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Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff Writer
UFC legend Mark Coleman was awake and responsive Thursday after he was hospitalized Wednesday after suffering from smoke inhalation in a house fire in Toledo, Ohio.
Coleman, 59, called himself “the happiest man in the world” as he embraced members of his family in a video posted to Instagram. Coleman was airlifted to the hospital after saving both of his parents from the fire, according to friends and family.
“I swear to God, I’m so lucky,” Coleman says in the video. “I can’t believe my parents are alive. I had to make a decision. I got out of my room and went to the door and it was already horrible, I couldn’t breathe. I almost had to go outside, but I went back and got them. I can’t believe it.”
His daughter Morgan called it a “heroic act.” His oldest daughter, Kenzie, added the family still has a “long road ahead.”
Coleman is considered a pioneer of mixed martial arts. He became the UFC’s first heavyweight champion in 1997. Before his MMA career, he was a standout in amateur wrestling. He won an NCAA Division I title for Ohio State in 1988 and represented the U.S. in the Olympics in 1992. The UFC inducted Coleman into its Hall of Fame in 2008.