh, man. I mean, that was crazy. I was like, to put a training camp in at 44, I felt nuts. I felt real good except other than my hips being real sore for my arthritis, I was good to go for a long time.
Starting point is 00:34:42 You know what I tell people? I said the worst part about being an athlete, right? Especially in combat sports. It's like there's never a day that you feel just nothing. There's always something. Like, that's my deal. I'm like, I don't even remember getting a lot. out of bed and feeling just okay. It's like
Starting point is 00:34:57 your back, your neck, your knee there's always, when you put a lifetime of combat in, you just never have a day where just nothing hurts. It's always something. It's not normal. If all of a sudden you do have a day if I jump out of bed. If something ain't hurting if I jump out of bed one day
Starting point is 00:35:13 and I feel like I'm third again, I'm calling all my loved ones because that's the day I'm dying. Because it's nor, it's not normal. If I get out of bed my back is not hurting, I'm like, you I'm calling everybody I love because I'm probably dying. They say like you have like a rush of adrenaline before you die and you're normal. I'm probably going to die on that day because I just feel like shit every day.
Starting point is 00:35:33 There's a fucking answer for it, D.C., because that's what I felt like three years ago. I got sober three years ago, but I didn't start exercising for a year and a half of sobriety. That was the hardest year and a half of my life because the addiction was there every day. And you got to stay busy. You got to stay busy. And then I started training. That's when the sobriety got. much easier and then I came obsessed with it you always got to find another addiction and you know it became exercise but uh what the fuck was I getting at nothing just that every day you fucking back hurts or something oh no but then no
Starting point is 00:36:10 no so so yeah I was beat to a pulp then a year ago but DC I can honestly say my shoulders I couldn't do this you know I couldn't throw a punch there's no pain exercise the amount of yoga and stretching I do. I have very, very minimal pain in my body right now. Hardly anything. Before I let you go, Coleman,
Starting point is 00:36:35 this will air after the fight this weekend, but on Saturday night you're going to put the BMF title on the champion. Justin Gates, you or Max Holloway, one of the biggest moments of the night, you will be putting the belt on the winner. But that
Starting point is 00:36:53 was requested by the fighters. What does that mean to you for the people all these years later, Mark, to still respect you enough to want you in that moment? Because it's their moment, but they want you there for it. You know, that's kind of what it's all about. You see, I've always, I just always wanted to make people proud of me. I just wanted respect. And that's the ultimate, them Matt Collaway coming on there. I rolled on the bus with him a couple times with friends here and there, but for him to come out and say that.
Starting point is 00:37:25 I caught it on social media like everybody. I just blew my mind. It's like, wow, Max Howley. That meant the world of me. And then Justin Gatje says the same thing. Those two guys saying that. And then the whole world, the fans saying they want to see it too. That's the only reason that happened because, you know,
Starting point is 00:37:46 I guess it was meant to be. And I feel amazingly good, D.C. Coming out of that fire waking up and, and my daughters and all of a sudden very quickly they told me how far this story I traveled I didn't you know I thought you know fuck it's just between me and my kids no it wasn't no man the whole world and I'm like wow man is I you know I have some good fans but I had no clue how many and uh new fans you're all welcome we all have an appreciation for you and what you have meant to the sport of mixed martial arts and for me wrestling the Olympics everything you're know how much I look up to you. Guys, Mark Coleman, on Saturday night, we'll present the BMF title to the champion. Go and follow Mark on everything that he does.
Starting point is 00:38:34 This guy is active on social media. He is spreading the word of positivity right now. Mark, thank you for checking in with me, man. I appreciate your time. Love you, brother. The bar, Mark the Hammer, Coleman. Go follow him. Until next time, guys.
Starting point is 00:38:47 Hey, like, subscribe. Tell you, friend, tell a friend that DC's got a YouTube channel, and I got like, guys like the Hammer checking in with me. Until next time, peace. Sober's cool. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends.
Starting point is 00:39:08 Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends
Starting point is 00:39:27 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.
Starting point is 00:39:49 Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with.
Starting point is 00:40:22 And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.

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