Mark Coleman made an immediate impression on the fledgling sport of MMA as he won his first to tournaments at UFC 10 and UFC 11 becoming the “Godfather of ground and pound.” He followed that up by finishing Dan Severn at UFC 14 to be crowned to first ever UFC heavyweight champion.
After winning the UFC gold, “The Hammer” went on a four-fight losing streak that dropped him out of relevancy and the the promotion. However, Coleman rebounded with arguably the crowning achievement of his career. At the inaugural Pride Grand Prix tournament in 2000, Coleman defeated 5 men to become the first ever tourney winner.
On Monday, Coleman put his Pride Grand Prix 2000 trophy up for auction on Ebay for $24.5K:
THIS IS THE HOLY GRAIL OF MMA MEMORABILIA! PRIDE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP 2000 GRAND PRIX FINALS TROPHY AND CHECK. THE 2000 GP WAS THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS TOURNAMENT IN MMA HISTORY AND WILL FOREVER STAY THAT WAY. THIS TOURNAMENT HAD ALL THE TOP FIGHTERS IN THE WORLD INVOLVED. MARK COLEMAN IS A LIVING LEGEND AND A MEMBER OF THE UFC HALL OF FAME AND IS THE FIRST UFC HEAVY WEIGHT CHAMPION AND THE LAST UFC TOURNAMENT CHAMPION. COLEMAN WON UFC 10, 11 and 12 AND ALSO BECAME THE #1 FIGHTER IN THE WORLD BY WINNING THE GRAND PRIX 2000. THIS IS FOR THE SERIOUS COLLECTOR. THE TROPHY IS WELL OVER 5FT TALL AND THE CHECK IS WELL OVER 6 FT LONG. THIS IS A MUSUEM WORTHY CENTERPIECE AND IS SURELY THE TOP COLLECTABLE IN ANY PRIVATE COLLECTION IN THE WORLD!!!! IT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!! THIS IS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME CHANCE TO OWN A FUTURE MMA MUSUEM CENTERPIECE…
During his time in Pride, Coleman faced some of the sport’s best fighters in Don Frye, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Fedor Emelianenko. He finished off his MMA career with a 1-2 run in the UFC before retiring in 2010.
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