HALL OF FAME PIONEER WING

Royce Gracie is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer, and a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family, he is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA). He also competed at PRIDE Fighting Championships, K-1's MMA events and at Bellator.

Ken Shamrock is an American bare-knuckle boxing promoter and semi-retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and kickboxer. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and other combat sports.  A member of the UFC Hall of Fame, Shamrock is widely regarded as an icon and pioneer of the sport.  He has headlined over 15 main events and co-main events in the UFC and Pride FC and set numerous MMA pay-per-view records.  In the early part of his UFC career, Shamrock was named "The World's Most Dangerous Man" by ABC News in a special called "The World's Most Dangerous Things". The moniker has stuck as his nickname.

Dan Severn nicknamed "The Beast", is an American professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler. A UFC Hall of Fame member, Severn is considered one of the leading pioneers of mixed martial arts and the first true world-class wrestler to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.  He is best known for his success in the early years of the UFC where he became the only UFC Triple Crown champion in history. Severn has also competed in King of the Cage, PRIDE FC, Cage Rage, WEC, RINGS and MFC, and holds a professional MMA Record of 101–19–7.

Randy Couture is an American actor, former U.S. Army sergeant, former mixed martial artist and former collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestler. During his tenures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), he became a three-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, two-time UFC Light heavyweight Champion, an interim UFC Light heavyweight Champion, making him a six-time UFC Champion and the UFC 13 Heavyweight Tournament winner. He is the first of eight fighters to hold two UFC championship titles in two different divisions.

Mark Coleman is an American retired mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and amateur wrestler. Coleman was the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournament champion, the first UFC Heavyweight Champion, and the Pride Fighting Championships 2000 Open Weight Grand Prix champion. At UFC 82 Coleman was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Chuck Liddell is an American, retired mixed martial artist (MMA) who held the title of UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.  He is widely credited, along with fellow UFC fighter, Randy Couture, with helping bring MMA into the mainstream of American sports and entertainment.  Known as "The Iceman," Liddell compiled a 16-6 UFC record and an overall record 21-8, with 16 of his wins coming by way of knockout, before retiring in late 2010. (He came out of retirement for one match in 2018, a loss, bringing his career record to 21-9. On July 10, 2009, Liddell was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

​Matt Hughes is an American retired mixed martial artist with a background in wrestling. Widely considered among the greatest fighters in the history of MMA, he is a former two-time UFC Welterweight Champion, UFC Hall of Fame inductee, and NJCAA Hall of Fame inductee. During his tenures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Hughes put together two separate six-fight winning streaks, defeated all the available opposition in the welterweight division, and defended the belt a then-record seven times. In May 2010, Hughes became the eighth inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Tito Ortiz is an American mixed martial artist. Ortiz is best known for his stints with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Light Heavyweight Champion, having held the title from April 14, 2000, to September 26, 2003. Later competing for Bellator MMA. Along with fighters like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, he was one of the sport's early stars.

Ortiz is the CEO of Punishment Athletics MMA equipment and clothing line, which is located in his hometown of Huntington Beach, California.

On July 7, 2012, Ortiz became the ninth inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Pat Miletich is a retired American mixed martial artist and former sports commentator. He is known for his fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he became the first UFC Welterweight Champion and UFC 16 Welterweight Tournament Winner. Miletich is also known as a highly successful trainer and coach, having founded Miletich Fighting Systems. This camp is considered one of the most successful in MMA history and has produced several world champions.  On July 6, 2014, he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Bas Rutten is a Dutch-American actor, former mixed martial artist, kickboxer and professional wrestler. He was a UFC Heavyweight Champion, a three-time King of Pancrase world champion, and finished his career on a 22 fight unbeaten streak (21 wins, 1 draw). From 2007 to 2016, Rutten was the co-host of Inside MMA on AXS TV.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira better known as Minotauro or Big Nog, is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist. He competed in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion. He is the twin brother of UFC fighter Antonio Rogério Nogueira. Nogueira rose to prominence in Japanese promotions Fighting Network RINGS where he won the 2000 RINGS King of Kings tournament, and later with Pride Fighting Championships, where he was the first Pride Heavyweight Champion from November 2001 to March 2003, as well as a 2004 PRIDE FC Heavyweight Grand Prix Finalist. He is one of only three men to have held championship titles in both Pride Fighting Championships and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Don Frye is an American former mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. In MMA, he was one of the sport's earliest well-rounded fighters and won the UFC 8 and Ultimate Ultimate 96 tournaments and finished as runner-up UFC 10 in his first year of competition. After spending four years as one of Japan's top gaijin wrestlers, he returned to MMA with the Pride Fighting Championships in September 2001, much more muscular and sporting an American patriot persona in response to the September 11 attacks. He fought bouts with Ken Shamrock and Yoshihiro Takayama during his two years in Pride. He departed the promotion to compete in K-1 and Hero's in 2004 but returned for the final Pride event in 2007. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2016.

Maurice Smith is a retired American kickboxer and mixed martial artist. In kickboxing, he held the WKC (World Kickboxing Council) world light heavyweight championship, the WKA (World Kickboxing Association) world heavyweight championship, and the ISKA (International Sport Karate Association) world heavyweight championship. In mixed martial arts, he held the Heavyweight championship in Battlecade Extreme Fighting and the UFC, and became a member of the UFC Hall of Fame in 2017. A professional competitor since 1980, Smith has formerly competed in kickboxing for the companies All Japan Enterprise and K-1, Pancrase, RINGS, PRIDE, Strikeforce, International Fight League and RFA.

Kazushi Sakuraba is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and submission wrestler, currently signed to Rizin Fighting Federation and Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was formerly one-half of the former GHC Tag Team Champions with Takashi Sugiura. He has also competed in traditional puroresu for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and shoot-style competition for UWFi and Kingdom Pro Wrestling (KPW). He has fought in MMA competition in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride Fighting Championships, Hero's and Dream. He is known as the Gracie Hunter or the Gracie Killer due to his wins over four members of the famed Gracie family: Royler Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Ryan Gracie, and Royce Gracie. Sakuraba is famous for beating 13 champions of different top MMA organizations; opponents who were often many weight-classes above him.

Matt Serra is an American former professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Serra defeated Pete Spratt, Shonie Carter and Chris Lytle en route to becoming The Ultimate Fighter 4 Welterweight Tournament Winner. He captured the UFC Welterweight Championship immediately after. Serra also served as the head coach for The Ultimate Fighter 6 reality show opposite Matt Hughes, and he is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame. In grappling, Serra holds a Silver Medal in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.

​Kevin Randleman was an American mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and former UFC Heavyweight Champion. Randleman's background was in collegiate wrestling, in which he became a two-time NCAA Division I and a three-time Big Ten wrestling champion out of Ohio State University. Randleman competed in the heavyweight and light heavyweight classes in MMA. In addition to competing in the UFC, Randleman also fought for other organizations such as PRIDE, WVR, and Strikeforce. On May 16, 2020, the UFC announced that Randleman would be inducted into the pioneer wing of the UFC Hall of Fame. Randleman is the first fighter to be posthumously inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Jens Pulver is an American retired professional mixed martial artist and undefeated boxer and kickboxer. Pulver was the inaugural UFC Lightweight Champion in addition to serving as the head coach on The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show against long-time rival B.J. Penn. In mixed martial arts, Pulver competed at the Lightweight, Featherweight, Bantamweight and Flyweight divisions in addition to competing at the Middleweight, Light Middleweight, and Welterweight divisions as a professional boxer. While perhaps best known for competing in the UFC, Pulver has also competed in Pride Fighting Championships, for the PRIDE 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix. He is to-date the youngest UFC Lightweight Champion in the UFC history, eventually relinquishing his title, after two defenses, due to a contract dispute.

Fedor Emelianenko is a Russian former heavyweight mixed martial artist (MMA), sambist, and judoka. He has won championships and accolades in multiple sports, most notably in MMA Pride Fighting Championships (heavyweight champion 2003–2007), FIAS World Combat Sambo Championship (Heavyweight Champion 2002, 2005, 2007), and Russian Judo Federation National Championship (Bronze medal 1998, 1999). He also competed for Rizin Fighting Federation and Bellator MMA. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight MMA fighters of all time.