The UFC has added two men to their exclusive Hall of Fame roster, Chuck Liddell and Charles "Mask" Lewis. The official induction ceremony will takes place at the UFC Fan Expo on July 10 at 6:30 p.m.
It's difficult to think of two men more deserving of this honor. Liddell is a true living legend. At one point, perhaps the most feared striker to ever terrorize the light heavyweight division, he had it all inside the cage and out of it. He was one of the first fighters to break the barrier into the mainstream and usher in the new generation, while staying true to the sport and the fans that got him there. Liddell never particularly liked the spotlight, which, ironically, probably earned him more of it- he is a fighter and that's what he likes to do. He's not in this for the money or the fame; he is in it to fight, to test himself and to throw some punches.
Mask, on the other hand, never stepped into the illustrious Octagon, but as the first non-fighter to be let into the Hall, Mask represents the essence of this sport as well as anyone.
The story has been well-publicized over the years-Mask and his friends founded TapouT clothing company with literally nothing, selling T-shirts out of the back of their cars at underground MMA shows up and down the West Coast. Mask's designs caught on and TapouT grew into a multi-million dollar business. But it was more than that -even in the beginning- for Mask and his friends. They were in there for the fighters, sponsoring them with every penny they didn't spend on gas. He had a clear goal and a set of ideals for which he made no compromises -he helped to make MMA a way of life rather than just a sport.
Anyone who has comes away with pretty much the same response. It's almost as if they're reading off cue cards when they say he had an infectious laugh that could light up a room. On a personal level he was an extremely likable guy, on a professional level he was the tycoon who fought for the little guy and on a public level he had the in-your-face persona that drove TapouT to become a cultural phenomenon.
Mask was killed in a car crash earlier this year and it will surely be an emotional occasional when Chuck Liddell stands before the induction committee with only a t-shirt and a few memories of his long-time friend, but we'll all be grateful to the UFC for giving us one more great memory to hold onto.
