Donald Frye ( born November 23 , 1965 ) is an American former mixed martial artist , amateur and professional wrestler , UFC Hall of Famer and actor . In MMA he was one of the sport 's earliest well-rounded fighters and he had instant success , winning the '' UFC 8 '' and '' Ultimate Ultimate 96 '' tournaments and finishing as runner-up '' UFC 10 '' in his first year of competition . Despite his accomplishments , he retired from MMA in 1997 to pursue a career in professional wrestling with New Japan Pro Wrestling and quickly became one of the company 's leading heels . After spending four years as one of Japan 's top '' gaijin '' wrestlers , Frye returned to MMA with the Pride Fighting Championships in September 2001 , much more muscle-bound and sporting an American patriot persona in response to the September 11 attacks . After developing a reputation for toughness and fighting spirit , mostly due to his legendary bouts with Ken Shamrock and Yoshihiro Takayama during his two-year stint in Pride , Frye departed the promotion to compete in K-1 and Hero 's in 2004 but returned for the final Pride event in 2007 . Frye was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2016
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Don Frye