Report – Ex-UFC champion Mark Coleman books boxing debut against Montell Griffin in October fight
Former undisputed UFC heavyweight champion and promotional Hall of Fame inductee, Mark Coleman officially has an opponent slated for his professional boxing debut and combat sports return in October, taking on former WBC light heavyweight champion, Montell Griffin in a highly-criticized form of matchmaking.
Coleman, who has not competed in professional combat sports since February 2010, suffering a second round rear-naked choke loss to former two-weight champion, Randy Couture – in the first fight between two UFC Hall of Fame inductees in organizational history.
16-10 as a professional, Mark Coleman’s most recent professional win came the year prior at UFC 100, landing a unanimous decision win over the late Ultimate Fighter finalist, Stephan Bonnar.
Mark Coleman books professional boxing debut for October card
And as per an initial report from MMA Mania, Coleman, who turns 59 years old later this year, will book a professional boxing debut on an October card billed Official Celebrity Boxing – taking on former WBC light heavyweight champion, Griffin – who retired boasting an impressive 50-81 professional record during his tenure inside the squared circle.
A feature at the 1992 summer Olympic games, Mark Coleman, who has since been christened the ‘Godfather of Ground & Pound’ for his relentless ground fighting during the early part of his professional career, fought under the Pride FC banner – winning the openweight tournament back in 2020 with an eventual finale finish over Igor Vovchanchyn.
Over the course of his professional career, Coleman, a native of Ohio, has landed other notable wins over the likes of Gary Goodridge, Don Frye, Dan Severn, Kazuyuki Fujita, as well as Shogun Rua.
Boasting a whopping 30 separate career knockout wins, Griffin has landed himself eye-catching wins over the likes of James Toney, Roy Jones Jr., and in his professional boxing swansong back in 2011, defeated DeAndrey Abron in a unanimous decision success in Horseshoe, Indiana.
