Mark Kerr is going into the UFC Hall of fame.
“Mark Kerr was a high-level wrestler who also fought for PRIDE and was one of the early pioneers of the sport,” said UFC President and CEO Dana White.
One of the early fighters of the sport will take his rightful place in the UFC Hall of fame. Kerr is getting alot of attention in 2025, as the former UFC fighter has a movie coming out about him in October. The film is called The Smashing Machine, and it stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Kerr himself. The film is directed by Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems, Good Time).
Kerr was an important figure during the early days of MMA. Though he’s never won an titles within the UFC, Kerr came into the promotion during the UFC Heavyweight tournament. Kerr was undefeated at the time, and he ended up winning the entire tournament in 1997.
But UFC 15 would be the last time he fought in the UFC. In total, Kerr only had four fights with the promotion and is a rare fighter that left undefeated. Though Kerr’s prominence isn’t particularly because of his UFC run, the heavyweight was an important fixture throughout several promotions as Kerr also competed in Pride, World Vale Tudo.
Father time would eventually get to Kerr as he suffered his first official MMA loss at Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals and struggled to get back into the win column going forward. Kerr had some demons outside of the sport that eventually affected his career and forced him to retire in 2009.
But in addition to MMA, Kerr was an accomplished wrestler who won gold during the United World Wrestling Cup in 1992 and 1994, and also won the silver medal at UWW Pan American Games in 1995.
Mark was also notably a Division-I champion that even beat infamous Olympic Gold Medalist and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle at the team trials for USA in 1993. The accomplished athlete joins 2025 inductees Vitor Belfort (Pioneer Wing), Amanda Nunes and Robbie Lawler (Modern Wing), a UFC 236 title clash between Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum (Fight Wing), and producer Craig Piligian (Contributor Wing).
Kerr’s name will be alongside Pioneer Wing members Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, and Anderson Silva. Congratulations to Mark Kerr!