Maurice Smith to be inducted into UFC Hall of Fame

[Wild]

The UFC has announced that Maurice Smith will join Urijah Faber in the 2017 UFC Hall of Fame class. Smith will be the 13th fighter inducted to the Pioneer wing.

At UFC 14 on July 27, 1997, Smith defeated Mark Coleman for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Smith was considered to be a massive underdog for the bout, but shocked the mixed martial arts world with a unanimous decision victory to win the title.

Smith then successfully defended his belt against David "Tank" Abbott winning via strikes due to leg kicks, before losing his belt to MMA legend Randy Couture by majority decision, in a close fight.

 

[sparkuri]

I first met Mo about 1/2 mi. from where I'm sitting.
Played basketball with him & asked him what he did.
He said "I'm the world kickboxing champion"
Me n my buddy looked at each other like "ssssuuure you are".
A year later he was UFC HW champion.

 

[madmav]

players like mo, bas, ruas, and oleg.. they are the grandfathers of modern mma imo

 

[Mix6APlix]

players like mo, bas, ruas, and oleg.. they are the grandfathers of modern mma imo

Don't leave Tank out. He was the original bad guy who always came to bang and spoke freely, both in interviews and commentary. If you believe in the "there is no such thing as bad publicity" line of thinking, Tank carried the UFC for years.

 

[sgotwalks]

Awesome tribute during last night's event. Good for Maurice Smith, much deserved induction.

 

[Mix6APlix]

And not to mention Jacob Ortiz Sr. stole Tanks nickname for marketing purposes.

 

[kneeblock]

First African American champion in MMA history! Also first American kickboxer to ever win a major title back when he won it at Extreme Fighting 3. Mo saved MMA from the wrestlers for like a second before Couture smothered him. Breathed new life into the sport along with the Lion's Den under 200s and Vitor at a time when it was desperately needed.

 

[jason73]

Still no frank shamrock in the ufc hof.its a shame