Mark “The Hammer” Coleman’s Team Hammer House has fallen on hard times as of late.  However, Coleman hopes to turn the trend around as he meets another MMA great and fellow UFC Hall of Famer Randy “The Natural” Couture this weekend at UFC 109 Relentless.

Team Hammer House is a MMA team operating out of Columbus, Ohio, focused on amateur wrestling, and made up of mostly former NCAA wrestlers.  The team has cross training deals with notable fighters and camps such as Matt Serra, Pat Miletich, and Xtreme Couture MMA.

The main strengths of Team Hammer House are its wrestling and ground-and-pound.  Coleman is credited with being one of the first American MMA fighters to successfully use the strategy of ground-and-pound, which has earned him the nickname of the “Godfather of Ground-and-Pound.”

Coleman, the founder of Team Hammer House, holds numerous accomplishments in the world of professional MMA.  He is a UFC Hall of Famer, the first ever UFC heavyweight champion, and the winner of the UFC 10 tournament, UFC 11 tournament, and 2000 Pride openweight GP tournament.  Coleman, like many of his teammates at Hammer House, is a former NCAA collegiate wrestler.

Team Hammer House holds a roster with several prominent fighters, including four UFC veterans: two of whom are former UFC champions. The team’s notable fighters include: Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Wes Sims and Branden Lee Hinkle.  Phil Baroni, a UFC, Pride and Strikeforce veteran, is a former member of Team Hammer House.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman is a senior member of  Team Hammer House. Randleman, a former collegiate wrestler and two time Division I NCAA champion, was defeated by Mike Whitehead via unanimous decision in June of 2009 during his Strikeforce debut at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields.  The fight marked his first fight in over a year due to a shoulder injury, as well as his first fight in America in nearly seven years.  In his most recent fight Randleman was defeated by Stanislav Nedkov via split decision at World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 11.

Wes Sims, three-fight UFC veteran  and The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights cast member, recently fought Bobby Lashley on the main card of Strikeforce: Miami. Sims was stopped in the first round via technical knock out (2:06).

Branden Lee Hinkle, three-fight UFC veteran and NCAA Division II national wrestling champion, was stopped by Chris Tuchscherer in round 4 (4:43) of his most recent fight at SNMMA: Beatdown at Four Bears. Hinkle has lost four of his last five fights after going undefeated in his previous nine matches.

Coleman scored a unanimous decision victory over Stephan Bonner in his last fight at UFC 100 after falling to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua via technical knock out in the third round (4:36) at UFC93.  He is currently training with Team Hammer House in preparation for his match with Randy Couture this Saturday Feb. 6 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV.

Live pay-per-view coverage of UFC 109 will begin at 10 p.m. EST.

Hard Knocks Cage Fights and Jerry Thomas’ WV Sports Promotions will be hosting their 6th amateur event next Saturday, August 8th at the James E. Carnes Center in St. Clairsville, Ohio.

Doors open at 6:30 PM and the action begins at 7:30 PM. There will be 19 amateur MMA fights with 11 fighters making their debut.

Tickets are available for $50 ringside, $30 reserved, and $20 general admission and can be purchased at Convenient Food Mart on 248 E. Main Street, St. Clairsville, Ohio (740-695-1594) & 16 S. Huron Street, Wheeling, West Virginia (304-233-6430).

For further questions and ticket information, please call 1-800-296-3897 or visit HKCF-MMA.com.

Fight Card:

135 lbs:

Kayla Varney (0-0) vs. TBA

145 lbs:

Kenny Wilson (0-0) vs. TBA

Brandon Horner (2-1-0) vs. TBA

155 lbs:

Gary Miller (1-0) vs. Brandon Snyder (1-2)

Josh Baker (3-1) vs. TBA

170 lbs:

Todd Beven (0-0) vs. Ben Horner (0-0)

Mike Drescher (0-0) vs. Justin Hoffman (0-0)

Travis Fluharty (0-0) vs. Shane Gilmore (0-0)

Josh Oppenheimer (2-1) vs. Anthony Johnson (1-1)

185 lbs:

Dave Forysth (1-1) vs. Matt Debarr (1-0)

205 lbs:

Matt Garretson (1-1) vs. Ryan Barnett (0-0)

Chris Perkins (2-0) vs. Phillip Clark (3-0)

265 lbs:

Mike Sharp (0-0) vs. Allan Ray Patrick (0-0)

Lateff Keaton (0-1) vs. Jon Reed (1-0)

Nathan Bryant (4-1) vs. Nathan Loughran (7-3-1)

The Ohio Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation will be hosting the 3rd Annual Buckeye Border Grappling Championship on July 25, 2009, at St. Francis de Sales High School in Toledo.  This is Ohio’s only televised grappling event and will feature grapplers from South America and various U.S. states, including Illinois, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.

Want to compete at this year’s Buckeye Border Grappling Championship?  Cilck here to register.  Registration closes on July 23rd and costs $55 for males and $45 for females.  The event kicks off at 9 AM.

Still have questions?  Contact Deon Thompson at 419-410-5483 or dthompso@co.lucas.oh.us for more information.

Cage of Chaos 8: STACKED will be held at the James E. Carnes Center in St. Clairsville, Ohio, on July 3, 2009.   Tickets for this amateur MMA event range from $30 for floor seats to $50 for ringside tables.  Notable fighters in the event include Chris Goldbaugh, Kirk Main, Drew Shields, and Jon Neese.

Need more info?  Check out their website or contact the promoter, Dave Klick, at 724-255-3223 or dave.klick@cageofchaos.com.

hard knocks cage fights

 Mike Putnam, trained by MMA Coach, Bruce Lombard, of Titan Fitness in State College, PA won his amateur MMA debuwith a split decision victory(29-28,28-29,29-28) over previously unbeaten Ohio native Josh Baker, in the 145lb weight division.  The two strong willed fighters went back and forth for three rounds with no clear advantage for either fighter standing or on the ground.  In the first round Putnam almost got caught in a choke in Josh’s guard, but he cleared the submission attempt and threw down some effective ground and pound as he cleared Baker’s guard.  Baker landed a few heavy punches to the head of his opponent in the second round, but they did not seem to phase Putnam’s attack.  The third round was a back and forth battle as well, but in the end, I think the judges decision came down to Putnam’s control in the clinch game.  Mike controlled his tough opponent in the clinch throughout the first two rounds keeping him pinned against the cage and landing many effective knees. 

This event was promoted by ‘Hard Knocks Cage Fights’ and was held in St. Clairsville, OH.  The  event arena was sold out as over 2,500 MMA fans enjoyed 15 cage fights.

For more information go to:  www.hardknockscagefights.com