MMA stars and fans join fundraising drive for injured former UFC champ Mark Coleman

When Wes Sims, a UFC veteran and longtime teammate of former two-time world heavyweight champion and UFC hall of famer Mark Coleman, first started an online fundraising effort for his friend, "The Hammer" had no idea. Coleman, a former Olympic wrestler and essentially the man who invented "ground and pound" in MMA, would have never asked for help to pay for mounting medical bills, but Sims knew that he needed it.

Since last fighting in the UFC in 2010, Coleman has served as an assistant coach on TUF, but also undergone hip replacement surgery. Now, the 50-year-old has at least one more expensive operation to go, since a serious infection in his hip was discovered by surgeons. 

Sims says that Coleman is almost completely out of money and that his only income comes from appearances, which he currently isn't able to do because of his hip injury. Now, the father faces a growing hospital debt and at least one more costly surgery with no real way of paying for it on his own.

In 2014, Coleman put up the symbol of perhaps the most dramatic and significant win of his career, the trophy he earned for winning the 2000 Pride Grand Prix heavyweight tournament, for sale on eBay. It is clear that Coleman has been in dire need of money for some time, and his recent health complications have made the situation worse.

So, Sims started a GoFundMe page called "Save the Hammer," to help the man who was both the first heavyweight champion for the UFC and Pride. While Sims' fundraising efforts were initially kept secret from Coleman, the former champ couldn't help but take notice after an outpouring of financial support from fans and MMA luminaries alike.

UFC heavyweight contender Mark Hunt recently donated $5,000 to Coleman, along with a note expressing his admiration. MMA mega-gym and a collective star of the next season of TUF, American Top Team, also contributed $2,500 to the effort. 

Speaking to Submission Radio after learning of the "Save the Hammer" campaign, Coleman was emotional and grateful for the support he's received so far. He also explained a bit more about his injury.

"After the [TUF] show was over, my hip had popped out six times in the last year and whatever. The surgeon warned me: 'I think you might be able to take some pain, but you'll never be able to take this kind of pain,' and he was right. So I went from being the toughest guy in the world to having a lot of fear about this hip," Coleman said.

"When they did cut my scar open to replace the parts that I did damage somehow throughout the years, when they went to replace them, they cut my hip open and well, they found nothing but a big mess of -- I don't know the exact kind of infection it was. It might have been staph; we don't know yet. They're trying to get results back, but I was just filled with infections throughout the whole body. ...

"I was hoping to go in and get my hip fixed and get back on pace and move forward, but now everything's been changed because they put a temporary hip in there 'cause they had to clean out all the staph, and now I'm going to be on an IV bag at home three times a day, trying to get rid of the infections so I can go back in there and get me a new hip, and then I got to go through the rehab again, and you know it's got me down. I ain't going to deny that. But, at the same time, I'm not complaining, because I remember as a youngster I always said I was going to be walking crooked when I'm older, but I just kind of hoped it wouldn't have been this severe."

Over the past three days, 788 individual donors have contributed over $32,000 to "Save the Hammer." To visit the page, learn more about Coleman and how the raised funds will be used, visit his GoFundMe page, and then consider helping if you can.

Coleman said he was moved by the donations from the largest ones down to the smallest ones from fans. "It's just overwhelming," he said.

"I've been so emotional throughout this whole thing, and I didn't even know nothing about this Go Fund Me. Wes Sims has been there for me from the beginning, and you know I try to give back and help him as well, but I woke up from this surgery, didn't know nothing about it and there's no denying it's a big step. I don't like ... I like helping people, you know? ...

"I wish I would have been able to meet all of these people, and I'm hoping someday maybe I can meet them and try to give back. I do do a lot of appearances, and it really just blows my mind that you could really make somebody's day just by taking a picture with them and being nice to them, and like you said it just blows my mind how many people just started donating.

"Some people $5, some people $8. And these people don't owe me nothing, and I'm not going to deny it, it's going to be needed and it's going to be used, because it's going to be a very costly process here. But for somebody to send me $8, which obviously they probably could have used the $8 themselves, but they decided to send it to me. You know it's just hard to even comprehend, and I'm just really appreciative. I'm just blown away by the whole thing and I just appreciate all these fans and I'd rather call them friends than fans at this point."