More importantly, they probably also stood to benefit from making it a self fulfilling prophecy; promote a predictably lame fight as an “even the score war” then if it actually turns out interesting, give a FOTN bonus to publicize it, kinda saying, “See how smart we are? we told you it would be great”….Leverage that payout, baby…..

Another thought is that rua maybe didn’t take the fight seriously, and never expected that he might even need his corner stool. I would have expected coleman to gas, but there’s no excuse for rua.

The main point I disagree with was giving it FOTN. The fight was not fight of the night caliber and was arguably bad for the sport. It is going to bring up, as already mentioned in this article and the comments, the debate of when is enough enough for aging fighters. Giving the fight the added noteriety of FOTN ‘honors’ is a terrible call. I doubt that the designation was so Coleman could get extra $$, that could have come in the form of a locker room bonus. I would love to hear the reason why Dana gave it them.

All this said, I would love to see a third fight with both fighters properly prepared. I was impressed with Coleman before he gassed and especially impressed with his heart throughout.

As for Coleman, I’m not a diehard fan of his but have an immense amount of respect for everything he’s accomplished–namely, winning the 2000 Pride Grand Prix and making an ass of himself in celebration afterwards. There might be one or two fights for him worth making at his age. A battle of Hall of Famers between Coleman and Couture at either LHW or HW could anchor any card.

If it is true that he’s having financial trouble, then I think the UFC owes it to him to compensate for his post-fighting days. A job doing guest color commentary would be great in either the UFC or WEC.

it just was to get colman money .. well next time leave ufc fans out of it.. give him some office job or something.. what a waste..

Sam wrote an article several weeks ago about the old PRIDE fighters and how their era had passed. I thought about that article as I watched the fight and how it proved Sam’s point.

Finally, I think everyone including the harshest critics have to acknowledge how the sport has improved during the UFC era. Is there any legitimate argument that the current group of MMA fighters in that org. are the best conditioned and most well rounded? After watching Coleman, Kang and Rua, and an indecisive fight between Henerson and Franklin, I don’t think so.

That was the worst fight of the night by far. Dana was clearly donating to the Mark Coleman Charitable Foundation. I bet he hated giving that money to Rua, though, considering that Rua is one loss or at least one bad performance away from from getting his contract “re-evaluated”.

“despite the lack of technical prowess”

you kidding me? this fight was the result of a lack of conditioning (or the wrong kind of conditioning). coleman still knows how to wrestle and rua with the muay thai and bjj. skill sets were on display they were just too tired to keep their hands up.

these guys both gassed early.

i agree that dana threw the guys a bone when he made this a fight of the night.

great article!

Regardless whether or not Coleman has financial troubles at all, that shouldnt warrant him getting a bonus he plain didnt deserve (Shogun included).
There are plenty of undercard guys struggling to make ends meet, guys that come in to fight in great shape, and put on far better showings, but dont get a sympathy bonus based on their history in the sport