Hall of Famers to headline UFC 109

The main event on Saturday night’s UFC 109 card at Mandalay Bay marks the first time two members of the Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Fame will meet in the cage.

While that means the fighters have had a great deal of success in the sport, it also means they are not exactly young.

In fact, 45-year-old Mark Coleman is a year younger than his opponent, Randy Couture. Coleman says both fighters have plenty left in the tank.

“If I had listened to the critics, I would have retired 10 years ago,” he said on a conference call. “This won’t be my last fight, and I don’t think it will be Randy’s. This is what I love to do. There’s no reason for me to retire. I can still compete with all these guys out here.

“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to train smarter and take care of myself.”

Couture agreed, adding that he believes he’s only improved with age.

“I’ve got better as I’ve gotten older at listening to my body. Win or lose, Mark and I still have a lot to contribute to the sport. This is not a make-or-break fight,” he said. “Every time Mark or I fight, they are going to judge us, ‘Oh, he’s slowing down.’ I’ve been hearing that for six years now.”

A good indication of how long the fighters have been in the sport is that they originally were scheduled to meet at UFC 17 in 1998 before Couture suffered an injury.

“It’s the number one question for the last 10 years,” Coleman said. “People asking me, ‘When you going to fight Randy?’ This is at the top by far the biggest fight in my life. I’ve been in some big fights, but none compare to this.”

They actually have met before but under a different set of rules.

Coleman defeated Couture in a freestyle wrestling match at the 1989 Olympic Festival.

“I remember the match pretty clearly,” Couture said. “Mark was firing on all cylinders in his wrestling career at that time, and he beat me. He came out and got in my face and beat me.”

It’s not the only bout on the card featuring fighters who aren’t exactly in their youth.

Matt Serra, 35, will take on 37-year-old Las Vegan Frank Trigg in a welterweight tilt.

• STRIKEFORCE RECAP — Nick Diaz peppered Marius Zaromskis with shots until finally stopping him at 4:38 of the first round to win the vacant Strikeforce welterweight title in a main event that was overshadowed by Herschel Walker’s successful mixed martial arts debut Saturday in Sunrise, Fla.

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos retained the women’s lightweight title with a third-round stoppage of Marloes Coenen.

Bobby Lashley easily disposed of out-of-shape UFC veteran Wes Sims in the first round.

• PUBLIC PRESSER — The UFC will take its usual Thursday pre-event news conference into the public for this week’s event at Mandalay Bay.

The UFC 109 news conference will be held at Mizuya Lounge in the casino and will be open to fans.

Several fighters from the card, including headliners Couture and Coleman, will be on hand for the 1 p.m. event.

• LAS VEGANS ADDED — Bendy Casimir and Fredson Paixao have been added to the World Extreme Cagefighting card on March 6 in Columbus, Ohio.

Both fighters are training in Las Vegas.

Casimir will make his WEC debut against Ricardo Lamas, while Paixao will take on Bryan Caraway.

A bantamweight title fight between Dominick Cruz and champion Brian Bowles headlines the card.

Former champion Miguel Torres also will be in action.

• UFC EN ESPANOL — The organization’s pay-per-view broadcasts will be available entirely in Spanish, beginning with UFC 111 on March 27.

Troy Santiago and Victor Davila will handle the commentating duties.

All of the broadcast elements will be available in Spanish, including preproduced segments, graphics, play-by-play and color commentary.

“For our fans who want to watch and listen to our UFC events in Spanish, we are now creating a show just for them, in their language, so they can enjoy the whole UFC experience from start to finish,” UFC president Dana White said in a release.

Last week, the organization announced a deal to bring pay-per-view events to China.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.