(Skip to the 3:15 mark to hear Coleman's thoughts on the rule changes in MMA that forced him to "learn a lot of other skills.")

Those of you who became MMA fans somewhere between "Iron Ring" and “Bully Beatdown” might not realize this, but there was a time when Mark Coleman was a holy terror as a fighter. We know, he didn’t look like it against Randy Couture at UFC 109, but give the guy a break. He’s 45 years-old and has been using his body (and sometimes his head) as a weapon to hurt other men since 1996. That stuff is bound to take a toll on you, which is why Couture is the exception and not the rule.

After his loss on Saturday night it now seems like Coleman is done, or at least done in the UFC.  At the very real risk of eulogizing Coleman’s career too soon, as we did with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s – Christ, doesn’t anyone quit this sport when they should? – we’d like to pay tribute to the monster Coleman used to be by looking back at some of his finest MMA moments.

(I may not agree with their lifestyle, but it's hard to pass judgment on true love. Photo courtesy of Landry Major.)

Anderson Silva is a tough nut to crack. We know he doesn't want to fight friends, and we know he doesn't want to fight guys he's already beaten, and we know he doesn't want to fight guys who got middleweight title shots in the UFC without ever competing in the UFC at that weight class. New #1 contender Chael Sonnen doesn't fit into any of those categories, so you'd think there wouldn't be a problem. But as Silva's manager Ed Soares has proven, you can find an excuse to duck pretty much anybody:

In this talk with Fox News's "Fight Game" it's difficult to tell whether Phil Baroni is drunk or just on the downward slope of a career spent getting punched in the head.  It's like that time you did a terrible karaoke rendition of "Little Red Corvette" before throwing up all over your girlfriend's shoes.  There's only one acceptable explanation, and it's 'I was drunk.'  Let's hope the seven-dollar beers at the Mandalay Bay were to blame for how this interview turned out, and not ten years worth of abuse in the cage.   

The catalyst for this particular discussion is the UFC 109 victory by fellow New Yorker Matt Serra over one of Baroni's Xtreme Couture training partners, Frank Trigg.  Apparently, gym loyalties are nothing compared to regional ones.  Plus, Serra goes into the Starbucks where Baroni's mom works and gives her good tips, while all Trigg has ever done is make an awkward pass at her at Baroni's wedding.  Yet another situation where 'I was drunk' is the only explanation that will suffice.   

After the jump, Eddie Bravo discusses his path to jiu-jitsu, and subtly overstates his own importance.

(Props: MMA Mania)

Michael Bisping is less than two weeks away from what could either be his greatest triumph or his ugliest beatdown — a match against legendary fighter Wanderlei Silva at UFC 110 (February 20th; Sydney, Australia). The latest installment of Bisping's video blog shows him handling the usual press obligations and keeping sharp at the Wolfslair in preparation for the battle. Skip to 4:06 for a rare sighting of Rampage Jackson outside of a movie set. As for Bisping's expectations for the Silva fight, the Count recently wrote that Wandy reminds him of another old rival:

Has Wanderlei Silva fallen so far that one could realistically describe him as a more-explosive Chris Leben? Damn, that's a depressing thought. Silva has lost five of his last six fights, with his only win coming against Keith Jardine in May 2008 — but the guys that have beaten him were all legends and former champions. If the Axe Murderer loses this one, there will no longer be any doubt that the game has passed him by. Will he smash the Brit and redeem himself, or are we about to see Wandy's last stand? Your thoughts, please.

(Ortiz chats with Ariel Helwani, before and after heckling Mark Coleman.)

There are any number of reasons Tito Ortiz might have decided to try and steal the spotlight by shouting at Mark Coleman during his post-fight interview at UFC 109. For instance, he’s just always been kind of a prick, so there’s that. Or, if that’s not comprehensive enough for you, he’s also an opportunist prick, which is exactly the type of prick who would try to start a fight with an elderly opponent who had just shown himself to be easy pickings. But Ortiz’s official explanation for kicking Coleman while he was down? It was payback for that time his manager pointed out what we already know about Ortiz’s lady friend.

Of course, Coleman’s manager only said those things in retaliation for Ortiz calling Coleman a “sissy” after he pulled out of their scheduled bout with an injury, and then he apologized as soon as he calmed down and realized that an attack on Ortiz’s famous porn star girlfriend was neither cool nor necessary. But the HBBB isn’t going to let a little thing like that stop him from a) erroneously attributing the remark to Coleman, and b) being really immature about the whole thing. Why would he? This is Tito Ortiz we’re talking about here, who still insists that his ‘Chuck Liddell was an alcoholic’ comments were meant in the nicest way possible. He’s not one to let the truth get in the way of an opportunity to act like a total jerk.