UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman is currently in the hospital, recovering from a heart attack.

Coleman he felt some pain, but I tried to tough his way through, as he often did in his MMA bouts before turning the tables on his opponent. Luckily, at the behest of his daughter, Coleman finally decided to go to the doctor and get it checked it out.

It turns out that he had a heart attack, which has left him laid up in the hospital for a week to recover.

“I hadn’t been feeling so well for quite some time, something hit pretty hard Tuesday about 7:00 pm. Chest locked up, my arms went numb, sounds pretty obvious, but I didn’t want to believe (it was a heart attack),” Colemans recounted on Instagram.

“I walked around and laid down for about 6 hours. It didn’t get better. I texted my daughters. I didn’t want to go. Wasn’t fair to them. So I grabbed my keys, made it to the hospital sure there was nothing wrong, but yes, there was complete blockage of a major artery.

“If I don’t go, I’m probably not here today. I’m so glad I went. I have so many things I want to do . Tomorrow they will try to break through the artery and put a stent in.

“For the first time in a long time, I am motivated. I am grateful and appreciate all your support. It wasn’t my time. It’s time to live.”

Like Coleman, Randy Couture also unknowingly had a heart attack

Coleman is obviously one of the toughest individuals on the planet, having won two 8-man UFC tournaments at the start of his career and having beaten some of the best fighters in the world. Him having a heart attack without thinking that’s what was happening is actually not that surprising.

According to a Harvard Medical School publication, “Nearly half of people who have a heart attack don’t realize it at the time.”

There are silent heart attacks, but also a number of individuals, like Coleman, that have a high pain tolerance and try to tough it out, perhaps shrugging it off as indigestion or muscle pain.

Fellow former UFC champion Randy Couture (also Coleman’s final MMA opponent) suffered a similar situation in 2019.

Couture had been working out in the gym, but found himself more tired than normal after his training session. He event started vomiting, which isn’t normal for him. So he went home to rest, but the pain didn’t go away.

He walked to the hospital, where Couture was discovered to be having a heart attack. He underwent surgery to remove a clot and insert a stint. He has fully recovered.

Not everyone is as lucky as Coleman and Couture. Not everyone decides to go to the hospital and get checked. Both Coleman and Couture readily admit, if they didn’t go to the hospital to find out what was wrong, it is highly likely that neither of them would be here today.