Co-founder Bob Meyrowitz to be inducted into UFC Hall of Fame

On Wednesday, the UFC announced that co-founder Bob Meyrowitz will join the 2016 class of the UFC Hall of Fame.

Meyrowitz is being recognized in the contributors wing for his involvement in the company's formative years. He founded the Semaphore Entertainment Group, an organization that became a driving force behind what would become the first UFC event.

According to Meyrowitz, he was inspired by a discussion with a friend who said that there was no way to settle whether tae kwon do or karate were better because the rules were different.

Meyrowitz brought the idea up at a meeting where it was met with enthusiasm and curiosity.

"Everybody liked the idea," Meyrowitz told Thomas Gerbosi of UFC.com. "Of course, I was the head of the company, so you could expect that. At the next meeting, they said, 'What about jiu-jitsu, what about wrestling?' I said fine.

"We can do it so they can all fight. I'd like to see it."

Teaming up with Art Davie and Brazilian jiu-jitsu star Rorion Gracie, SEG would produce UFC 1 in November 1993. The organization would face peaks and valleys until 2001 when they sold the UFC to the Fertitta brothers and Dana White.

During the SEG era, names like Royce Gracie, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Ken Shamrock, Chuck Liddell, and Matt Hughes would emerge as household names in the world of MMA, though Meyrowitz downplays his part in their success.

"The entertainment business is the most honest business," Meyrowitz said. "Only the fans choose who's a star. You can do whatever you think you can do, but you have to see what the fans like and then you have to give them their visibility so that they can work their stardom."

Meyrowitz is the second member of the 2016 class to be named. Brazilian heavyweight legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was previously announced.

The inductions are scheduled to take place at the end of International Fight Week on July 10 at the UFC Fan Expo in Las Vegas.