10 Great Retired UFC Champions Not In The Hall Of Fame
1. Frank Shamrock
No surprise here. Shamrock became the UFC’s first Light Heavyweight Champion in his first match with the promotion on December 21st, 1997, and never looked back; defending the belt 4 more times before leaving the organization after one of the greatest fights of all time, when he defeated rising super star Tito Ortiz by TKO in the fourth round in September of 1999 at UFC 22.
Frank finished his UFC career with a perfect 5-0 record, all title fights, and all finishes; including the record for Fastest Submission in the History of the UFC Light Heavyweight division; submitting Kevin Jackson in just 16 seconds to begin his UFC stint. Frank had earned the immediate title fight after establishing an impressive international record fighting the best of his generation, in the US and all over Japan. Frank retired after having last fought in April of 2009 for Strikeforce.
So why has a man with such a stellar UFC career not been inducted into the Hall of Fame after retiring 11 years ago, and having exited the UFC 21 years ago? It has been well documented to be a result of a longstanding personal conflict between Frank Shamrock and UFC President Dana White, although no one has ever publicly divulged the true details of its nature.
Dana has mended many of his most contentious relationships with fighters over the years, especially when given an opportunity to profit off it, and yet this one stands out, especially as Frank claims to have been White’s first MMA teacher while Dana was still managing fighters prior to the Zuffa buy out. On the record, Shamrock says its because he chose to fight in Japan rather than stay in the UFC after the Zuffa buy- out, but the clear black balling of someone of Frank’s level for this length of time, not just from the Hall, but of mention anywhere in official UFC media is unheard of, and burying the story only continues to fuel rumours and speculation.
Whatever the true nature of the circumstances that caused their bad blood, freezing Frank Shamrock out for personal reasons is an unnecessary distraction and a bigger black eye on the Hall’s integrity than it is to Shamrock’s career.
HoF wing eligibility: PIONEER