By the time that Mark Kerr arrived in PRIDE in 1998, he was already one of the most feared contenders in the heavyweight division thanks to his win streak.
It wasn’t until his third fight in the Japanese promotion that the wrestling specialist went out of the first-round after Kerr earned his nickname by steamrolling through his early opponents.
His career is now set to hit the big screen with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson playing the role of ‘The Smashing Machine’ in an upcoming movie from Benny Safdie under the same name.
For all that the former UFC heavyweight tournament winner accomplished, he also suffered his fair share of setbacks throughout his career with his first loss coming against an unexpected adversary.
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Mark Kerr was stopped by pro wrestler Kazuyuki Fajita in the Japanese competitor’s fourth pro fight
In his first few years with PRIDE, Mark Kerr was able to continue the incredible momentum from his UFC days by racking up four consecutive wins and finishes.
His first setback came against Igor Vovchanchyn, who is set to be played by Oleksandr Usyk in the upcoming movie about Kerr’s career.
The fight was originally declared a TKO victory for Vovchanchyn at PRIDE 7 in 1999 but the result was later changed to a no contest due to the Ukrainian landing illegal knees to the head of a downed opponent.
Kerr bounced back with the first decision win of his career over Enson Inoue in order to progress to the next stage of the PRIDE Grand Prix in 2000 which took place on this day, May 1.
Kerr’s next opponent, Kazuyuki Fujita, competed 32 times as pro fighter having faced many of the legends of his era before he retired in 2018.
Both before and after his MMA career, Fujita spent time working as a professional wrestler having been signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling four years before he made his pro MMA debut in PRIDE.
Trained by the likes of Antonio Inoki and Satoru Sayama, the Japanese star would go on to be a multiple time IWGP Heavyweight Champion having faced the likes of Brock Lesnar.
The undefeated Fujita would face Kerr in just his fourth MMA fight where it was one-way traffic for the American in the early stages.
After withstanding some significant damage, the balance began to swing in favor of the home fighter as the dominant Kerr began to slow down.
Fujita shockingly took his opponent down where he continued to reign down unanswered ground and pound strikes from his opponent’s back until the referee stopped the fight with the win instantly making him a fan favorite in Japan and earning him the nickname of ‘Ironhead’.
He would go on to exit the tournament later on that night after his corner threw in the towel at the start of his semi-final bout with Mark Coleman to avoid him taking any more damage.
Mark Kerr’s first defeat would lead to a sudden drop in form that derailed his career
After losing to Kazuyuki Fujita, Mark Kerr would bounce back several months later with a submission win over Igor Borisov at PRIDE 10 – Return of the Warriors.
That would prove to be his last win in PRIDE with the American going on to lose his next five fights with three of them taking place in the Japanese promotion.
A decision loss to Igor Vovchanchyn wasn’t exactly a cause for concern but after that, Kerr would be knocked out in four consecutive outings.
Though he did record back-to-back wins to end this losing streak, his career would end following another five consecutive defeats from 2008 to 2009.