UFC Hall of Fame: Top 10 Fighters Who Should Be Inducted Today

The current UFC Hall of Fame has eight members:

Royce Gracie, a pioneer of the early UFC events.

Ken Shamrock, another pioneer and Royce's rival for the early UFCs.

Dan Severn, a two-time tournament winner and first (and last) superfight champion.

Randy Couture, a former heavyweight and light heavyweight champion.

Mark Coleman, a two-time tournament winner and first heavyweight champion.

Chuck Liddell, a former light heavyweight champion and arguably the most dominant light heavyweight of all time.

Matt Hughes, a former welterweight champion and one of the best welterweights of all time.

Charles Lewis Jr., the founder of the TapouT clothing line.

In addition to those eight members, here are 10 more (and some honorable mentions) that I think could be inducted today. In addition to UFC accomplishments, Pride accomplishments will be taken into account.

Honorable Mentions

Don Frye, 20-8-1 (1 NC)—two-time UFC tournament winner (Thanks to Brian Oswald, as I totally overlooked him).

Rich Franklin, 28-6 (1 NC)—former UFC middleweight champion, two successful title defenses.

Rashad Evans, 15-1-1—former UFC light heavyweight champion, winner of The Ultimate Fighter 2.

Frank Mir, 14-5—former UFC heavyweight champion and former interim heavyweight champion.

Minotauro Nogueria, 32-6-1 (1 NC)—former UFC interim heavyweight champion, former Pride heavyweight champion.

Vitor Belfort, 19-9—former UFC tournament winner, former UFC light heavyweight champion.

Jon Fitch, 23-3-1 (1 NC)—second-best welterweight in the world.

Georges St-Pierre

Georges St-Pierre is the current UFC welterweight champion. He holds a professional MMA record of 21-2 and a UFC record of 15-2.

GSP is the two-time welterweight champion, and he has currently had five defenses of his title, which is tied for most in UFC welterweight history.

Georges St-Pierre is a definite future Hall of Famer.

Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva is the current UFC middleweight champion. Silva has a professional MMA record of 28-4, and a UFC record of 13-0.

Silva is currently on a 14-fight winning streak, dating back to his first fight before joining the UFC. In addition, he has defended his middleweight title a record eight times, while going up to light heavyweight and winning twice.

Silva is another fighter who is a sure thing for the UFC Hall of Fame.

BJ Penn

BJ Penn is the former UFC lightweight and former UFC welterweight champion of the world. As if being a champion in two weight classes isn't enough, Penn has a MMA record of 16-7-2, and a UFC record of 12-6-2.

In Penn's last fight, he fought to a draw with one of the best welterweights in the world, Jon Fitch.

Penn could lose every fight in the UFC from here on out, but would still get in the Hall of Fame based on his two championship belts.

Sean Sherk

Sean Sherk is the former UFC lightweight champion of the world. He has a professional MMA record of 36-4-1 and a UFC record of 8-4.

Sherk may not get into the HOF based on his PED usage, so that's something to keep in mind for the future.

Of Sherk's four career losses, all four have come to dominant champions: one to Matt Hughes, one to GSP, one to BJ Penn and one to Frankie Edgar. Nothing to be ashamed of there.

I expect to see Sherk in the Hall of Fame someday.

Tito Ortiz

Tito Ortiz is the former UFC light heavyweight champion, and he has a professional MMA record of 15-8-1 and a UFC record of 14-8-1. Tito is currently on a five-fight winless streak (four losses, one draw) and although many may not remember his days of dominance, he had five successful title defenses of his LHW belt.

First, he won the title from Wanderlei Silva. After that, he beat Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko and Ken Shamrock, before finally losing to Randy Couture.

Tito and Dana White may not get along, but Dana cannot deny him his spot in the Hall of Fame.

Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei Silva is a legend of MMA. He has a professional record of 33-10-1 (1 NC) and a UFC record of 3-5.

The UFC record is not impressive, but as stated in the intro, I believe fighters will get in for their Pride accomplishments as well as their UFC accomplishments.

If that becomes the case, Wanderlei will be one of a few who gets the nod.

Rampage Jackson

Rampage Jackson is the former UFC light heavyweight champion of the world. Rampage has a professional MMA record of 31-8 and a UFC record of 6-2.

Rampage is another one who gets in because of his Pride accomplishments, although I believe he would be borderline even without them, as he is the last person to defend the light heavyweight title without controversy.

Rampage will make a nice addition to the Hall of Fame.

Mirko Cro Cop

The third Pride star on this list is one of my favorite fighters, Mirko Cro Cop. Cro Cop has a professional MMA record of 27-9-2 (1 NC) and a UFC record of 4-5.

Cro Cop came over from Pride, and in his first fight he defeated Eddie Sanchez via TKO in the first round. After that he was matched up against Gabriel Gonzaga in a heavyweight title eliminator. We all know the story from there. The kick heard round the world was landed, and Cro Cop went down.

Since then, he has gone 5-4 (1 NC), and is on a two-fight losing streak (both knockouts).

Cro Cop's career is probably over, but he will be enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame.

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is the former UFC light heavyweight champion. Shogun is simply another Pride fighter who gets in based on his dominance there. He has a professional MMA record of 19-5, and a UFC record of 3-3.

Shogun was one of Pride's most dominant fighters, as evidenced by winning the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix. Along the way, he defeated Rampage Jackson, Rogerio Nogueria, Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona. Not bad, eh?

Shogun was one of the sport's most dominant fighters, and he deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Dan Henderson

Dan Henderson is the former and last Pride welterweight and middleweight champion. Hendo has a professional MMA record of 27-8 and a UFC record of 5-2. If I may point it out, the two losses were in back-to-back fights with Rampage Jackson and Anderson Silva. No shame in losing to them.

Although Hendo is the current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, I believe he will be back in the UFC someday and will earn his spot in the UFC Hall of Fame.