Former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin “The Monster” Randleman passed away on Thursday, Feb. 11, at just 44 years of age, following complications from pneumonia.
Randleman won the UFC heavyweight title in 1999, defeating Pete Williams by unanimous decision at UFC 23. He defended the title against Pedro Rizzo at UFC 26.
RELATED > Twitter Reacts to Passing of MMA Legend Kevin Randleman
After departing from the UFC following a win over Renato “Babalu” Sobral at UFC 35 in 2002, Randleman made his mark in the Japanese-based PRIDE organization. His most defining win may have come in the opening round of the PRIDE 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix when he knocked out Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic earning 2004 Knockout of the Year honors. He retired from fighting in 2011.
MMAWeekly.com was fortunate enough to have been present for much of Randleman’s career – the ups and the downs. Frequently, we had our cameras rolling and captured some wonderful moments with The Monster.
For those wishing to take a look back at Randleman, in his own words, below is a video playlist of our vast archive of footage, which we have dubbed, “Remembering the Monster: Saying Goodbye to Kevin Randleman.”
