Maurice Smith

By FCF Staff

Former heavyweight champion Maurice Smith will be inducted into the UFCs Hall of Fame during International Fight Week in July. The promotion announced the news during the UFC Fight Night 108 broadcast on Saturday.

The decorated kickboxer made his way to the UFC back in 1997, and shocked the MMA world by defeating then champion, Mark Coleman. At the time, the expectation was that the wrestling and ground-and-pound game of Coleman would rule the day against Smith. The latter proceeded to stop “Tank” Abbott in his next bout, before Smith lost to Randy Couture.

The Washington State fighter continued to compete all the way up until 2013, and fought for organizations like PRIDE, Strikeforce, Rings and the IFL along the way.

In the official announcement regarding Smith’s induction, the vaunted striker said this:

“I didn’t know what the criteria was initially, so I was quite surprised,” Smith said. “But it’s a nice compliment to me. I accept it and I appreciate it.”

Smith, who is now 55, retired with a kickboxing record of 53-13-5 and a MMA record of 12-14.