Kevin
Randleman was a force of nature by even the most reserved
accounts.
The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder burst on
the scene in 1996 when he defeated three opponents in less than 19
combined minutes on a single night to emerge as the last man
standing in the Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 4 tournament in
Brazil. A decorated amateur wrestler with off-the-charts physical
tools, Randleman started his career with 14 wins in his first 19
appearances but never quite reached the astronomical heights many
expected from the man they called “The Monster.” Run-ins with
athletic commissions, a near-fatal staph infection and a
late-career tailspin left history to wonder might have been.
Nearly seven years after his death, a look at some of the numbers
that marked Randleman’s remarkable journey in combat sports:
44: Years of age for Randleman when he died on Feb. 11, 2016. He
was born on Aug. 10, 1971 in Sandusky, Ohio.
3: All-America selections for Randleman as a collegiate wrestler at
Ohio State University, where he was a three-time NCAA finalist and
won back-to-back national titles for the Buckeyes in 1992 and
1993.
9: Randleman wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for
53% of his career total (17). His list of victims includes
Mirko
Filipovic,
Murilo Rua,
Mario Neto
and
Dan
Bobish. He owned eight other wins by decision (47%).
364: Days spent by Randleman as undisputed UFC heavyweight
champion. He captured the crown with a unanimous decision over
Pete
Williams at UFC 23 on Nov. 19, 1999, made one successful title
defense and then surrendered it in a third-round technical knockout
loss to
Randy
Couture at UFC 28 on Nov. 17, 2000.
20: Seconds needed for Randleman to punch out
Brian
Foster at a Revolution Fighting Championship event on July 13,
2002. It went down as the fastest finish of his 33-fight
career.
63: Rounds started by Randleman as a professional mixed martial
artist. He went the distance on 12 different occasions and carried
an 8-4 record in those bouts.
8: Submission losses on the Randleman resume, accounting for 50% of
his career total (16). He was undone by two armbars, one triangle
choke, one kimura, one keylock, one guillotine choke, one kneebar
and one rear-naked choke.
21: Takedowns landed by Randleman across his seven UFC appearances.
He completed them on just 30 attempts, giving him a 70% success
rate.
5: Countries in which Randleman plied his mixed martial arts trade.
He went 6-7 in Japan, 4-6 in the United States, 6-2 in Brazil, 1-0
in the Netherlands and 0-1 in Russia.
373: Combined victories between the 16 men—Agaev, Filipovic,
Couture,
Roger
Gracie,
Stanislav
Nedkov,
Mike
Whitehead,
Mauricio
Rua,
Kazuhiro
Nakamura,
Ron Waterman,
Fedor
Emelianenko,
Kazushi
Sakuraba,
Quinton
Jackson,
Chuck
Liddell,
Bas Rutten,
Tom
Erikson and
Carlos
Barreto—who defeated Randleman. They sport a .709 cumulative
winning percentage at 373-151-8.
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