Every year the best fighters, fights and contributors are considered as options to go into the UFC Hall of Fame, and the announcements for this year’s class have already commenced. The first inductee this year is longtime UFC producer Bruce Connal, who passed away earlier this year, going into the Contributor Wing. I feel that this will signify a year where people you might not think of as Hall of Famers will take their place among the greatest the UFC has ever had to offer, and I hope you enjoy my choices for who should be inducted.

1. Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock is someone that the hardcore fans have seen as a guaranteed Hall of Famer since he retired from professional competition, yet for some reason he hasn’t been inducted yet. For those of you who don’t know him, Frank Shamrock was the first ever UFC Light Heavyweight champion, all the way back before it was even called the Light Heavyweight division, and was the first man to ever defend his belt for an extended period of time. Shamrock left the UFC sighting a lack of competition after defending his belt for the fourth time, and this could be why Dana White and others in the promotion seem to not get along with the man. This can be the only reason I could think of for him not being inducted yet, and I think it’s about time that the promotion puts their differences aside and recognizes the man as a trailblazer and precedent for all other champions to come after him.

2. Dan Henderson

According to everyone in the world, Conor McGregor was the first fighter to ever hold two belts in two different weight classes at the same time, right? Well guess what, everyone is wrong. You probably know Dan Henderson as one of the heaviest hitters in MMA and a guy who could never get ahold of a UFC belt, but the truth is that he is far more of a champion than you may know. Way back when Pride FC was the promotion everyone was watching Dan Henderson was actually both the Welterweight and Middleweight champion (or Middleweight and Light Heavyweight as we know them now), and held both belts simultaneously when the UFC bought Pride and made it shut its doors. “Hendo” was no stranger to the UFC, however, having already won one of their tournaments before belts were even in place for different weight classes. To unify the Pride belts and the UFC belts, Henderson fought Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Anderson Silva back-to-back in championship fights, and although he came up short, he still took on the best. Many may think of him as just a mediocre fighter, but the truth is he is a two time Pride champion, UFC tournament winner, Strikeforce champion AND fought Michael Bisping for the UFC Middleweight belt in his last ever fight, so I think he has more than earned his place among the greatest fighters of all time.

3. Oleg Taktarov

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you’ve never heard of Oleg Taktarov unless you’re either the biggest UFC fan or the biggest Predator fan, and that’s fine. Taktarov may have made more of a name for himself with his acting career, appearing in both National Treasure and Predators, but the man is a legitimate pioneer for the sport of MMA. Everyone knows Ronda Rousey for her lightning fast submissions, but to this day Taktarov still holds the fastest submission in UFC history with a nine second guillotine choke over Anthony Macias at UFC 6, a tournament that he actually went on to win. Immediately after winning the tournament, Taktarov fought Ken Shamrock for the UFC Superfight Championship, the only belt the UFC had at the time, and the match actually ended in a draw. As well as Shamrock, Oleg has fought legends like Dan Severn, Marco Ruas, Renzo Gracie and Mark Kerr, the latter of which he fought in his last professional bout, and finished his career with a five fight kneebar submission streak. If you ask me there aren’t a lot of records that are this good from the early UFC days, and I think that Taktarov should be considered one of the first pioneers of the quick submission.

4. The Fertitta Brothers

Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta are the former owners of the UFC when it was still owned by Zuffa LLC, and actually saved the company from closing its doors with their investments. These two men were basically using their own money to keep the UFC going at a time where it was seen as barbaric and didn’t really have a big star to draw people in, and that deserves the kind of recognition the UFC Hall of Fame grants. Their involvement with the company may have just ended a couple of years ago, but as far as contributors go, very few people have given as much to this one promotion as the Fertittas have.

5. Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz

It may seem a little redundant to induct this fight in the Hall of Fame considering how both men already have a place in the Fighter Wing, but there is actually a lot of significance behind this battle. Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz were two heated rivals for most of their careers, and UFC fans were foaming at the mouth to see this fight. However, Tito Ortiz had just lost his belt to Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell was coming off of a stint in Pride, so the fight didn’t really make sense without a belt on the line. Yet the UFC still made the fight happen, and it was the highest selling pay-per-view of its time. This opened the door for people like Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz to demand money fights, and proved to the UFC that it can have two of its biggest stars fight without any belts on the line, and still break all kinds of records. This one fight signified the importance of rival fights in the UFC, and is what allows many people today to demand the fights that will give them a big paycheck.

6. Rich Franklin

Everyone knows Anderson Silva, right? Well Rich Franklin is the guy that Silva knocked out for the belt. However, that’s not all he is. Rich Franklin was once the most promising talent in the UFC, and he’s fought all of the greats over his career. Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva and Ken Shamrock have all fallen victim to Franklin’s superior striking prowess and knockout power, and I feel that he deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame just because of the fact that he was constantly fighting the best competition his entire career. If Anderson Silva never came along who knows how long Rich Franklin would have held the belt, and although he might not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of Hall of Fame contenders, he still retired as an upper echelon fighter.

7. Robert Follis

Robert Follis was one of the founders of Team Quest and a longtime coach at Xtreme Couture before he tragically took his own life in December of 2017. As of the making of this article, no mixed martial arts coach or trainer has become a member of the Hall of Fame, and that is surprising to me. You can’t really contribute more to MMA than if you actually train MMA fighters, meaning that the contributor wing would not be complete unless it contained at least one legendary coach. Robert Follis could indeed be that coach, having taught title contenders such as Tim Elliot and Kevin Lee, future champions such as Miesha Tate and Dan Henderson, and the legendary UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture. He racked up a mass of legendary students during his career as a trainer, and I think that his dedication and contribution to all of his fighters should be enough to grant him the immortality that comes with an honor such as this.

8. Miesha Tate

Miesha Tate was once the biggest star in MMA after her submission win over Holly Holm to win the belt she could never quite get thanks to Ronda Rousey, and she is still known by many fans today as one of the greatest Women’s Bantamweight fighters of all time. Many people were shocked when she announced her retirement from the sport so early, but that would just make her induction into the Hall of Fame all the more deserved. She was the Bantamweight champion for both Strikeforce and the UFC, had epic battles with Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm, and boats wins over the who’s who of the division. She would be the first ever female to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, and I for one think it’s about time for that barrier to break. As of right now, I don’t know if any female fighter would deserve that honor more than Miesha Tate.

9. Jens Pulver

Jens Pulver is probably best known for his rivalry with BJ Penn, but in truth he was the first ever UFC Lightweight champion of the world. That alone makes him a pioneer of the sport and worthy of being in the Hall of Fame, but he’s also fought the best in the world over his entire career. He’s shared the cage with some of the most recognizable stars of the sport, including Urijah Faber, Takanori Gomi and the aforementioned Penn, and has had one of the longest careers you can have in this unforgiving sport.

10. Muhammad Ali

You may thinking something along the lines of what is this guy smoking, but I promise you that Muhammad Ali deserves a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame more than anyone. Perhaps the most famous boxer of all time, Ali competed in what is seem as the first ever mixed martial arts fight when he fought professional wrestler Antonio Inoki (in a real fight). This was the first time someone ever thought to pit a boxer against a wrestler, and the whole idea snowballed into what we know today. Even though Ali is a fight icon and an undeniable legend, the problem with him being in the Hall of Fame is that he never had anything to do with the UFC. Dana White is notorious for condemning people that never made him money (i.e. Fedor Emelianenko), and that could cause problems for this claim. However I do feel as though Ali deserves a spot in the Contributors wing of the HOF more than anyone else in the fighting world, and I hope that the UFC understands this as much as many of the hardcore fans do.

What do you think? Who should be in the 2018 UFC Hall of Fame Class? Let me know in the comments!