“After college, he (Randleman) went back to his hometown and I hadn’t seen him for two years, but after I won UFC 10, I put a phone call in to Kevin,” said Coleman. “It was pretty simple.”
“You wanna fight?” asked Coleman.
“Hell yeah,” came the response from Randleman.
“You in shape?”
“Of course.”
“I didn’t believe it for a second,” laughs Coleman. “I told him I got a fight lined up over in Brazil, an eight-man tournament, 20 grand to the winner. You want in? He said, ‘Hell yeah.’ I told him you’re gonna have to come back to Columbus because I’m gonna prepare you for this. 35 days later, the Monster was here. He stole the show over in Brazil, they loved him there and we had a blast. The next thing you know, he made it to the UFC and became the UFC champion.”
Randleman won three fights in one night in that Universal Vale Tudo tournament in October 1996, fought five more times in Brazil and then got the call to the Octagon, where he defeated Maurice Smith in his 1999 debut on the UFC 19 card. He would lose his first title fight via controversial split decision to Bas Rutten at UFC 20, but by the end of 1999, he had a heavyweight championship belt after beating Pete Williams for the vacant crown.
Over the next 12 years, Randleman was a staple on elite level of MMA, whether in the UFC or in PRIDE, fighting a Who’s Who of the sport, including Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, “Rampage” Jackson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Mirko Cro Cop, Fedor Emelianenko and “Shogun” Rua, just to name a few. It was a career to be proud of, one filled with highlight reel moments, and while he was already out of the sport nearly five years when he passed away in 2016, Coleman said his friend was in a good place in his life in his final days.
“He was at peace,” said Coleman. “He was doing great. I’m so excited about the hall of fame for his wife Elizabeth, because she was his glue, she was his rock, and she was there the whole time. I’m just so happy for her because she wanted this as much as anybody else.”
It’s bittersweet, but despite him not being here for his induction, the UFC Hall of Fame is the perfect place for Kevin Randleman, one of the most memorable figures ever to grace the sport.
“He was a special breed,” said Coleman. “The most charismatic man I’ve ever met, for sure.”
