"I don't think it will require surgery, but it will probably set him back about 3 to 4 weeks from what I understand. He notified the UFC as soon as it happened. It happened some time last week. He was at practice training and tweaked his MCL...look, I understand talking shit is a part of the game, but Mark is a legend and a Hall of Famer and Tito's not. When Tito gets into the Hall of Fame and fights the kind of fights that Mark has fought since he's been in this business, he can make those kinds of statements. Until then, Tito would be best served to keep his comments to himself. If he really wants to fight Mark, he can go and ask Joe Silva for that fight on January 2nd," stated Michael Disabato, manager of UFC legend Mark Coleman, as he talked about the recent injury that Coleman suffered, forcing him to pull out of his scheduled clash with Tito Ortiz at UFC 106. Check out what else he had to say.
PC: I'm sure you guys are disappointed with Mark having to pull out of the fight. How is he doing and does the injury require surgery?
MD: I don't think it will require surgery, but it will probably set him back about 3 to 4 weeks from what I understand. He notified the UFC as soon as it happened. It happened some time last week. He was at practice training and tweaked his MCL. Like I said, a 3 to 4 week setback, but he doesn't matchmake. He acts very respectfully towards the UFC. There is a possibility of pushing it back to January 2nd and obviously that would be ideal for him, but he understands that the company is bigger than him and if they need to move forward without him on November 21st, that's what they need to do and if not, his first preference would be to fight Tito on January 2nd. But again, he does what the UFC asks him to do. He works for them and not the other way around.
PC: Was it something he injured and tried to work through it for a couple of days or was it an immediate impact thing?
MD: It was immediate. You always try to make sure that something is not as bad as it is. You go on and try to fight a little differently, but with an MCL for a wrestler, you know, that's your stabilizing joint and it's hard to go from side to side with a partial tear in your MCL. So they did an MRI and it revealed a 2nd degree tear. Mark is not going to put himself in a position where he's not prepared for a fight. You saw when he was prepared for a fight against Stephon Bonnar that he is a very difficult person to beat. At this stage in his career, he has to make sure that when he gets inside of the Octagon, he is healthy. That's the first priority and he will take on anyone if and when he's healthy. If Tito wants to fight and if the UFC thinks it's a good thing, they can fight on January 2nd and Mark will be ready on that date. If not, he will fight whoever they think is best for the organization.
PC: You guys work very closely with your fighters. Do you feel Mark was acclimated to making the 205-pound weight limit? I heard it was tough on him for the Shogun fight. He looked a lot better in the Bonnar fight. Did he have it down to a science before the injury?
MD: I think that happens. I wrestled with Mark in college and that was his first cut to 205 in probably 10 to 15 years. He wrestled at 190 in college. So anytime you cut weight and you compete for the first time at that weight, it's usually not your best performance. You think you're ready condition-wise and that your body is going to act appropriately, but it doesn't always do that. Those that have wrestled understand that. You cut weight and your legs don't feel like they should the next day. So I think it was a little bit of that for Shogun. But I think during that fight, even with not being in ideal condition, Mark showed he's one of the best fighters in the world at 44 years old. And that's really what bothered me about Tito's response. I don't like when...look, I understand talking shit is a part of the game, but Mark is a legend and a Hall of Famer and Tito's not. When Tito gets into the Hall of Fame and fights the kind of fights that Mark has fought since he's been in this business, he can make those kinds of statements. Until then, Tito would be best served to keep his comments to himself. If he really wants to fight Mark, he can go and ask Joe Silva for that fight on January 2nd.
PC: Mark is a fighter's fighter man. I was a little surprised to see Tito call him a sissy for having to withdraw from the fight.
MD: Again, it shows the lack of respect, which is not unusual for Tito, and the lack of class that he has. At the end of the day, if he wants to get into a personal match, I'm pretty good at namecalling and we can go there if he wants to go there, but I would strongly encourage him not to go there because he has a lot more baggage than Mark.
PC: When you heard the name Tito Ortiz, was this a fight that you guys jumped on immediately?
MD: When Mark came to me and said they wanted him to fight Tito, I thought it was a good fight for Mark. Tito is a wrestler and Mark's a better wrestler. Tito's standup is not the greatest in the world and Mark's not known for his standup. I think it was a good matchup for Mark, so when the UFC came to Mark on that, I told Mark I thought it was a great opponent. Tito is a high-profile fight for reasons outside of the cage more so than inside the cage in my opinion. But Mark doesn't get the respect that he deserves inside the sport I believe. When you look at his record, he's 15-9 and when you look at who he has fought in his career and on short notice and whatnot, it's amazing. He was the first UFC heavyweight champion and the first Pride heavyweight Grand Prix Champion. He's a legend and for Tito Ortiz to come out and talk shit about a legend and a Hall of Famer? No, I got my boys back. Mark's not the kind of guy that likes to talk. He likes to get in there and fight and do his deal, so maybe that's my role. I don't want to get into a war of words with Tito Ortiz, but let's put his record up against Mark's record. If he's so anxious to fight Mark, he would do so on January 2nd.
PC: I think Mark is definitely one of those guys that will be appreciated much more when he is done with fighting than he is now.
MD: Well, when you look at it, I think he has a better record now than Randy Couture. Mark wasn't as fortunate from the standpoint of he chose to fight in Japan under the Pride organization and he wasn't necessarily promoted in the same way as Randy or Chuck and some of these other fighters have been promoted. And some of that is his character or persona. I think he's misunderstood to some extent. You get to know Mark Coleman and you will understand that...in my opinion, he's one of the greatest athletes to compete in this sport; and to be able to compete at this level at age 44, he doesn't need anybody making comments about him regarding him backing out of a fight or not. He's fought every fighter known to this game at the highest level for 10 years. Tito Ortiz is not a top fighter that he would have been in a cage against, I can tell you that.
PC: I appreciate your time Michael and giving us the update on the injury. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
MD: It's all good. We're hoping to get Mark back in the cage as soon as possible. Listen, he's fought in the Octagon twice already this year. He fought in January and July. For a guy at 44 years of age to fight twice in one calendar year is pretty remarkable. And January 2nd will make 3 fights within a 12 month period. We're ready to take the fight when Mark gets healthy. If Tito is anxious to fight Mark Coleman, he can do so. Just go ask the UFC to do it and keep talking your shit and we will see what happens on January 2nd.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]