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[BigJoe111]

Listen HOFs in any sport right now are more about what you did to bring respect and fans to the sport then actually about numbers. Besides if you look at athletes in football, for example, they didn't put up huge numbers, but they brought the sport into prominensce. Guys like Gracie, Shamrock, Severn, and Couture have helped MMA in more ways then just wins. They brought the sport recognition as something more then human cock fighting and that deserves some respect and acknowledgement. As the sprot continues to evolve you can look at guys based on record, longevity, and numbers, but in the beginning it is cultural impact that should be judged. The guys posted as potential HOFers are teh fathers of MMA. Hey Luis I loved the foot stomp that Ruas imployed. Seriously, you talk about Liddell and who hasn't he beaten that he has fought in the UFC, same with Hughes. These guys have beaten the best that was put in front of them and deserve to be in the HOF. Coleman was a beast until Petey WIlliams kicked him in the face. Don Frye was as dominate as any fighter for a couple of years. SOmeone brought up Lennox Lewis, he will be in the boxing HOF sooner rather then later, but he will be judged on his super fights, with Tyson, and HOlyfield, the same should be said in MMA, how did you do when the odds were stacked against you. How dd you perform against fighters on you level? UFC might be a little young ofr a HOF, but ebven so the guys who are in deserve it.

[Bobcat1]

But what exactly did Shamrock pioneer? If you ask me, he did more to kill the sport in its early stages than anyone else. My reasoning:

At UFC 3, he quits the tournament after Royce couldn't continue, even though he himself had no injury, causing an alternate (Bruce Jennim) to win the tournamnet.

His first superfight with Royce Gracie was a 1 hour draw, where Ken just lay in Royce's gaurd, too scared to do anything.

In his superfight with Dan Severn, he circled around like a little ballerina for another 60 minutes without throwing a single punch.

He quits after 1 round against Fujita in Pride 10 due to.... exhaustion (!?!).

This is not what I want to see in a Hall of Famer, by no means.

[bigaxel123]

The next fighter IMO who needs to go in is Oleg. Man that guy was a helluva fighter. he had more than half the guys competing today. Not to mention, I still to this day, think he was in one of the best tourneys ever. Ultimate ultimate, him vs tank was my favorite fight ever.

[Dork8503]

none of them, hughes and liddel once they retire because they have helped the sport grow more then those listed did and continue to do so

[kickass32]

I gotta agree with KO.......hall of fames should be a place set aside for the truley GREATS, those who were head and shoulders above everyone....not the ones who were good......there are plenty of good fighters out there, but they shouldn't be in a hall of fame

[Dork8503]

yup

[gracie jui-jitsu guy]

There's no way these newer guys have done more for the sport than the older ones. The older ones like Royce, Shamrock and Severn built the house. Chuck and Tito added to it. The older ones re-defined how we as a country view martial arts and fighting. Guys like Chuck and Tito continued to build on that, helping the sport that was started here by the older guys grow. In their due time guys like Chuck and Tito should also be added but I would take nothing away from the older guys that were honored, they broke new ground and were very successful.

[gracie jui-jitsu guy]

Bobcat1, Shamrock pulled out of the ufc 3 tourney not because he wasn't injured but because he WAS injured and didn't want to risk further injury unless it was fighting against Royce who was the number one guy at he time. And his ufc superfight against Royce was 30 minutes with a 5 minute overtime, not a one hour fight. I agree he was not very active in that fight, at least not until the overtime period when he started to pour it on. As far as the Fujita fight goes, that occurred when Ken returned to the sport after doing his stint in WWE, he was a changed fighter from that point on. He was no longer training like he used to.
I think Ken deserves to be in the HOF for all that he did during the first part of his career, the time prior to his entry into WWE, when he was training like a champion and fighting and beating the best in Pancrase and becoming the number one guy in the ufc after the superfight with Royce. Granted it was not a very active fight but, in the end, he managed to do more damage to his opponent than his opponent did to him. Oh and that second fight with Severn, it was Severn, adopting a new and bizzare style of fighting, where he would just circle his opponent and just swing at him, connecting with nothing, that caused that fight to be so boring for the first 20 or so minutes. Shamrock and I think everyone else watching were expecting to see Severn shoot in at some point to begin his offense like he always did in his previous fights but he didn't. He kept circling around until Shamrock got tired of it and decided to shoot in on the former olympian. Severn ended up on top of Shamrock but Shamrock was able to eventually sweep Severn and gain top position. The fight was terrible until Shamrock shot in because Severn just kept circling him, but I think Shamrock was the one that managed to create some excitement when he stopped waiting for Severn's shoot, realizing Severn wasn't going to, and decided to shoot and initiate instead.

[Dan0]

This was in my local newspaper Sunday.

“Average number of Hall of Fame Inductees:

Pro Football – 5 per year
Hockey – 7 per year
International Tennis – 5 per year
International Swimming - 15 per year
World Golf – 2 per year
WNBA – 11 per year
MLB – 5 per year”

I'm more likely able to name a Golf Hall of Famer or Football Hall of Famer, but I don’t have a clue on any WNBA or Swimming Hall of Famers.

The Hall of Fame should be a VERY unique, exclusive and distinctive group. Each sport has its own rules for induction, but I’m not sure of the MMA Halls requirements, but think it should be unique, exclusive and distinctive

[Donny77]

Originally Posted by Luis Cruz

These guys were good originals, but if we're just talking UFC careers then i'd put them in this order as far as success and a name in the UFC....

Don Frye
Mark Coleman
Oleg Taktarov
Marco Ruas

In mma as a whole....

Mark Coleman (the 2000 gp win i hold high)
Don Frye (one of my favorite fighters of all time)
Oleg Taktarov (more active than Ruas and was, imo, the first REAL warrior with Royce a close 2nd or maybe tied for 1st)
Marco Ruas (GREAT fighter but didn't fight enough and i always hated the foot stomp! lol)

I agree with most that, but i put Coleman ahead of Frye b/c he beat him twice.