Don't call it a come back.
UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman retired from MMA following his UFC 109 loss to Randy Couture in early 2010, but he's still keeping a hand in the game as a wrestling coach for B.J. Penn's team on the new season of The Ultimate Fighter. UFC boss Dana White and Coleman spoke to Ben Fowlkes about it:
"He's fantastic on this season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter,'" White told reporters after UFC 167. "He's having blast, and he's been great. Some goofy s-t went down that normally I would handle. You know, the bad kind of s-t where I have to show up at the house? Well I was busy today, so I called Coleman."
Coleman had no shortage of ideas for ways to resolve the crisis, White said, and was full of suggestions that he ran by the UFC president.
"I said, ‘Dude, your f--ing picture is hanging on the wall down there at the hall of fame. It's your house. Do whatever the f-- you want to do,'" White said. "[Coleman said], ‘I got this.' I can't wait to see it."
For Coleman, however, coaching on TUF is more than just an entertaining side gig.
"It's rejuvenating me," Coleman said. "It saved me a little bit. It brought the energy back, to the point where, like any other fighter, I want to fight again, really. Maybe it's too late. Who knows? I would never say never. I won't be stupid enough to get in there with Jon ‘Bones' Jones or anything like that, or Daniel Cormier. I'm past that time. But I could certainly compete with certain guys out there, and if somebody wants to see it, I can't say never."
Fortunately Coleman's doctors are telling the 48-year-old with a recently replaced hip that he should forget about fighting.
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Penn vs Team Edgar will air on Fox Sports 1 in the spring of 2014.
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