Mark Kerr’s status as a UFC great was cemented on today in 1997.
Kerr enjoyed a legendary mixed martial arts profession that’s the subject of The Smashing Machine movie, which was released in October and sees Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson portray the multi-time champion.
En path to becoming a member of the Pioneer Wing within the UFC Hall of Fame, Kerr emerged victorious from back-to-back heavyweight tournaments in 1997. The primary saw the Ohio native finish two opponents contained in the first round, but he achieved that feat even quicker the second time around.
- LATEST NEWS: UFC prospect who claimed he’d submit Khabib Nurmagomedov hits back at haters after two KO losses
Mark Kerr won second straight UFC tournament with two finishes in a combined 70 seconds
After winning three fights in a single night at World Vale Tudo Championship 3 — where Kerr even made an opponent crawl out the ring — and becoming the UFC 14 heavyweight champion, ‘The Smashing Machine’ returned at UFC 15 on today, October 17, 28 years ago.
Kerr made even shorter work of his opponents that night, first knocking out Greg Stott with a knee just 17 seconds into their semifinal clash.
That arrange a gathering in the ultimate with Dwayne Cason, who had knocked out Houston Dorr to present himself a probability at glory.
Kerr once more required lower than a minute to have his hand raised, this time making his opponent frantically tap out after 53 seconds, having locked in a decent rear-naked choke.
‘The Smashing Machine’ later crossed over to Pride in pursuit of greater financial opportunities, but his profession will all the time be remembered for the consecutive tournament victories that secured his spot within the UFC Hall of Fame down the road.
- LATEST NEWS: Islam Makhachev’s coach did something he never has to arrange for Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was ‘really scared’ to play Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine
With ‘The Rock’ playing Kerr in The Smashing Machine, the 56-year-old’s life and profession in MMA is currently a hot topic.
Johnson spent loads of time preparing to rework into Kerr for the role, which he has admitted was an incredibly daunting task initially.
“It was very real. I had not experienced that in a really, very, very very long time, where I used to be really scared and pondering, ‘I don’t know if I can do that. Can I do that?’” Johnson revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair.