Kevin Randleman

CTL-E-7126 · Person · other · contemporary

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07998 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-7126.

Kevin Christopher Randleman (August 10, 1971 – February 11, 2016) was an American mixed martial artist from Sandusky, Ohio, and one of the elite wrestlers of the UFC's first decade. At Ohio State he won NCAA Division I championships in 1992 and 1993 and three Big Ten titles. He debuted in the UFC at UFC 19 in March 1999, defeating former champion Maurice Smith, lost a controversial decision to heavyweight champion Bas Rutten at UFC 20, and — after Rutten vacated the belt — beat Pete Williams at UFC 23 in Tokyo on November 19, 1999, to become the fifth UFC heavyweight champion. He defended the title against Pedro Rizzo at UFC 26 before losing it to Randy Couture at UFC 28. In Japan's Pride he produced one of the era's great upsets, knocking out Mirko Cro Cop in 2004. Randleman retired in 2011 with a 17–16 record (4–3 in the UFC). He died in San Diego on February 11, 2016, aged 44 — the UFC and Ohio State attributed his death to complications from pneumonia, and contemporary reports describe heart failure following his hospitalization. In 2020 he became the first fighter inducted posthumously into the UFC Hall of Fame, in its Pioneer Wing.

The record

• Also known as: The Monster

Notes

Birth-year split in the record: ESPN and the encyclopedia biography give August 10, 1971, and age 44 at death; the UFC's own obituary coverage rendered his years as “1970–2016.” This record follows 1971/44 — the majority reading, and the only one consistent with a February 2016 death at 44. Cause of death is carried in both reported forms (pneumonia complications per the UFC and Ohio State; heart failure after hospitalization with pneumonia per contemporary reporting) rather than blended. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Randleman's athleticism ran ahead of his era's technique; the Ohio State titles and the Cro Cop knockout mark what he was. The posthumous Hall of Fame induction closed a record the sport owed him. Photo: CLEARED — Kevin Randleman.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Sources

• Brett Okamoto, ESPN, “Kevin Randleman to be posthumously inducted into UFC Hall of Fame” (May 17, 2020); accessed 2026-11-04 (primary source · build store)
• USA Wrestling, “Two-time NCAA champion Kevin Randleman named to UFC Hall of Fame” (May 18, 2020); accessed 2026-11-04 (build store)
• Wikipedia, “Kevin Randleman”; accessed 2026-11-04 (build store)

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Record CTL-E-7126 · Combined Graph record U-07998 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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