The Time Is Right for an MMA Hall of Fame

[Kickass32]

The Time Is Right for an MMA Hall of Fame


By Riley Kontek
(Featured Columnist) on June 20, 2012






Although the UFC has its own Hall of Fame, mixed martial arts in general does not have one. Baseball has Cooperstown, and football has its enshrinement in Canton.
So why can't mixed martial arts have its own home to the legends?
With many of the sport's legends retired and stars who took the torch beginning to hang up the gloves, the time is absolutely right to create an MMA Hall of Fame.
The UFC is approaching its 150th event, and this could be the ideal opportunity to finally open a Hall of Fame. It could be an all-weekend extravaganza, filled with appearances by legends of the sport, grappling tournaments, raffles, fighter signings and obviously the Hall of Fame unveiling. This could all lead in to UFC 150.
It's the perfect opportunity. UFC 150 is in Denver, Colo., the state where the UFC's origins lie. That is too good to be true, in my opinion.
It would be more than just a UFC Hall of Fame, since there already is one, but it should still be associated with a UFC event, as it is the largest promotion in the world.
My proposal is to have the Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, as it is the most important fight city to mixed martial arts. The entire week of activities would be held there, with the only thing held in Denver being UFC 150.
For the first ever Hall of Fame class, there should be 10 retired fighters inducted. Here are the 10 men I think should earn the honor:

Royce Gracie: Winner of three UFC tournaments, sparked the popularization of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

"Judo" Gene LeBell: Recognized as one of the first mixed martial artists of all time, as well as a renowned judo instructor to many MMA stars.

Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell: Former UFC light heavyweight champion, one of the most recognizable faces in mixed martial arts.

Bas Rutten: Former King of Pancrase and UFC heavyweight champion, popular MMA personality.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic: Pride Grand Prix winner, legend in kickboxing and MMA

Ken Shamrock: Former King of Pancrase, UFC Superfight champion, all-around icon of the sport.

Frank Shamrock: Former UFC light heavyweight champion, Strikeforce middleweight champion, WEC light heavyweight champion, King of Pancrase, popular MMA personality.

Randy "The Natural" Couture: Former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion, oldest champion in UFC history (45 years old)
.
Dan "The Beast" Severn: Pioneer of the sport in terms of his use of American wrestling, 100-plus fight veteran, UFC tournament winner.

Shawn Tompkins: Posthumous inductee, renowned MMA trainer.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...a-hall-of-fame

[Dirty Daley]

now would be a good start. wasnt wamma going to start one?

[Kickass32]

I wouldn't put Tompkins in there, but I'm good with the rest....I like the idea of fighters needing to be retired before induction.....thats one of the things that pisses me off about the UFC HOF.

[Skycosis]

I wouldn't put Tompkins in there, but I'm good with the rest....I like the idea of fighters needing to be retired before induction.....thats one of the things that pisses me off about the UFC HOF.

Same here, but I would add Matt Hughs to the list as well.

[Dirty Daley]

bas rutten.






that guy deserves a place in the hall of fame. really one of the first stand-up heavyweight guy's , cracking coach , 2nd best commentator (joe rogan num 1) and his history in pancrase is one of the best.

[Misfit]

If they are talking Judo Gene then you have to add Bruce Lee in there also.

[Dirty Daley]

If they are talking Judo Gene then you have to add Bruce Lee in there also.

Very true misfit. i love watching the old bruce lee film's and he is sticking arm bars and chokes on people. That was back in the day when mma want even started! He learned all the martial art's and put them on film. I watched a documentary about his life was threatened because he gave away secret's of their art's , don't know how true it is. Bruce lee was really suppose to be a kung fu guy but his striking was a mixture of kickboxing , boxing , karate & taekwondo.

[Red Tex]

I wouldn't include Bas Rutten. I've never understood his allure.

[Dirty Daley]

Listen red-tex. He beat ruben villereal by stoppage in his last fight. he could jump in and take whatever belt he wanted. lol

[Misfit]

I wouldn't include Bas Rutten. I've never understood his allure.

It was fun, actually great to watch Bas grow as a Mixed Martial Artist. When he first started, he sucked so bad on the ground, fought out of average holds at best but he natural talent took him a long way. He learned his weakness which will 95% on the ground and fixed them in a very short time. If his knees hadn't gone to shit so quickly, I think he would be damn near first on the list.