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The UFC Hall of Fame was created in 2003 as part of UFC’s 10 year anniversary. Over the years, the Hall of Fame underwent some major changes and as it stands now, it has four wings: the Pioneer wing, the modern-era wing, contributors and fights.
So far, the UFC has inducted 15 names into the pioneer wing, 4 names into the modern-era wing, 6 names into the contributors' list and 4 fights into the fight list, taking the total tally to 30 total inductions.
In 2019, UFC will once again be adding to this number as a few names are expected to be inducted. With this in mind, we will be trying to list down five names that the UFC can induct into the Hall of Fame.
As there is a long list of names to be considered if we talk about active fighters, this list will only be looking into names that have retired from the sport. So here are five UFC fighters who should be in the UFC Hall of fame.
#5 Miesha Tate
In 2018, the UFC inducted Ronda Rousey into the Hall of Fame. There are no arguments on whether Rousey deserves to be in the Hall of Fame or not. But since Rousey is inducted, one name that UFC can consider is Miesha Tate.
Now, I’m not saying Tate should be in the Hall of Fame just because Rousey is inducted, I’m saying Tate should be in the Hall of Fame because Tate deserves to be there.
She is one of the pioneers of Women’s MMA and held championships in both Strikeforce and the UFC. Over the course of her career, Tate fought names like Ronda Rousey, Sarah Kaufman, Holly Holm and Cat Zingano among others.
In 2016, she decided to retire from the sport while having a professional record of 18-7 to her name. Tate is currently involved with ONE championship and hopefully, this won’t be a hurdle to her UFC Hall of Fame Induction.
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#4 Rich Franklin
When people talk about UFC Middleweight champions, the name Anderson Silva always comes out on top and rightfully so.
But Rich Franklin is one name that gets overshadowed due to the popularity of Anderson Silva. Franklin made his MMA debut back in 1999 and went on to build a professional record of 29-7 before he retired from the sport in 2012.
Franklin’s career saw him get the better of some huge names like Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell and Ken Shamrock. He also went to war with Vitor Belfort, Dan Henderson, Anderson Silva, and Lyoto Machida among others.
Franklin has a UFC Middleweight championship run to showcase on his resume as well which includes two successful defences. Unfortunately for him, this title reign was put to an end by Anderson Silva, who then went on to become a phenomenon not only in the division but in the sport as a whole.
#3 Michael Bisping
Michael Bisping’s Mixed Martial Arts career was nothing short of a fairy tale. He came up from the small promotions in the United Kingdom and went on to make a huge mark in the UFC history books.
It all started in June 2006 when Bisping won the Ultimate Fighter 3. He then went on to fight 28 times in the UFC. Chael Sonnen, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, Georges St. Pierre, Vitor Belfort, Anderson Silva and Luke Rockhold are just some of the names that Bisping went to war with.
The biggest point of Bisping’s career was perhaps his Middleweight championship win over Luke Rockhold at UFC 199.
Some might argue that his win over Anderson Silva was equally brilliant. Nevertheless, we can all agree on the fact that Bisping is a fighter that deserves to be in the UFC Hall of Fame sooner or later.
#2 Frank Shamrock
Frank Shamrock might not be as popular as his brother, but he was a great fighter. He was the first Light Heavyweight champion in UFC history and he successfully defended the title four times.
Shamrock went 5-0 in titles fights in the UFC and he won all these five fights via stoppages. Apart from the UFC, he fought in many other promotions as well and ended his career in 2009 with a professional record of 23-10-2.
As for his career outside the UFC, he held the Middleweight title in Strikeforce and the Light Heavyweight title in WEC, making him the first MMA fighter to win championships in UFC, WEC and Strikeforce.
The most memorable fight of Shamrock would perhaps be the war that he had with Tito Ortiz at UFC 22. It was one of the best UFC Fights of the 1990s. All these are just some reasons why Frank Shamrock should be in the UFC Hall of Fame.
#1 Dan Henderson
Dan Henderson is a legend, period. Known for his vicious knockout power, Henderson made his debut back in 1997. His first major moment in the UFC came at UFC 17 when he won the Middleweight tournament by outclassing Allan Goes and Carlos Newton.
Hendo then became a mainstay in UFC and Pride over the next two decades and went to war with names like Wanderlei Silva, Renzo Gracie, Antonio Nogueira, Vitor Belfort, Fedor Emelianenko, Michael Bisping, and Anderson Silva among others.
When he retired in 2016, he had a professional record of 32-15 to his name. However, his career was beyond these numbers. He was known for entertaining the fans and the multiple fight night bonuses that he earned prove this.
For the contributions that he made to the sport, it’s only fair to honour him with a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame.
Who else deserves to be in the UFC Hall of Fame? Let us know in the comments section below.
