UFC Hall of Fame--Who should be in? POLL ADDED!
by thetakeover on Apr 10, 2009 4:06 PM EDT
67 comments
For a minute there, someone started a post about who should be in the UFC Hall of Fame if politicking by Dana and the Fertitas didn't play a part. I was in the middle of a reply when the post was suddenly deleted for reasons unknown, perhaps having to do with the foolish assertion that Kimbo should join the HoF. In any case, I thought it was an interesting topic to visit rationally.
Here is who is currently in the HoF:
Dan Severn
Mark Coleman
Ken Shamrock
Randy Couture
Royce Gracie
You'll notice that in almost each case, the induction was made as part of a marketing ploy, usually in conjuction with a Legends fight of some sort. I bet Dana wishes he could "dis-induct" Ken Shamrock!
Who else should be in? Here's my list:
Tank -- First to wear gloves into the ring, still looms large in the public's mind even if was more show than go.
Kimo -- First to stop (if not actually beat) Royce. Came in with a cross on his back, introducing the importance of entrances. Also, connection to Joe Son of Keith Hackney nut-punch fame.
Mark Kerr -- A dominant champion who deserves the nod for the Smashing Machine, a not-so-distant uncle to TUF and the reality side of MMA.
Frank Shamrock -- One of the first fighters to totally rule his weight division and go out on top.
Tito Ortiz -- A huge star in every sense of the word and a major figure in the history of the sport, even if his assholery and feud with Dana has grown tiresome of late.
Evan Tanner -- In memorium to a fallen champion.
Chuck Liddell -- A shoo-in the moment he retires. For years, this guy was the face of MMA and his string of knockouts may never be repeated.
BJ Penn -- Champion in two different weight classes. Has been connected to almost every era and aspect of the sport, for good or for ill.
Who else would you suggest and why?
The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.
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The Lord of The Liver Shot!
Bas!
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on Apr 10, 2009 4:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
mat hughes,don frye. marcos ruas perhaps. how about some of the former pride fighters that are hof worthy like wandi, big nog, hendo. the ufc bought out pride, so their accomplishments in pride should count imo. plus hendo and wandi started out in the ufc. there is alot of tweeners to me like rich franklin, tanner, as you mentioned and mask as a contributer. maybe bjm some day as a ref. it would be cool if someday the ufc actually opened up a hall and had ceremonies like boxing and other sports do. las vegas would be the obviuos choice to me. i like tank for sure but not kimo so much.
by bdw on Apr 10, 2009 4:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I think
you’re right. a UFC only hall of fame seems a bit silly. Better to have an over-all MMA hall of fame somewhere
by mythbuster on Apr 10, 2009 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
OK, name 3 Pride Hall of Famers ...
Here’s mine:
- Wanderlei Sakuraba
-
— The Fireball Kid
"It's like a flying knuckle sandwich." --Rogan
"And many men have eaten it." -- Goldy
by thetakeover on Apr 10, 2009 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Dunno Pride
but Fedor? the Japanese guy who kicked Gracies butt (ripped his arm near off, cant remember his name offhand)? I’m sure there are lots of non-UFC guys that would be considered HoF worthy.
by mythbuster on Apr 10, 2009 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
i think that a fighter would have had to compete in the ufc to get in the ufc hof, unless someone does actually start an all mma hof. then there would be a ton of candidates.
by bdw on Apr 10, 2009 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
By the way
I didnt mean your article was silly. I meant, a UFC only HoF is. Limiting it to people who kiss Dana’s ass and are “marketable” denies a lot of worthy people. Didn’t mean offense to you, good man.
by mythbuster on Apr 10, 2009 4:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
No offense taken
I totally agree with you that the political nature of the UFC-only HoF is a joke, which is why I wrote this post so we could create a “Bloody Elbow Hall of Fame” to go with the new USA Today Rankings!
"It's like a flying knuckle sandwich." --Rogan
"And many men have eaten it." -- Goldy
by thetakeover on Apr 10, 2009 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
+1 for BJM
I like Big John getting in as a ref. Would like it even better if the UFC would let him ref Lesnar vs. Mir at UFC 100. Come on Dana make it happen!
"It's like a flying knuckle sandwich." --Rogan
"And many men have eaten it." -- Goldy
by thetakeover on Apr 10, 2009 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
That would be horrible.
Than, if Mir wins, you will all have to start blaming and hating Big John instead of Mazagati :(
by mythbuster on Apr 10, 2009 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
As long as Big John doesn’t screw Lesnar, everything’s bueno.
by subo on Apr 10, 2009 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Not really
Because Maz fucked up. Watch a number of his fights – it’s always ‘watch the back of the head’ AT LEAST once, if not more, before he even threatens to stand it up and deduct a point. It was a hideously inconsistent decision to deduct Brock for one unintentional blow.
by subo on Apr 10, 2009 5:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Meh – if the NSAC thought it was that big of a deal, they’d have taken away the win like they did with Karo. They didn’t. Case closed.
by subo on Apr 10, 2009 6:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
no rachelle leah? she’s my personal fav :)
by bdw on Apr 10, 2009 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Its okay by me
I’ll accept them both in the hof :)
by mythbuster on Apr 10, 2009 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Anderson Silva and Matt Hughes will get in and GSP most likely will. Besides that there are a lot of guys that are on the fence for me.
by The Legend on Apr 10, 2009 4:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
If Machida continues the dominance and becomes Silva-like, he is a HoFer.
by mountaineers101 on Apr 10, 2009 5:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Done!
"It's like a flying knuckle sandwich." --Rogan
"And many men have eaten it." -- Goldy
by thetakeover on Apr 10, 2009 5:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
lol at Arriany Celeste, c’mon now…
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on Apr 10, 2009 6:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
It would be awesome
If they did a UFC HoF special on Spike that Sat b4 UFC100 like WWE does b4 Wrestlemania. Shit, it would be awesome if they did UFC 100 at Reliant Stadium liek Wrestlemania!!! 72,000+!!
Bas
Evan Tanner
Charles “Mask” Lewis
Tank
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on Apr 10, 2009 6:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
How can you NOT have Tanner in the HoF? He defines humanity.
Spinning out solid gold, like Rumpelstiltskin.
by Heenan on Apr 10, 2009 10:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Because he wasn’t really a dominant champion or anything. A lot of guys have had the belt, but this is the HoF. You need to completely own, or you have to make the sport evolve somehow. Tanner really didn’t contribute a whole lot to the sport when its all said in done. In reality, if he was still alive right now I don’t think he would have gotten a single vote on this poll.
by EazyEismydad on Apr 11, 2009 7:14 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
i agree, no disrepect to tanner, but voting him in would be just voting him in for dying young. he wasn’t a pioneer and he was just a good fighter not a great one. if he had just retired instead of dying, no one would be mentioning him. i think if the ufc started some sort of charitable foundation in tanner’s name would be a better way to recognize tanner.
by bdw on Apr 11, 2009 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
You should put Ruas and Militech on that poll
by drano on Apr 10, 2009 7:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Shouldn't a prerequistie for the HOF be...
that the fighter no longer actively competes? Obviously you can’t take away what a man (or an arrianny) has accomplished, but some are still working on their legacy
by Ozone on Apr 10, 2009 9:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
They were inducted after they officially retired, then came out of retirement to continue fighting
by EazyEismydad on Apr 11, 2009 7:15 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
little off subject
does anyone else think thiago silva vs rich franklin would be a good fight?
good luck in life!
by georgehouse on Apr 10, 2009 10:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Out of all those listed the ONLY names that would be considered right now is Matt Hughes and Wandy, simply because they are in Dana’s good books, in the twilight of their careers and have amazing accomplishments.
Tanner would be more of a tribute inclusion rather than an accomplishments inclusion.
by Benicio on Apr 10, 2009 11:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Chuck could not be more automatic.
How about Helio Gracie or perhaps just the Gracies as a whole?
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
by BJJDenver on Apr 11, 2009 12:11 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Nah, Chuck is still keen to fight. As soon as he starts talking about retiring they’ll add him and give him a farewell fight.
by Benicio on Apr 11, 2009 5:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wandy n the UFC hall of fame? He is 2-4 in the organization. Accomplishments outside the cage shouldn’t mean as much as what you’ve done in it
by EazyEismydad on Apr 11, 2009 7:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I still think they will bend the rules for him. He is a crowd favourite, has an incredible record in Pride and is well liked by UFC management. All the boxes ticked for HoF status.
by Benicio on Apr 11, 2009 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
personally i think tanner and bas are such a close call.
shame you couldn’t have two votes…. tanner.
by Ronnie Liddle on Apr 11, 2009 1:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Maybe we should come up with a rock solid criteria for entering an MMA Hall of Fame
Has it been done? Before we let people in we need to decide some general rules. Just a thought . . . I would vote for several of those names but if Ken Shamrock wasn’t in a Hall of Fame already would people put him in there now?
by bignerd on Apr 11, 2009 2:37 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Matt Hughes will be next, I would assume.
Some people may want to keep in mind this is a UFC hall of fame, not an MMA hall of fame. Accomplishments outside of the company are negligible regardless of asset acquisition.
by Simco on Apr 11, 2009 3:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I think Wandy would be an exception as he spent time in the UFC previously, he’s so well liked in the UFC currently and he has such a great well known legacy.
by Benicio on Apr 11, 2009 5:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
nog won the hw title and is fighting randy soon. hendo has had some big wins and is still a contender and wandi had a big win over a top 10 lhw in jardine and a classic fight with chuck. i think if former pride greats at least compete for a while in the ufc and make decent contributions, they should be considered.
by bdw on Apr 11, 2009 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hendo was the other name I should have put. Nog slipped my mind. All three have a solid case for bucking the UFC-only trend.
by Benicio on Apr 11, 2009 5:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Many people have won the HW title. And Nog’s was only the interim, anyway.
Henderson came to the UFC and lost both belts he had (from another org.).
If I showed up at your job, failed, and was then given an award by your company because of work I did at another company, would that make sense to you?
I have a feeling your answer is yes, but I wanted to try explaining it one more time anyway.
by Simco on Apr 11, 2009 6:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just arguing because you can or because you believe the UFC HoF should stay UFC exclusive?
by Benicio on Apr 11, 2009 10:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I’m trying to help you understand what I believed was common sense.
If you would like to discuss who would be inducted into a hypothetical, all-encompassing MMA hall of fame then that is fine. But to try and apply your personal opinions about how the UFC Hall of Fame should be structured, which directly contradict any form of logic, is an unnecessary exercise in being stubborn and ignorant.
by Simco on Apr 12, 2009 5:00 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
There are 6 guys on that list with at least 8 wins in the UFC. Wandy is 2-4. Past accomplishments included he is still not in the front of the line
by EazyEismydad on Apr 11, 2009 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Whoever decides to retire first between Wandy and Chuck will jump to the front of the line. A fighters current record does not diminish their past accomplishments.
by Benicio on Apr 11, 2009 5:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Except Wandy has accomplished nothing in the UFC outside of escalating Vitor’s ascension.
If Vitor came back to the UFC with a couple wins I could see him as a very strong candidate.
However I have no idea what the relationship between him and UFC is.
by Simco on Apr 11, 2009 6:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think he was considering returning so it can’t be too bad.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Apr 11, 2009 7:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I hope so.
The lashing of Lindland surely must have helped bond the two.
Although if it happens I have to admit I can already feel a sense of dread concerning the amount of “old vs new” Vitor articles and posts that will swamp every site that covers MMA.
by Simco on Apr 12, 2009 5:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
You are of the ‘UFC record only’ school of thought, whereas I’d like to think once a fighter signs with the UFC, their past record comes with them.
I’m sure we can agree that its at Dana’s discretion either way.
by Benicio on Apr 11, 2009 10:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
put Tank’s gloves in the HOF and explain their significance…just like they do in the HOFs of other sports…they give a lot of nods to groundbreaking developments in the sport but that doesnt necessitate the athlete involved is “in”
by Ozone on Apr 11, 2009 2:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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