Mixed martial arts remains in a state of shock following the death of former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman, who passed away aged just 44 on February 11th due to heart failure caused by complications from pneumonia. Three weeks after his death, those who knew him best recall the special things that made ‘The Monster’.
Just days after attending the Eighth Fighters Only World MMA Awards in his adopted home town of Las Vegas, ‘The Monster’ was taken to hospital in San Diego whilst on a business trip. He never made it home.
A couple of weeks removed from his tragic passing, Fighters Only spoke to members of the MMA community who were closest to the MMA and college wrestling icon in order to share their lasting memories of one of the most popular figures the sport has known.
Kevin Christopher Randleman (August 10, 1971 - February 11, 2016) was an American mixed martial artist, amateur and professional wrestler, and former UFC Heavyweight Champion. Randleman's background was in collegiate wrestling, in which he became a two-time NCAA Division I and a three-time Big Ten wrestling champion out of Ohio State University.
Randleman competed in the heavyweight and light heavyweight classes in MMA. In addition to competing in the UFC, Randleman also fought for other organizations such as PRIDE, WVR, and Strikeforce.
Randleman was born in Sandusky, Ohio, and was one of eleven children. He had a humble upbringing and often engaged in street fights during childhood. Randleman attended Sandusky High School, started all four years on the football team, ran track in which he qualified for the state finals, and had a 122-11 record while on the wrestling team, including winning the state championship in 1989.
Randleman then went to wrestle for Ohio State University. His redshirt freshman year he had a string of 42 victories and a first-place finish in the Big Ten Tournament, earned All-American status, and dominated in the NCAA tournament, before losing in the tournament final to Mark Reiland of Iowa.
Randleman then went undefeated during his sophomore year, and won the NCAA tournament. Randleman again won the NCAA tournament in his junior year, despite having his jaw dislocated during the actual tournament. His final collegiate wrestling record was 108 wins and 7 losses, with 28 pins.
Kevin supported the United States Army troops whenever he could. While in Iraq in 2008, Kevin traveled with other UFC fighters to visit the troops at the 4th Infantry Division's Modern Army Combatives tournament at Camp Liberty. He quickly got down on the mats and gave an important ground demonstration.
Early MMA Career
Randleman entered mixed martial arts in 1996 when Mark Coleman, one of Randleman's coaches at Ohio State, offered him a spot in the Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 4 in Brazil. Cornered by Coleman, Randleman made his debut on October 22, 1996 at Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 4 against Luiz Carlos Maciel, stopping him with punches in five minutes.
He advanced to the next round to meet Canadian fighter Geza Kalman, who outweighed him by 40 pounds, and defeated him the same way in only 2 minutes more. Randleman reached the finals, where he encountered Dan Severn's trainee Dan Bobish.
The latter controlled the first minutes from the clinch, attempting neck cranks and landing several punches, but Randleman skillfully escaped. In March 1997, Randleman returned to the promotion for UVF 6, in finding a difficult opponent in the first round in luta livre veteran Ebenezer Fontes Braga.
The American controlled the takedowns, but the Brazilian defended solidly with strikes both standing and from his guard every time, with Randleman attempting to sneak in ground and pound through the latter. The bout soon turned controversial, however, as Braga would end up exiting the ring beneath the ropes several times, at some points even being externally helped by his team.
Randleman's next opponent was acclaimed Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Mario "Sukata" Neto. After managing to finish him with punches, Randleman advanced the finals to meet Carlson Gracie's trainee Carlos "Carlao" Barreto, another famous BJJ fighter. The fight started with a lengthy clinch battle, but Barreto pulled guard and attacked him with upkicks and strikes.
The fight started with a lengthy clinch battle, but Barreto pulled guard and attacked him with upkicks and strikes. The Brazilian remained on the ground, where Randleman attacked with ground and pound, but fatigue eventually caught with him, and Barreto was finally capable to lock a triangle choke for the win. The end of Randleman's tenure in Brazil was at Brazil Open-'97 in June 1997.
He beat Gustavo Homem de Neve in under two minutes, but he was then pitted against another decorated American wrestler, RAW team member Tom Erikson. Randleman attempted to push the 50 pounds heavier Erikson into the fence, but he was caught with a right hook, and then Erikson unloaded a series of big shots for the knock out. The Hammer House fighter had to be stretchered out with the help of Erikson himself.
Randleman fought in the UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions at UFC 19, UFC 20, UFC 23, UFC 26, UFC 28, UFC 31, and UFC 35. Beating Maurice Smith to become a top contender at UFC 19, he fought Bas Rutten for the UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 20, which was previously vacated by Randy Couture. Randleman lost via a decision to Rutten, even though Randleman maintained positional superiority with takedowns, it was judged that Rutten was the more active fighter with strikes.
This fight became infamous due to Mark Coleman's instructions before the second overtime that Randleman "smear the blood" from the cut he had created above Rutten's nose into his eye, so his opponent would not be able to see. Before his scheduled fight as the main event at UFC 24, Randleman slipped on some pipes and fell on the concrete floor, which rendered him unconscious.
As a result, he was pulled from the card. He was later diagnosed with a concussion. The UFC did not announce that his main event fight was cancelled until right before it was to take place. As a result, there was no main event to this card. However, he later lost the title to Randy Couture at UFC 28 via TKO.
On September 29, 2002, Randleman made his debut in Pride Fighting Championships, taking on Japanese wrestler Michiyoshi Ohara. Randleman acquired an easy victory, as Ohara appeared to have no intention of trying to fight Randleman right from the outset, and even tried to flee and grab the ropes several times in an attempt to avoid damage from Randleman.
Throughout the course of 2002, Randleman gained victories over Kenichi Yamamoto via TKO after vicious knee strikes from north-south position and Murilo "Ninja" Rua via TKO by cutting Rua with a counter left hook. This winning streak would eventually put him in the spot of contender for the Pride Middeweight Championship, held by Wanderlei Silva.
At Pride 25, Randleman faced another Middleweight contender, fellow American wrestler Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, in a match that determined the number one contender for Silva's belt. In the first round Randleman suffered his first loss in PRIDE, after an incredible knee-uppercut combination from Jackson knocked Randleman down.
Randleman faced Kazushi Sakuraba for his last match in 2003. Just three months before the fight with Sakuraba, Randleman was involved in a severe car accident in which he seized while driving his SUV. He hit a truck and was almost decapitated, but survived with a horrible head wound that required 180 stitches.
Randleman became one of the sixteen participants in the PRIDE 2004 Heavyweight Tournament, alongside teammate Mark Coleman. His first round match up at PRIDE Total Elimination 2004 was against former K-1 kickboxer Mirko Cro Cop, a participant heavily favored to win the entire tournament. Randleman knocked out Cro Cop by ground and pound following a left hook that surprised and knocked him down.
In the second round, at PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004, Randleman faced off against the reigning PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko. Again a heavy underdog, in a short bout he managed to suplex Fedor onto his head, landing in north-south position.
With his tournament journey over, Randleman went on to square off against friend and fellow American wrestler Ron Waterman at PRIDE Final Conflict 2004. Randleman picked up and slammed much bigger Waterman, and was ahead on the scorecards but made one mistake and lost by americana in the first round.
At PRIDE Shockwave 2004 Randleman offered a rematch to Mirko Cro Cop. Cro Cop submitted Randleman in the first round via guillotine choke, avenging his loss and adding another loss to Randleman's losing streak in the process.
In the Opening Round of PRIDE's 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix, Kevin Randleman lost to Kazuhiro Nakamura via decision.
'The Monster'- A Kevin Randleman Highlight
Battling Staph Infection and Later Career
Randleman was taken ill with a serious fungal lung infection after his Rotterdam bout that had unknowingly been present for some time. He underwent a successful surgery to have the infection removed. After recovering, he was scheduled to fight against Vitor Belfort at a Strikeforce event in San Jose, California on June 9, 2006, but was unable to, due to a recurrence of the infection.
Kevin Randleman returned to PRIDE for their first show on American soil, Pride 32: The Real Deal on October 21, 2006, where he was quickly submitted with a toe hold in the first round by 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion Maurício "Shogun" Rua. This match-up was made partly to capitalize on an incident where Mark Coleman fought Rua and broke his arm with a trip takedown. After the referee stopped the fight, a brawl ensued.
After the bout with Rua, Randleman failed a drug test administered by the Nevada Athletic Commission. Randleman submitted a urine sample lacking any hormones to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The Nevada Athletic Commission met on February 16, 2007, to discuss the fake sample and revoked Randleman's license to fight.
In 2007, Randleman was sidelined for more than a year when a staph infection under his arm leaked into his bloodstream. He was quoted as saying "It looked like someone had taken a shotgun and shot me up close," says Randleman. After dismissing his symptoms for five weeks, he was admitted to the hospital in septic condition. In October 2007, he was quoted as saying of the staph infection "I was in critical condition for almost three weeks and I am two weeks out of the hospital now ... pain is just part of the healing, and it hurts a lot.... I had two organs shut down again.
Randleman's next fight was scheduled to be on June 21, 2008, against Jeff Monson at the Godz of War; however, Randleman injured his shoulder while training. Randleman said that he would fight at Sengoku 6 in November, but did not.
On November 7, 2009, Randleman fought Bulgarian prospect Stanislav Nedkov at Sengoku 11. Randleman started the fight with a good left leg kick and takedown. He used elevators and reversals to avoid damage from Nedkov, when Nedkov made a few takedowns. In the 3rd round Randleman repeated his strong left leg kick and used his new blue belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills to avoid bottom positions and back immediately to the top positions on the ground.
At the Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Randleman's Strikeforce debut was on June 6 against journeyman and IFL standout Mike Whitehead at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields. Randleman looked to grapple immediately in the fight, whilst Whitehead controlled the fight on the feet. Whitehead won the first two rounds using takedowns but Randleman employed the use of reversals very competently to avoid significant damage.
In the third round Randleman, having seemingly lost the previous rounds, threw caution to the wind and loosened his arms, becoming reckless with his strikes, but knocking his opponent down with a left hook to the chin. Randleman charged in to finish Whitehead and landed a few shots to Whitehead's head, but was unable to capitalize effectively on the knock-down.
Randleman lost to Strikeforce newcomer Roger Gracie via a rear-naked choke submission in the second round of their light heavyweight bout on May 15, 2010, at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery. He lost 10 out of his last 13 fights.
Professional Wrestling Career
Randleman debuted in professional wrestling in 2002 as part of All Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle-1 project, which brought several mixed martial artists and kickboxers to take part in wrestling matches. In July 2003, Randleman started working for Pro Wrestling Zero-One, teaming up with The Predator to take part in the OH Tag Festival tournament.
The next year, Randleman started appearing in Zero-One's partner promotion Hustle. After two years of inactivity, Kevin returned to Hustle in June 2007, adopting the masked superhero persona of "Randleman" and teaming up with fellow superheroes Kintaman and Kurodaman. His former partner Mark Coleman also joined the team, making it a quartet.
In February 2009, Randleman made a challenge to WWE pro-wrestler Kofi Kingston on a St.
Personal Life
Kevin married Barbara on August 28, 2000. After hardships, they divorced on May 26, 2005. Kevin married his longtime girlfriend and publicist, Elizabeth Broglia, on April 25, 2009.
Legacy and Tributes
“Every time we went out somewhere and he walked in a room everyone wanted to be around him,” says UFC Hall of Famer and long-time friend Mark Coleman. “You knew he was a special man. He had that charisma like nobody else. He had that switch that could turn him into The Monster, but for the most part he switched it back and touched everybody’s heart.”
Shortly after Randleman’s passing, Coleman attended UFC Fight Night 83 and was touched by the outpouring of support from the MMA fans he met there.
“The UFC gave me some nice seats at the Pittsburgh show,” he recalls. “It was nice to be there to take a little bit off me. I haven’t been to a show in a long time. The fans there were so amazingly nice to me. 95% of them brought up Kevin and gave me their condolences. It was a great weekend to take the edge off a bit. I had to come back and face the reality that he’s not here anymore. We have to figure out a way to move on.”
As well as being well-respected and liked by everybody in the industry, Randleman was also an inspiration to younger, up-and-fighters. It was Coleman who introduced Wes Sims, who featured on TUF 10, to Randleman at the famed Hammer House gym, and the meeting left a lasting impression on the young heavyweight.
“Mark brought me in, because he was training to fight Ricardo Moraes in Pride, because of my height,” Sims recalls. “That’s what got me in. It’s so funny because the very first time I met Kevin it was almost like, the look I got from him, was a look like he was going to try to put me out. I had maybe one or two practices and I was going to be done with. I tell you, to earn his respect, it meant so much.”
Sims adds: “He would walk into a room and there was an aura around him. It was like a Michael Jordan kind of aura. His laugh, his personality, there are so many things that go through my mind when I stop and think about him.”
Unsurprisingly, news of Randleman’s death came as a shock to Sims and hit him hard - much as it did the rest of the MMA community. “It came to me as a text from a reporter who heard the rumor and was looking for confirmation,” he tells FO.
“The thing is, I heard that before so I just thought that Kevin was getting ready to pull some publicity stunt. I almost laughed. I couldn’t wait to see what he was up to. I tried to call around and I couldn’t get hold of anybody. I called Mark and spoke to his girlfriend because he wasn’t picking up. She told me. I almost puked. It was surreal. As much as that man has been through, the wars, the staph infection, oh my Lord. And for pneumonia to get him. It’s hard to believe.”
Another former Hammer House regular, Branden Lee Hinkle, added: “He was my boy and I loved him like a brother. He will be missed.”
Such was the appeal of The Monster that he has left a lasting impression on fighters, both old-school and modern alike. “Everything about Kevin was straight up. He was an open, straight-forward man,” says former Strikeforce champ Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal. “He was very transparent and real. Real as f**k… Full of energy and wisdom. He was 2000% authentic… Him and Mark Coleman kept s**t real.”