Imagining an MMA Hall of Fame: The Shoo-Ins

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Frank Shamrock Pancrase (1994-96); Icon Sport (1997); Rings (1997, 1999); World Pankration Championships (1997); Vale Tudo Japan (1997); Ultimate Fighting Championship (1997-98, 1999), K-1 (2000); World Extreme Cagefighting (2003); Strikeforce (2006, 2007-09); EliteXC (2007)
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A quick proponent of cross training in MMA, Shamrock was the most dominant champion in the early days of the UFC. During a time when fighters tended to win in one or two ways, Shamrock won using his strikes, slams, submissions and conditioning. His victory over Tito Ortiz at UFC 22 came in one of the best fights of the era. Shamrock then had a second run as the most important fighter in building the Strikeforce brand. Without television, he turned San Jose, Calif., into an MMA hotbed and sold thousands of tickets. It is a shame the sport was in a weak state during much of his prime because it would have been fascinating to see what he could have done during the half decade in which he only fought twice.

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