UFC today announced that UFC 14 and UFC 15 heavyweight tournament winner Mark Kerr will be inducted into the 2025 Class of the UFC Hall of Fame as a Pioneer.
The 2025 UFC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place as part of the 13th Annual UFC International Fight Week, on Thursday, June 26, at T-Mobile Arena, and will be streamed live, exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS.
“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.
Kerr will enter the UFC Hall of Fame as the 21st member of the Pioneer Era Wing, which includes athletes who turned professional before November 17, 2000, (when the unified rules of mixed martial arts were adopted). Other requirements include a minimum age of 35 or those who have been retired for one year or more.
A veteran of 27 fights during his 12-year MMA career, Kerr compiled a record of 15-11,1 NC (10-4,1 NC – UFC / PRIDE), securing victories over former King of the Cage super heavyweight champion Dan Bobish, former K-1 World Grand Prix champion Branko Cikatic, and former Shooto heavyweight champion Enson Inoue.
Kerr made his professional MMA debut on January 19, 1997, by competing in a heavyweight tournament as part of World Vale Tudo Championship 3. He defeated all three of his opponents during the event, each in the first round, to capture the WVC 3 heavyweight tournament title.
Kerr would make his UFC debut six months later by entering the tournament of UFC® 14: SHOWDOWN, which took place on July 27, 1997, in Birmingham, Alabama. He defeated both of his opponents, Moti Horenstein and Dan Bobish, via TKO and submission, respectively, in a combined four minutes, to win the heavyweight tournament.
Three months later, Kerr would return to the Octagon® and compete in the heavyweight tournament for UFC® 15: COLLISION COURSE, which took place on October 17, 1997, in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Kerr defeated both opponents, Greg Stott and Dwayne Cason, in a combined 70 seconds, to win his second consecutive UFC heavyweight tournament title.
With those victories, Kerr became one of only five athletes to win multiple UFC tournaments, residing with UFC Hall of Famers Royce Gracie, Mark Coleman, Dan Severn, and Don Frye in the exclusive club.
Kerr would leave UFC following Collision Course, Japan-based MMA promotion PRIDE Fighting Championships. Over the next three years, he would win six of his first eight bouts in PRIDE as a heavyweight, securing victories in a variety of ways while earning the nickname, “The Smashing Machine,” for his punishing style.
For the next nine years, Kerr would continue to compete against top contenders across multiple MMA promotions before retiring in 2009.Outside the Octagon, the 56-year old Kerr served as the subject of a critically acclaimed documentary titled The Smashing Machine, which chronicled his career while competing across multiple MMA organizations. A film with the same name, starring Dwayne Johnson as Kerr, is set to be released by A24 on October 3.
A native of Toledo, Ohio, Kerr began his wrestling career as a freshman at Bettendorf High School in Iowa, where he was a teammate of future UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich. Kerr returned to Toledo and joined the wrestling team at Waite High School, becoming Ohio Division I state champion in 1986.
Following high school, Kerr began his collegiate wrestling career at Syracuse University, competing for the Orangemen in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association. During his tenure on the collegiate mats, Kerr won the conference title in 1989, 1991 and 1992, while also earning All-America honors and the NCAA Division I National Championship in his final season.
Kerr would spend the next four years as a freestyle wrestler, winning silver and gold medals during the United World Wrestling World Cup in 1992 and 1994, as well as the silver medal at the UWW Pan American Games in 1995. He also won the USA Wrestling World Team Trials in 1993 and 1994.
Kerr also competed in ADCC Submission Fighting Championship, a grappling competition, defeating future UFC heavyweight champions Josh Barnett and Ricco Rodriguez en route to winning gold medals during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 tournaments. In 2022, he was inducted into the inaugural class of the ADCC Hall of Fame.
