Mark Kerr’s profession gained’t quickly be forgotten.
Throughout Saturday’s UFC 316 broadcast, it was introduced that Kerr, 56, is about to be inducted into the UFC Corridor of Fame’s Pioneer Wing at a ceremony on June 28 in Las Vegas. The 2-time UFC heavyweight event winner was in attendance at Prudential Heart in Newark, N.J., to look at a video tribute, which might be seen beneath.
The information comes at a time when Kerr’s mainstream recognition is at an all-time excessive. A biopic in regards to the fighter’s life titled The Smashing Machine is scheduled to be launched on Oct. 3, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson bringing his story to life.
If there was any doubt that the timing of Kerr’s Corridor of Fame induction is supposed to coincide with The Smashing Machine’s hype, it was additionally introduced Saturday that Johnson would be the one to ship an induction speech for Kerr on June 28.
Kerr was a star within the UFC’s early days, successful heavyweight tournaments for the promotion at UFC 14 and UFC 15 in 1997. Residing as much as his nickname, the Ohio native brutalized his opposition, successful all however one in every of his first 11 fights within the first spherical. Sadly for Kerr, he was unable to take care of that success as a loss to Kazuyuki Fujita in 2000 signaled the beginning of his downfall.
After that defeat, Kerr solely gained three of his final 13 fights earlier than retiring in 2009 with a 15-11 (1 NC) report.
Kerr additionally performed a significant function in serving to the now-famous Abu Dhabi Fight Membership competitions from getting off the bottom. The Division-I champion wrestler gained ADCC tournaments in 1999 and 2000 and was later a part of the group’s inaugural Corridor of Fame class in 2022.
When Kerr steps on stage at T-Cellular Area for the UFC Corridor of Fame, he joins 2025 inductees Vitor Belfort (Pioneer Wing), Amanda Nunes and Robbie Lawler (Fashionable Wing), a UFC 236 title conflict between Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum (Struggle Wing), and producer Craig Piligian (Contributor Wing).
Different Pioneer Wing members embrace Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, and Anderson Silva.
