The Outsiders' Edge

(Welcome back to The Edge. I am proud to present our newest correspondent The Maz who will be periodically sharing his thoughts on all things MMA, pro wrestling, and anything else that comes up. He really, really loves Hulk Hogan.- Elevation)

Welcome to the first edition of my rants about things that matter.  I’ll address mainly MMA and why I think it sucks that PRIDE doesn’t exist anymore.  I’ll also keep some mention of pro wrestling, mainly WWE, and why I think it sucks that Linda McMahon is running for Senate.  Once in awhile I’ll talk about other things that matter, like the return of The Manning Face.  Super Bowl XLIV will mark the return to reality for all of the Manning family not named Archie, who has seen his two sons and the team he loves win three of the last four Super Bowls.  Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, move over.  Archie Manning is in the house.

Speaking of old people who have managed to stay famous for far too long, Hulk Hogan’s return to burying young, talented pro wrestlers has taken a new twist in TNA.  He’s put the weight of destroying an entire wrestling promotion on his shoulders, which isn’t smart since I don’t know if his hip can support the weight.  Bringing along such esteemed talent as Orlando Jordan along for the ride makes it all the more embarrassing for a company trying to compete with the McMahon empire over at WWE.

Hulk Hogan has indicated that he wants to bring The Macho Man into TNA. No word on whether Dixie Carter has any teenage daughters for him to rape.

What’s that?  The McMahon empire is down to Vincent, Stephanie, and Terra Ryzing?  With Shane McMahon feeling like doing something else with his life, and Linda McMahon’s innate desire to run as a Republican in Connecticut we are down to three.  Well, this doesn’t seem like a terrible thing since the only creative forces in WWE are named Vincent, Kennedy, and McMahon but something hasn’t seemed right recently.  Oh yeah, family friendly.  In a desperate attempt to clean up their act so that whoever faces Linda in the GOP primaries won’t have fuel to mock her with they have tried becoming a product that is acceptable for the whole family to watch.  This of course means that the average pro wrestling fan, who is somewhere in the thirties, has to stomach smiling John Cena high-fiving little kids and big mean pantless Randy Orton not doing anything to draw the ire of the crowd besides being the only reason Cody Rhodes has airtime.  I will continue these rants later, and instead leave you with a clip expressing what a real crowd-favorite does.

As for MMA, what a long strange trip it’s been.  Saturday could not have possibly been the first time UFC legends Randy Couture and Mark Coleman faced off in the Octagon, but it was.  This was sort of a dream match for UFC fans, only it happened ten years too late.  A variety of reasons played into this being the first time they have headlined a PPV against one another, but at the combined age of 91 it seemed that those reasons should have been used to explain in twenty years why they never faced each other.  Randy Couture, who is closing in on 47, hasn’t looked washed-up even against Brock Lesnar and Minotauro.  A much-needed drop in weight class has revitalized his career, at least until he loses against Machida or Shogun in the fall.

However, Mark Coleman reached his peak as a fighter ten years ago.  He has used his successes in the early days of UFC and his initial success in PRIDE to carry on for a decade in headlining bouts against the best MMA has to offer.  In his fights against the cream of the crop, Coleman has always tasted defeat.  Since 2001 he has beaten Allan Goes, Don Frye, Milco Voorn, and most-recently Stephan Bonnar.  His victory over Mauricio Rua in 2006 was the fortunate result of a broken arm.  UFC 93 showed what would have happened without that injury.  It isn’t that Coleman has a legacy to protect, all but the oldest of MMA fans think of him as some washed-up legend trying to hang on for far too long.  It’s simply that Coleman is wasting his time trying to stick around.  Up next he could become a sacrificial lamb to Kimbo Slice, or a sacrificial lamb to any number of guys over at Strikeforce.  A fight with Tito could be on the table, but what would anyone gain from that?  Tito could punch Coleman into retirement or Mark could win and then decide he can stay around a bit longer.

Is Mark Coleman the Rickey Jackson of the UFC Hall of Fame or is Rickey Jackson the Mark Coleman of the NFL Hall of Fame?

Saturday could have served as the closure to Coleman’s career.  Despite looking lost for the six minutes the fight lasted, he at long last was standing in the Octagon with the legendary Randy Couture.  He could have thanked the fans of MMA for all their support, he could have had the crowd cheer him in the main event of a PPV.  Instead Mark Coleman’s career looks set to conclude in a preliminary bout against some also-ran in 2013.  He took his one chance to leave gracefully from a sport whose fans know so little about him and is instead working on becoming someone where fans will remember him as that old guy who refused to quit.