Kevin Randleman

MMAstatsbox|name=Kevin Randleman


caption=Kevin randleman (left)
nick=The Monster
height=5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
weight=205 lb (93 kg)
birthdate=birth date and age|year=1971|month=8|day=10
died=
fightingfrom=
hometown=Columbus, Ohio
fightstyle=Wrestling, Boxing
wins=17
losses=12
draws=0
nocontest=
ko=5
submissions=4|

Kevin "The Monster" Randleman (born August 10, 1971 in Sandusky, Ohio) is an American mixed martial arts fighter. Randleman's background is in Collegiate wrestling. Wrestling at 177 pounds, Randleman was a two time Division I NCAA Champion for The Ohio State University. Randleman is a former heavyweight champion of the UFC and last fought in PRIDE at heavyweight and light heavyweight. He is known for his athleticism and explosive power. He was previously associated with Mark Coleman's Team Hammer House, but most recently began training at Randy Couture's gym in Las Vegas, Nevada.cite web
url=http://www.nokaut.com/?id=38&solo_news=974&lang=e&cur=eur
title=Kevin Randleman: Return of the Monster
last=Carpinello
first=Dave
date=August 4, 2007
accessdate=2007-08-04
publisher=Nokaut] His professional MMA record is 17-12-0 as of May 21, 2008.

Fighting in Brazil

On October 22, 1996 at "Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 4", his MMA career began with wins over Luiz Carlos Macial, Geza Kalman and Dan Bobish to win that event's tournament.On March 3, 1997 at "Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 6", he beat Ebenezer Fontes Braga and Mario Neto, but was handed his first loss by Carlos Barreto. Randleman believes there were shady circumstances in his fight with Barreto as he fought two other Brazilians that night who dragged the matches out by escaping the ring and hitting him from outside of the ring. He also suspected they were using steroids and other performance enhancing drugs which he is very much against and has openly stated he detested.cite web
url=http://www.fcfighter.com/ufc20bio.htm
title=UFC XX: Battle for the Gold Fighter Bios
publisher=Full Contact Fighter]

At the "Brazil Open Fight" event on June 15, 1997, he forced Homem de Neve to submit due to an elbow strike to the head, but lost his next fight to Tom Erikson by an uppercut KO that left him unconscious and required him to be stretchered from the cage. He has stated that it was hard to fight Erikson as they knew each other beforehand.

UFC

Randleman fought in the UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight divisions at "UFC 19", "UFC 20", "UFC 23", "UFC 26", "UFC 28", "UFC 31", "UFC 35".Beating Maurice Smith to become a top contender, he fought Bas Rutten for the Heavyweight title, previously vacated by Randy Couture. Randleman lost via a decision to Rutten, as while Randleman maintained positional superiority with takedowns, it was judged that Rutten was the more active fighter with strikes.

Randleman achieved his goal to become the UFC Heavyweight champion on November 19, 1999, beating Pete Williams at "UFC 23" for the title (which was vacated upon Rutten's retirement), but later lost the title to Randy Couture at "UFC 28". After losing the title, he moved down to light heavyweight, feeling it was a more natural weight for his body, but suffered a setback, losing to Chuck Liddell in his first fight at that weight before beating Renato "Babalu" Sobral in his final fight with the UFC.

PRIDE FC

In September 2002, Randleman made his debut in PRIDE, 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 off-set, and even tried to flee and grab the ropes several times in an attempt to avoid damage from Randleman. This match was panned by the audience and Randleman himself, who left the ring before being awarded his trophy, visibly angry.

Throughout the course of 2002, Randleman gained victories over Kenichi Yamamoto ( TKO by vicious knee strikes from north-south position) and Murilo "Ninja" Rua (TKO by cutting Rua with tremendeous counter left hook). This winning streak would eventually put him in the spot of contender for the PRIDE Middeweight (205lb) 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 a knee-uppercut combination from Jackson knocked Randleman down. The Referee stopped the fight after Rampage got dominant position and began landing strikes on Randleman.

Following a submission loss to Kazushi Sakuraba in 2003, 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 Filipović, 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 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. This maneuver failed to damage Fedor, who quickly capitalized on Randleman's characteristic failure to inflict damage upon opponents from a dominant position by reversing him and submitting him with a kimura, thereby eliminating him from the tournament.

With his tournament journey over, Randleman went on to square off against friend and fellow American wrestler Ron Waterman at "PRIDE Final Conflict 2004", submitting to a keylock in the first round. Randleman picked up and slamed much bigger (6'2 and 280 pounds) Waterman, was ahead on scorecards but made one mistake and lost by Americana (Ude-garami). At "PRIDE Shockwave 2004" Randleman offered a rematch to Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović. Filipovic 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 Japanese Judoka Kazuhiro Nakamura via decision. In November of 2005, Randleman appeared in "Bushido Europe-Rotterdam Rumble", Europe's first Bushido event, and defeated Fatih Kocamis via decision, ending his losing streak, and giving him his first win in nearly a year.

Randleman was taken ill with a serious fungal lung infection after his Rotterdam bout that had unknowingly been present for sometime.cite web
url=http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=1797&zoneid=13
title=Randleman Resurrected
author=MMAWeekly Radio - Jeff Cain
date=March 27, 2006
publisher=MMAWeekly] 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 (Belfort instead fought, and lost to, Alistair Overeem, by unanimous decision).Fact|date=August 2007

Kevin Randleman returned to PRIDE FC for their first show on American soil, "" on October 21, 2006, where he was quickly submitted by a kneebar in the first round by 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix champion Mauricio "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. Chute Boxe and Hammer House members then entered the ring, clashing verbally and physically, creating bad blood between the two teams.

World Victory Road: Sengoku

After 1 year and 7 months of lay off, kidney illness and terrible staph infection, Kevin came back with Unanimous Decision victory over Ryo Kawamura at May 18, 2008 in .

Randleman's fight was scheduled to be on June 21, 2008 versus Jeff Monson at the Godz of War; however Randleman injured his shoulder while training. Ricco Rodriguez is scheduled replace him and fight Monson.

Kevin said that he will fight at Sengoku VI in November.

Controversy, Illness and Suspension from fighting

After the bout with Rua, Randleman failed a drug test administered by the Nevada Athletic Commission. [ [http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3608&zoneid=13 MMA WEEKLY - Your #1 Source for Daily MMA News, Interviews, Multimedia, and More: - UFC FIGHTERS PASS DRUG TESTS ] ] Randleman submitted a urine sample lacking any hormones to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. This indicated that the sample was fake.cite web
url=http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/headlines/default.asp?aID=17838
title=Fraudulent Drug Test Likely to Lead to Suspension
last=Meltzer
first=Dave
date=November 7, 2006
publisher=Wrestling Observer] On January 19, 2007, Randleman was hospitalized due to serious damage to his kidneys.cite web
url=http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3325&zoneid=13
title=Randleman Discusses His Medical Condition
date=January 24, 2007
publisher=MMAWeekly] In an interview with [http://www.mmaweekly.com MMAWeekly] , he stated he failed to submit a urine sample due to his use of painkillers and antibiotics after his previous surgeries that may have prevented him from being cleared to fight, and his current health issues were a result of the cumulative effects of his surgeries, medication and fighting on his body.

The Nevada Athletic Commission met on February 16, 2007 to discuss the fake sample and revoked Randleman's license to fight. He is able to reapply for a license after October 21, 2007, a year from the date of his loss to Mauricio Rua.cite web
url=http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=6780
title=License to Fight: Busy Morning for NSAC
date=February 16, 2007
publisher=Sherdog]

DUI Arrest

On August 16, 2007, Randleman was arrested in Goodsprings, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas, on a variety of charges, including drunk driving, following an apparent traffic stop.cite web | url=http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=4526&zoneid=13
title=Kevin Randleman Arrested in Nevada
date=August 16, 2007
publisher=MMA Weekly]

Professional wrestling career

Randleman has had several professional wrestling matches, his first in January 2004 for HUSTLE. In Japan, he is known as the "Fudge Brownie".Fact|date=August 2007

MMA record

Mixed martial arts record

Honors

*Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 4 tournament winner
*Former UFC Heavyweight champion
*Inducted into the Ohio State Hall Of Fame September 11, 2004
*Awarded 2004 “Knock Out Of The Year” by [http://www.sportsbook.com sportsbook.com] [http://www.kevinrandleman.com/kevin.html]
*Inducted into the Sandusky High School Hall of Fame May 6th, 2006

Personal life

Kevin has a wife, Elizabeth, and two children, 18-year-old Calvin and 10 year-old Jasmine Capri. [ [http://www.fcfighter.com/ufc20bio.htm UFC 20 Bio] ] His son Calvin Graduated from Huron High School, Helping lead the football team to the state regional finals. Calvin is currently playing football at the Ashland University.

References

External links

* [http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=162 Professional MMA record]
* [http://www.kevinrandleman.com Official website for Kevin Randleman]
* [http://www.wrestlinghalloffame.org/champions/?names&wrestler=2010 Kevin Randleman at Wrestlinghalloffame.com]
* [http://www.nokaut.com/?id=38&solo_news=974&lang=e&cur=eur August 2007 interview]