Mark Kerr was born in Toledo, Ohio on December 21, 1968. He’s a down to earth person and a well known former heavyweight champion of the UFC. Even prior to joining the UFC and starting his MMA career, Kerr was good friends with Mark Coleman – another early UFC heavyweight champion. Coleman was a big influence on Kerr and is one of the reasons that Kerr decided to practice mixed martial arts.
Early on, Kerr was a division one NCAA wrestling champion. During his wrestling career he had defeated Randy Couture. Unfortunately, he failed to make the 1996 Olympic wrestling team, thus beginning a career in mixed martial arts. Grappling experience is important in the UFC and MMA in general. This can make the difference between a win or a loss.
Kerr would have been a more well-rounded fighter if he improved his striking technique. He trained kickboxing with Bas Rutten later in his career, to become a better striker. Being more of a threat on the feet would have made Kerr into an even more impressive fighter than he already was.
In 1997, Mark Kerr won two UFC tournaments and became the heavyweight champion. He won the UFC 14 and UFC 15 heavyweight tournaments.
After winning two UFC tournaments, Kerr decided to fight in Japan for Pride Fighting Championship. The reason being is because it was a more lucrative market at the time than the UFC was. In those days, the UFC was struggling financially. Later in his career, he developed an addiction to opioids due to many injuries suffered as a wrestler and MMA fighter. These injuries and addictions contributed to the end of his career; which was basically because of self-sabotage.
It was very beneficial for Mark Kerr to be such a fantastic wrestler! He learned his ground and pound technique from his long time training partner, Mark Coleman. Therefore, once Kerr got his opponent to the ground, he would head butt him. This move was legal in the earlier days and universally it is banned in the MMA currently.
Since it’s in production right now, many fans know that Mark Kerr has a movie coming out about his life. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, is playing the role of Mark Kerr. Ryan Bader is playing Mark Coleman in the film. The movie will be based on the documentary called “The Smashing Machine“. This focuses on his life and his career, as well as, his struggles with addiction.
MMA & Boxing Writer | Business Development Consultant
I have been an avid viewer of Boxing and MMA for decades. Judo is the martial art that I most admire. As a teenager I practiced for a bit. This piqued my interest in MMA since 2001. Now I am on a new journey, hitting the dojo when possible. Learning how to methodically adapt to Judo, currently is a hobby that I enjoy. At FightMatrix, I am the business development consultant. Additionally, I write about various martial arts and boxing.