Mark Coleman has some pretty exciting news about his return. The legendary UFC veteran, who battled Don Frye and demolished him in the first round at the finals of UFC 10, announced that he’s making a comeback. Coleman will be portrayed by Ryan Bader in Dwayne Johnson’s upcoming biopic about Mark Kerr titled, The Smashing Machine. Amid all the activity in his life, ‘The Hammer’ is also making a comeback to fighting, against a familiar opponent — but not in the way you’d think (and definitely not in the UFC).

Taking to his Instagram profile, Mark Coleman shared a video of him performing an incline dumbbell press. Amid the activity, Coleman dropped the big news: “Let’s go. Big news coming soon. Wheel Chair Boxing in Thailand, versus Don ‘The Predator’ Frye. What do you think about that? Will you watch? It will be real. You know it will. Let’s go.” 

UFC 10 was the first time Coleman and Frye met on the canvas. Even though ‘The Predator’ pioneered the mixture of wrestling and boxing, he wasn’t able to secure a win against Coleman. The fight in 1996 ended within the first round as ‘The Hammer’ destroyed ‘The Predator’ with a barrage of strikes. Pride 26: Bad to the Bone witnessed the rematch between Frye and Coleman. This bout went on for all three rounds. And yet again, Coleman won the fight. 

And now, the duo is slated to fight for the third time, this time, under the banner of Wheelchair Boxing in Thailand. Wheelchair Boxing, as the name suggests, pits two fighters seated in wheelchairs against each other. It’s a paralympic sport, which makes this slightly bizarre, considering neither Coleman nor Frye is differently abled. Still, according to Coleman, it’d be the perfect way for him and Frye to get off a little steam. The date of the bout and other details are yet to be revealed.

As Mark Coleman announced his upcoming fight, he added, “Turn it up on that, be the best version of yourself you could be. Start today. Tomorrow’s not promised.” Moreover, he promoted the carnivore diet as a nod to Liver King. He continued, “What’s the coolest thing ever? Carnivore diet. Nine ancestral tenets.” Of course, praising Liver King’s meal plan during the controversial timings wasn’t well accepted by the fans. 

How did Mark Coleman help Dwayne Johnson with the filming of The Smashing Machine?

In the upcoming movie about Mark Kerr, it was literally impossible for the crew to proceed without including his trusted friend and training partner, Mark Coleman. Ryan Bader is portraying Coleman in The Smashing Machine. On working with Mark Coleman to prepare for the role, Bader said, “[Coleman and I] spoke on the phone. And then, I actually got producers to fly Mark Coleman up for about a day-and-a-half, so he can come on set, watch some scenes and see how it all plays out… Yeah, it was kinda weird cause we were doing a scene kind of at weigh-ins and stuff and he was kind of right there watching.”

Filming Kerr’s biopic was nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster for Coleman. Coleman has a story that’s similar to that of Kerr. He was knee deep in addiction at one point, from which he had to fight his way out. ‘The Rock’ personally thanked him for the privilege of working with him. Taking to the comments section of an IG post by Coleman about Kerr’s biopic, Johnson quoted, “My brother, making this film about your lives has been the privilege of a lifetime. Worth every muscle tear. Truth is if I had to do it all over again, I’d do it twice. Thank you, brother to you, Kerr, Frye, Severn, Randleman, Goodridge, Shamrock – just to name a few.“ And Coleman responded with, “yes sir, thank you.”

It has been 15 years since we last saw Coleman compete in mixed martial arts. His last bout was against Randy Couture at UFC 109, where he faced a second-round defeat via a rear-naked choke. But the excitement has come back to the fighting community with the anticipation of Coleman vs. Frye 3. What do you think of the trilogy fight? Do you think that fight is worth watching, or is it just a gimmick by old, washed up veterans?