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This weekend, we asked MMATorch readers to let us know which fighters not currently in the UFC Hall of Fame belonged there. Here are some of the top responses:
Michael G. (via Facebook): Lyoto Machida was the undefeated champ at 16-0 until he lost the strap. Would probably still be champ if there wasn't a guy named Jon Jones. He was the first man to beat Rich Franklin and has fought and beat a list of who's who in MMA. Never lost a round on the judges score cards in his first five UFC fights. First ever jumping front kick knockout. Notable wins include B.J. Penn, Rich Franklin, Tito Ortiz, Shogun Rua, Dan Henderson, Rashaad Evans, Rampage Jackson. Pretty nice career.
Lucas F. (via email): When it comes to the discussion of fighters meriting/not-meriting the Hall of Fame, three fighters come to mind. Obviously Anderson Silva deserves to be there, hell, he should have a statue built in honor of him at UFC headquarters. A close second has to be GSP; the man has defined the welterweight division and has also beaten HOF'er Matt Hughes already. Thirdly has got to be B.J. Penn; sure he hasn't been all he used to be as of late, and Rory MacDonald used him as a punching bag in his last fight, but when Penn was good he was great and held two titles in two divisions. Honorable mention goes to Jonny Bones, who will without a doubt be a HOF'er eventually; and also to the greatest heavyweight of all time to never set foot in the Octagon. If I even have to say his name you probably aren't that familiar with MMA and need to Google "Russian badasses not named Putin."
Jason R. (via Facebook): Frank Shamrock. He was undefeated in the UFC and was the first middleweight (light heavyweight) champ with four title defenses. The guy was a pioneer and I believe during his time in the UFC was considered pound for pound to be the #1 guy. Those credentials alone put him in the Hall of Fame.
Joel W. (via email): I am sure a lot of people are going to say Frank Shamrock or Bas Rutten but in my option they didn't have enough fights in the UFC. B.J. Penn is a guy who obviously needs to be there I know he isn't technically retired yet but they have put guys in before they retired so B.J. should be inducted as soon as possible, though as long as they put him in at some point I am OK with that.
MMATorch Forum User VisageArcane: I honestly think it doesn't matter. The UFC Hall of Fame is an empty honor because there is no real entry into except as the whim of Dana and Co. I would not wish the dubious honor since they place someone popped for cheating twice in there. And Dana White has said that he will eventually put Belfort in there. So yeah, no thanks, it doesn't matter. Maybe if they create an MMA Hall of Fame and induct people in the same fashion as other sports it may actually matter.
[B.J. Penn art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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