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#4 Mark Coleman – former UFC heavyweight champion
The first-ever UFC heavyweight champion, Mark Coleman was once the most feared man in the world of MMA. A world-class amateur wrestler, ‘The Hammer’ was the first fighter to truly dominate – and destroy – opponents with his takedowns and ground strikes, earning his alternate nickname – ‘The Godfather of Ground-and-Pound’.
When Coleman left the UFC for PRIDE in the late 1990’s, it seemed unlikely that he’d ever return to the UFC. After all, in those days the big money was in Japan, and Coleman became a huge success there, winning PRIDE’s first Grand Prix tournament in 2000.
By 2006, though, Coleman was 42 years old and was clearly miles past his prime. And after he suffered a beating at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko, it was clear that it was time for him to hang up the gloves.
That’s why it was a huge surprise when Coleman returned to the UFC in 2009 to face off with a former PRIDE foe – Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua – in a rematch.
The 44-year old Coleman lost the fight when Rua violently knocked him out in the third round, and if the signs that ‘The Hammer’ desperately needed to retire were hinted at before, they were now firmly at the forefront.
But incredibly, Coleman would fight another two times in the octagon, somehow defeating Stephan Bonnar in a sloppy outing at UFC 100 before falling to Randy Couture via submission at UFC 109.
Even then, Coleman didn’t technically announce his retirement until 2013, some three years after his final fight. Considering most fans figured he was finished at the end of his PRIDE tenure, it’s safe to say that this legend hung on for far too long.
#3 Rashad Evans – former UFC light heavyweight champion
It didn’t take Rashad Evans all that long to ascend to the top of the UFC light heavyweight division. The TUF 2 winner was just 12-0-1 when he faced Forrest Griffin for the UFC light heavyweight title in 2008, and three rounds later, he’d become one of the UFC’s rare undefeated champions.
And while ‘Suga’ didn’t hold onto the title all that long – dropping it to Lyoto Machida five months later – he remained one of the UFC’s biggest superstars for a long period of time afterwards.
However, if his rise to the top was quick, his fall down the ranks was much lengthier and much more painful to watch. To say Evans hung on for too long would be a severe understatement.
The first signs that ‘Suga’ was past his prime came in his 2015 loss to Ryan Bader. He hadn’t fought for almost two years prior to that fight due to a severe knee injury and looked much slower than he did in his prime in a disappointing unanimous decision loss.
But it was his next fight – a brutal KO loss to Glover Teixeira – that started the alarm bells ringing. Evans was 36 years old at the time, and really ought to have stepped away from the sport following the loss.
Unfortunately, ‘Suga’ stuck around, suffering horrendously disappointing losses to Dan Kelly and Sam Alvey – fighters he’d have destroyed easily in his prime.
A final loss to Anthony Smith in 2018 finally signalled the end for Evans, but it meant he finished his UFC career on a diabolical five-fight skid, effectively harming his legacy somewhat. Here's hoping his plans for a return don't come to pass, too.
