Former UFC champion hospitalized in coma after saving his parents from house fire

FREMONT, Ohio (WTVG/Gray News) - A retired UFC champion was injured in an Ohio house fire Tuesday while trying to rescue his family members from a burning home.

Records from the Sandusky County Sheriff’s Office state Mark Coleman, of Ballville Township in Fremont, was hospitalized when he was trying to get people and animals out of a house that caught on fire on South River Road in the early morning hours of March 12.

Family members said Coleman is in critical condition, described as being in a deep coma.

The report from an officer at the scene said dispatchers advised everyone made it out of the house, but someone was trying to go back in for a dog and to possibly remove a vehicle from the garage.

The officer arrived to find three people made it out of the house. He saw Coleman’s face and hands were covered in black soot. He was also coughing and had trouble breathing.

EMS took Coleman, a member of the UFC Hall of Fame, to the hospital and his parents were placed in a police vehicle to get them away from the heavy smoke that was coming from the burning home.

His mother said they believed the fire started in the kitchen from leaving the stove on, telling police that Coleman woke them up to alert them to the fire.

Coleman’s parents were not injured.

Copyright 2024 WTVG via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.