Mark Kerr to Enter UFC Hall of Fame 'Pioneer Wing'

Welcome to the UFC Hall of Fame, Mark Kerr 👏

The Smashing Machine rounds out the class of 2025! pic.twitter.com/lOltVjqKxI

— UFC (@ufc) June 8, 2025

UFC and Pride Fighting Championships veteran Mark Kerr will be enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame this summer.

Kerr will be 21st entrant into the “Pioneer Wing,” which honors athletes who turned professional before November 17, 2000, which was when the unified rules of MMA were adopted. Fighters must be at least 35 years old or retired for a year or more to be eligible for the “Pioneer Wing.”

Kerr won one-night heavyweight tournaments at UFC 14 and UFC 15, making him one of just five athletes to win multiple tournaments within the promotion. The others are Royce Gracie, Mark Coleman, Dan Severn, and Don Frye. After those victories, Kerr went on to compete in Pride, where he was victorious in six of his first eight appearances.

“Mark Kerr was a high-level wrestler who also fought for PRIDE and was one of the early pioneers of the sport,” UFC CEO Dana White said in a release.

Kerr’s rapid rise — as well as his downfall due to opoid addiction — has been in the spotlight recently thanks to the biopic entitled “The Smashing Machine,” which is slated for an Oct. 3 release in theaters. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will play Kerr in the A24-produced film, and he is expected to be in attendance at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on June 26 at the T-Mobile Arena.

All the emotions for Mark Kerr as he is inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame 👏 #UFC316 pic.twitter.com/tC8vpAm5wG

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 8, 2025