UFC legend Mark Coleman is pushing 60 and has suffered a series of health issues – but he cannot stay away from the ring.
The UFC Hall of Famer, 58, has agreed to fight former boxing star Montell Griffin in an Official Celebrity Boxing event in Fort Lauderdale on November 4.
It will be the first boxing match for Coleman, who last competed at UFC 109 in 2010.
The Florida MMA event, which is comprised of three two-minute rounds, will air on FITE TV.
Coleman recently posted a video of himself training for the bout, saying he was feeling "great, strong, powerful."
"Cardio is coming along," he wrote.
Read more on UFC
"Who wants some? Yeah, I think I look good.
"I’m proud of myself. Thank you to all my fans pulling for me.
"Yes, I will be ready."
The celebrity boxing match comes after Coleman teased a slap fighting contest with former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia.
Most read in MMA
But Sylvia quickly shut down any prospect of a match with Coleman.
Coleman's scheduled return to the ring comes three years after he suffered a heart attack.
In November 2020, Coleman took himself to hospital after feeling chest and arm pains.
There he found out that he had a blockage in an artery and needed to undergo a procedure to have it removed with a stent inserted.
Coleman believes if he did not go to the hospital that day, then he could have died.
"It wasn’t my time, it’s time to live," he said.
Coleman also recently celebrated two years of alcohol sobriety.
"The disease of alcoholism never ever stops until it kills you," he posted on Instagram.
"It almost got me my best friend Wes Sims convinced me to give rehabilitation a try. I did.
"It’s the only way they helped me save my own life. You can do it, but you must get help."
A former NCAA Division I wrestling champion and Team USA Olympian in 1992, Coleman made his UFC debut in 1996, three years after the promotion debuted.
An UFC pioneer, he won the inaugural heavyweight title in 1997, before taking his career to Japan, where MMA was thriving through PRIDE FC.
In Japan, Coleman also took part in the New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling circuits from 2000 until 2002.
Coleman returned to the UFC in 2009 but retired a year later after a series of injuries.
Some fans have expressed concerns for Coleman's health after he posted a training video on social media.
"No disrespect but wasn’t he just in the hospital? Am I right saying that?" one fan said.
Read More on The US Sun
"This is a bad idea," another fan said.
"Not going to end well," a third fan added.
