Remembering The UFC Hall of Famer Kevin Randleman
With UFC 265 now in the books and the promotion looking ahead to UFC 266, we wanted to push pause and highlight the latest Hall of Fame class (inducted right before UFC 265). This was actually the 2020 class — as they’re finally getting their “day in the sunshine” with pandemic restrictions loosened.
The class was headlined by George St. Pierre, who has a strong argument as the promotion’s best fighter of all time. Other big names like Jon Jones and Dustin Poirier were also honored, each getting HOF nods in the Fight Wing and Community Award, respectively.
However, there was one name also honored that doesn’t have the same name recognition among fight enthusiasts, but it should be — Kevin Randleman. The first-ever posthumous inductee, Randleman joined the Pioneer Wing of the HOF.
Randleman died in 2016 at the young age of 44 due to pneumonia. However, he’s deeply entrenched into the UFC’s early history — long before it became the mainstream sensation it is today. Let’s take a look back at his legacy:
Absolute Genetic Freak
Few people that have ever stepped into the octagon could match Randleman’s natural athleticism — especially during the promotion days in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s when he competed. Just seeing Randleman jump inside the ring looked like he was using a trampoline.
He was 5-foot-10 and competed at both light heavyweight and heavyweight. So Randleman’s fighting weight hovered around 200 pounds — but the dude was completely jacked. Yes, that time period is infamous for steroid use, but still, few other fighters had a physique quite as imposing as Randleman.
Plus, Randleman had God-given abilities. Before MMA, he was a collegiate wrestler at THE Ohio State University in the early ‘90s. He won back-to-back national championships, becoming the first wrestler to ever do so for the Buckeyes. One of those title wins even came while having a broken jaw. For his efforts, Randleman was named Ohio State’s Wrestler of the 20th Century.
MMA Roots
One of his coaches at Ohio State happened to be Mark Coleman, a fellow UFC Hall of Famer in his own right. After college, Coleman convinced Randleman to join what would later be dubbed Team Hammer House.
Randleman would make his MMA debut in 1996 for Universal Vale Tudo Fighting. The promotion which was full of Brazilian jiu-jitsu artists featured no-holds-barred-style fighting — a steep contrast to today’s more regulated UFC approach. Still, Randleman would rack up a 6-2 record before UFC came calling.
World Champion
At UFC 19 in 1999, Randleman made his in-ring debut. Only eight months later, he would get a heavyweight title match against Pete Williams. Randleman won via unanimous decision and became the promotion’s fifth-ever title winner.
He would successfully defend it one more time against Pedro Rizzo before Randy Couture would beat him for the gold. Randleman followed that with another loss to Chuck Lidell. In hindsight, Randleman was the bridge from one generation to the next as both Couture and Lidell became all-time greats in the heavyweight class.
Randleman left the UFC not long after the defeat to Lidell and would join PRIDE, which for those that remember, was just as popular as UFC during this time period. He never quite reached championship level again, however. Randleman continued to fight on and off before retiring for good in 2011 with a career record of 17-16.
Entering The Squared Circle
For several years between 2002 and 2009, Randleman also dabbled in “professional wrestling” — ya know, the “fake” kind with scripted outcomes. Fake or not, he wrestled for several wrestling promotions based out of Japan, including All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Zero1.
The most famous wrestling journalist ever, Dave Meltzer, remarked Randleman had out-of-this-world potential in pro wrestling. Per Meltzer, not only did he think Randleman was one of the most gifted talents ever, but so did others in the wrestling business while Randleman was in Japan.
Unfortunately, Randleman never realized that potential. Regardless, Randleman was an ahead-of-his-time innovator in combat sports — transcending the lines between amateur wrestling, mixed martial arts, and pro wrestling. His enshrinement into the UFC Hall of Fame is long overdue.
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