Former UFC fighter Mark Coleman was hospitalized and placed in a medically induced coma after rescuing his parents from a house fire in Toledo, Ohio, on Tuesday morning.
According to a social media post by his daughter Morgan, her father rushed into the house to protect her parents, Dan and Connie. He also went back inside to rescue the family's dog, Hummer, who had first alerted Coleman to the kitchen fire, but the animal did not survive.
“After this heroic act, he was taken to the hospital and is currently fighting for his life,” she captioned an old photo of Coleman on Instagram.
“Our father has always been our hero and means the world to us,” she added. “He is and always will be a fighter. The strongest, bravest man I know.”
Coleman's parents were not seriously injured, but Coleman suffered smoke inhalation and fell into a coma in the intensive care unit, manager Michael DiSabato told NBC News. DiSabato said his family believes he will recover.
Fellow former fighter Wes Sims asked people to pray for Coleman.
“Swear to God, he's one of the toughest humans ever created,” Sims wrote on Facebook. “He's been through so many movies that I can't do justice to his life's work at this point.” I can't!” he wrote.
Coleman, a native of Fremont, Ohio, became the first UFC heavyweight champion in 1997 by defeating Dan Severn. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2008. He also won the Ohio State University Wrestling National Championship in 1988 and competed in the 1992 Summer Championship. Olympics in Barcelona.