As a pioneer in MMA and submission grappling, Mark Ker will take his rightful place among the other inductees in the ADCC Hall of fame.

A renowned collegiate wrestler, Kerr entered the dual worlds of mixed martial arts and submission grappling in the late 90s. He entered the first-ever ADCC tournament in 1999 and won his first gold medal in the 99 division. + kg. A year later, he not only added another championship title in the same weight class, but also moved through the Openweight division. During that two-year tenure, he defeated such notable names as Sean Alvarez (twice), josh barnet (twice), Ricardo Almeida, and Ricco Rodriguez. In 2001, he returned to the ADCC competition circuit and beat Mario Sperry in a Superfight. In his last submission grappling match, he lost to Ricardo Arona in a Superfight at the 2003 ADCC Championships. Kerr’s overall ADCC record is 12-1.

“Smashing Machine” had been a mainstay of MMA almost since the sport’s inception. He has amassed 15 – 11 – 1 professional mixed martial arts record with bouts dating back to January 1997. Kerr made his MMA debut at the World Vale Tudo Championship 3 tournament, which he won by defeating Paul Varelans and Fabio Gurgel In the process. Later that year, he fought for the UFC, where he became a two-time heavyweight tournament winner. A larger salary offer from PRIDE FC persuaded Kerr to sign with the Japanese promotion. His PRIDE record was 6-2-1 NC and the only notable thing about Kerr’s tenure was his wins over Nobuhiko Takada and Enson Inoue in the first round of the PRIDE 2000 Grand Prix. After his stint in Japan, ‘Smashing Machine’ fought for various small US promotions, his last fight being a loss against King Mo Lawal at the M-1 Global Breakthrough event in 2009.

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