Ohio State duo teams to take on Warren's Jeff Kugel in MMA – Detroit Free Press

UFC Hall of Famer Mark (The Hammer) Coleman and student Josh (The Hammer) Burns of Dexter have more in common than their nicknames.

Coleman and Burns both attended Ohio State, where they wrestled and rooted for the Buckeyes against the Wolverines in Big Ten football every fall.

On Friday, Coleman, an NCCA collegiate wrestling champion and Olympian, and Burns, who once boxed at the Kronk Gym, will team up at the Palace for the Impact Fight League’s “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” pro MMA show.

Coleman, who fought the likes of Dan Severn, Pedro Rizzo, Fedor Emelianenko and Randy Couture in classic UFC bouts, will be in Burns’ corner when he takes on Warren’s powerful Jeff Kugel, a former OHL hockey player, in a heavyweight contest.

“I’ve been up to Michigan a dozen or more times in the last couple years,” said Coleman, 47, who operates Team Hammer House, a mixed martial arts training center, in Columbus, Ohio. “The MMA fans in Michigan are great.”

Burns, 32, who was born in Lima, Ohio, is taking on a giant in Kugel, who crushed former Toughman champion Butterbean in one round. Burns is 6-2 and 250 pounds. Kugel stands 6-7 and weighs over 270.

“I’m a power puncher with heavy, explosive hands,” said Burns. “I’m prepared for a 15-minute war on Friday, but I’d love to close the deal with a quick KO. I’m in the best shape of my career.”

Coleman has “given my blessing” for Burns to carry his nickname into the cage. He doesn’t see size as any obstacle for his fighter.

“Hopefully, it will be a real quick fight,” said Coleman, who joined the UFC in 1996 and quickly introduced the “ground and pound” style to cage fighting, where one fighter takes the other to the canvas and uses fists and elbows to end the bout. “If it’s a war, I expect Burns to tough it out.”

Burns is durable, no question. The father of six (one boy and five girls) was badly injured in an auto wreck in his freshman year at Ohio State when a trash truck hit his car.

“I got messed up pretty bad,” said Burns. “I broke my leg, hip, and my head went through the windshield. It took a lot of rehabilitation to fight again.”

Burns has also busted his knuckles in cage fights so he’s now using a special wrapping method — a “Mexican-style wrap,” he calls it — to protect them.

“It separates each knuckle and seems to help,” said Burns, whose record is 8-3; he’s 5-1 in Michigan.

Burns wrestled with Coleman when Coleman was preparing for his UFC 109 fight against Couture.

Coleman, who said he might fight again — “maybe I’ll get back; maybe that would be a mistake” — believes Burns is tough enough.

“He was a big part of my training (for Couture),” said Coleman, who buckled Couture but lost the fight on a Rear Naked Choke. “He’s intelligent and strong. My money is on him on Friday.”

Contact MIKE BRUDENELL: 313-222-2115 or mbrudenell@freepress.com.

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