(Exclusive) Randy Couture Picks 2 Ex-UFC Champs for Hall of Fame Honors

Randy Couture says the UFC Hall of Fame is missing a fighter or two.

The UFC has been around for over 30 years, crowning dozens upon dozens of champions since its inception. That includes Randy Couture, the premier promotion’s first two-division champion who was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2006 as part of the pioneer wing.

In the following years, many of Couture’s fellow champions have joined him in the Hal of Fame, the latest class consisting of Wanderlei Silva, Shogun Rua, Frankie Edgar and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

While more fighters have been recognized, some are still left out of the picture despite their accolades, like the inaugural UFC Middleweight Champion, “The Legend” Frank Shamrock.

“There’s so many amazing fighters. I think it’s a bit of a travesty that Frank Shamrock hasn’t been recognized and put in the Hall of Fame,” Couture told MMA Knockout. Special thanks to Affliction, more on them later.

A pioneer of the sport getting his start in Pancrase, Shamrock went on to do great things in the UFC, winning the world title upon his debut in 1997 and amassing a perfect 5-0 record with all finishes, his last fight under the banner being the cherry on top – an incredible stoppage over Tito Ortiz in 1999.

Having retired from the UFC that night, the unstoppable champion Shamrock would never be seen in the Octagon again, instead competing in other promotions and as a champion in Strikeforce before announcing his retirement in 2010.

“Sometimes there are personality issues, personality rubs, if you will, and that’s where that’s coming from,” Couture said, likely in reference to a past feud between Shamrock and UFC CEO Dana White. “But he achieved a lot of accolades and should be included in there.”

Like Shamrock, longtime UFC Flyweight king Demetrious Johnson hasn’t always seen eye-to-eye with Dana White.

Hailed somewhere at the top of the list when it comes to the greatest fighters of all time, Johnson retired from MMA earlier this year and has yet to get inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame seven years after his twelfth consecutive title defense against Henry Cejudo.

Johnson was traded off to ONE Championship for Ben Askren following his title loss with “Mighty Mouse” putting on another generational run overseas, winning the top promotion’s Grand Prix tournament along with the flyweight championship post-pandemic.

“I think ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson is another one that comes up,” Couture said of another fighter who should be in the UFC Hall of Fame. “He is arguably, pound-for-pound, one of the best fighters we’ve ever seen in his technical abilities and the way he approached the sport. I feel he’s another one that should be recognized for that.”

Breaking Anderson Silva’s record for most title defenses in UFC history at 11, there’s not many fighters that can call it day and say they did it better than the man Demetrious Johnson. When asked about a Hall of Fame induction for the recently-retired 38-year-old, White told Grind City Media “absolutely”.

“You can make a case for a lot of guys for a lot of reasons, and at the end of the day, [I] kind of want to see everybody get the recognition they deserve. Everybody needs to be and deserves to be recognized for what they’ve contributed to the sport,” Couture added.