The UFC Hall of Fame is slated to get a facelift with four new categories for inductees.
The UFC announced Tuesday, May 5, that it will undergo a dramatic change by creating four new categories for inductees and defining criteria for selection.
The members were previously chosen almost exclusively by UFC boss Dana White, Yahoo Sports noted.
Currently, there are 12 members of the UFC Hall of Fame that will be divided up into the new categories:
The Modern Era Wing
Fighters who made their professional debut after Nov. 17, 2000 and UFC 28, the time when the unified rules were first implemented, are eligible for selection in this class.
Pioneer Era Wing
Fighters who debuted before Nov. 17, 2000 will be honored in this category.
The Contributors Wing
The wing will include a person or group who contributed to the sport without actually being a participant. It will consider, for example, announcers and promoters, commissioners, trainers, judges, and referees. People such as Greg Jackson, world-class trainer at Jackson's MMA; announcer Joe Rogan and/ or referee John McCarthy would be qualified for selection in this wing.
The Fight Wing
This wing will commemorate the greatest and most important bouts in UFC's history. A fight, to be considered must have taken place at least five years earlier from the year the bout is being considered for induction, FOXSports noted.
The UFC will induct at least one person from each wing of the new format starting with this year's induction that is scheduled to take place at the UFC Fan Expo during International Fight Week in July. This will reportedly continue for the induction ceremonies in 2016 as well as 2017. After 2017, the UFC will continue to induct new members each year but no set structure on which category or how many people will be introduced to the Hall of Fame.
Dana White will lead a panel that will determine the participants into the UFC Hall of Fame each year.
UFC President Dana White said, "The UFC Hall of Fame has an important job -- it not only celebrates greatness but it helps pass stories of the greatest athletes and fights in UFC history on to the next generation of fight fans."
White added that UFC is looking forward to announcing the class of 2015 and what is going to be a great induction event on July 11.
Starting this year the current UFC Hall of Fame members will be separated each category with the new format. Forrest Griffin is the only current Hall of Famer who would be categorized as a modern era fighter.
All other fighters including, Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Pat Miletich, Tito Ortiz, and Chuck Liddel are considered in the 'pioneer era.'
The new class of the UFC Hall of Fame will be introduced soon along with the induction ceremony taking place the weekend of UFC 189 Aldo vs. McGregor in Las Vegas.
