5 most surprising inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame

#2. Kazushi Sakuraba – former UFC tournament winner

Kazushi Sakuraba is an MMA legend, but his induction into the UFC Hall of Fame came as a surprise

If an official MMA Hall of Fame was ever put together, then nobody could argue with Kazushi Sakuraba being one of the first inductees. After all, when it comes to MMA in Japan, few fighters have ever reached the legendary status that ‘The Gracie Hunter’ did.

Sakuraba shot to fame in PRIDE in the late 1990’s when he became the first man to officially defeat a member of the legendary Gracie family – in this case Royler – in an MMA bout. He went onto not only defeat a further three members of the family, but also beat the likes of Kevin Randleman and Vitor Belfort, too.

Sure, the Japanese star also suffered some crushing defeats, most notably a trio of them to Wanderlei Silva, and hung on far too long in the sport, but overall, his career could hardly have been more epic.

However, when it comes to the UFC’s Hall of Fame, it’s probably safe to say that Sakuraba simply doesn’t belong. Inducted into the Hall in the summer of 2017, Sakuraba actually had just two fights inside the octagon, and bizarrely, they both came against the same fighter in the middleweight tournament at UFC Japan in 1997.

His first bout saw him apparently TKO’d by Marcus Silveira, but after the fight was declared to have been stopped early, Sakuraba was given a second crack against the Brazilian in the tournament’s finals, and this time, he won via armbar.

Essentially, Sakuraba’s entry into the Hall of Fame is a red flag of sorts that suggests that the promotion sees itself as the keeper of MMA history in general. This does make sense in some ways, given that it bought out PRIDE, as well as various other promotions, but for a fighter with just two octagon appearances to be considered a Hall of Famer is still surprising.

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#1. Don Frye – former UFC tournament winner

Don Frye was inducted into the Hall of Fame despite his spat with Dana White

The UFC Hall of Fame’s Pioneer Wing contains the majority of the promotion’s early legends, with inductees like Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock and Mark Coleman all being credited with MMA’s rise to popularity in the 1990’s.

Looking at things in that sense, there’s no disputing that Don Frye deserves a spot in the Hall. ‘The Predator’ won UFC 8’s tournament, made it to the finals of UFC 10’s tournament and then won the legendary 'Ultimate Ultimate' tournament in 1996 by defeating Tank Abbott.

However, given his attitude towards the promotion since his departure after the tournament victory, it’s a massive surprise to see his name amongst those other legends.

‘The Predator’ has been an outspoken critic of the UFC in recent years, hitting out at Dana White on numerous occasions on subjects ranging from fighter pay to the treatment of current stars like Conor McGregor.

In 2012, Frye even accused White of “ruining the sport” of MMA. Unsurprisingly, White hit back immediately, labeling ‘The Predator’ a “crybaby” and telling him to “get a job.”

Evidently, though, by the time of his induction into the Hall in 2016, cooler heads had prevailed. With that considered, while Frye’s entry is still a surprise, it should give hope to other legends who remain on the outs with the UFC and White, most notably former middleweight kingpin Frank Shamrock.