PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix 2005: Possibly the Best 16-Man Field Ever Assembled
Kevin Randleman vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Apr 20, 2005
RANDLEMAN: Ohio State wrestler Kevin Randleman is a two-time
NCAA D-1 wrestling champion, three-time NCAA D-1 wrestling
All-American, the UVF 4 Iron Fighter Tournament Champion and a UFC
heavyweight champion. “The Monster” trains with wrestling mentor
Mark Coleman, Wes Simms, Brandon Lee Hinkle and the rest of the
Hammer House in Ohio. He is 16-10 in MMA and makes his 10th
appearance (4-5) in the PFC.
Randleman began his MMA fighting career in 1996 in the Universal Vale Tudo Fighting event. He defeated UFC veterans Geza Kalman Jr. and Dan Bobish to win his first NHB title. Kevin returned to the UVF 6 tournament and beat UFC veteran Ebenezer Braga by decision and WVC veteran Mario Neto with strikes in the semifinals before losing to UFC/PRIDE veteran Carlos Barreto by triangle choke. At the Brazil Open heavyweight tournament, Kevin was knocked out by PRIDE veteran wrestler Tom Erikson in the final bout.
Kevin debuted in the U.S. at UFC 19 against Maurice Smith and won via
decision. A tough loss to Bas
Rutten at UFC 20 led to a title shot and victory at UFC
23/Japan 2 against Lion’s Den fighter Pete Williams. He defended
his title at UFC 26 against Pedro Rizzo and then lost his title
to Randy Couture at UFC
28.
Kevin moved down to light heavyweight and was knocked out by current UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell at UFC 31. A five-fight winning streak, which included victories over Brazilians Renato Sobral and Murilo Rua, has been followed by a dismal 1-5 showing with losses to Quinton Jackson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Fedor Emelianenko, Ron Waterman and Mirko Filipovic. Randleman knocked out “Cro Cop” at the 2004 heavyweight tournament Total Elimination show to advance to meet Fedor but the favor was returned at the Shockwave New Year’s Eve show when Mirko submitted Kevin in the first round.
NAKAMURA: Kazuhiro Nakamura is the All-Japan 100-kilo division judo champion and training protégé of Olympic judo champion and World gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida. He trains out of the Yoshida Dojo under the tutelage of Yoshida and training partner and PRIDE/UFC veteran Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. Nakamura is 5-3 in MMA, all in PRIDE, and he makes his 9th appearance in the PFC.
Nakamura debuted at PRIDE 25 against Rogerio Nogueira. He applied an impressive body-lock throw to the floor, landing inside Nogueira’s guard. Late in the first round, Kazuhiro would jump back into guard and strike Rogerio a number of times in the face, avoiding armbars, triangles and even an omo plata in the process. In the second round “Minotoro” never let up, letting Nakamura think he was trying for a choke but maneuvered him into an armbar for the win.
At PRIDE Bushido 1, Kazuhiro was pitted against Daniel Gracie. Early on there were no indications this was judo vs. jiu-jitsu, as both fighters were happy to trade on the feet. Although lengthy, the ground battle was more entertaining than most because neither fighter backed down. Nakamura landed the better strikes in the exchanges and took the unanimous decision. Kazuhiro defeated pro-wrestler Dos Caras Jr. by decision at PRIDE 27 and submitted Dutch striker Chalid Arrab by armbar at PRIDE Bushido 3.
A rematch with “Minotoro” Nogueira took place at PRIDE Bushido 4 but Kazuhiro lost the two-round decision. At the PRIDE Final Conflict show, he scored a career-making victory over Brazilian Top Team fighter Murilo Bustamante. It was a unanimous decision win and opened the door for a bout with Team Quest fighter Dan Henderson at PRIDE 28. Unfortunately, a bizarre slam caused a serious injury to Nakamura and the bout was over in less than 90 seconds. Kazuhiro took out K-1 kickboxer Stefan Leko with strikes in less than a minute at PRIDE 29 and now he prepares for the Middleweight Grand Prix.
MY PICK: Nakamura. Randleman has been bouncing back and forth from heavyweight (remember he was in the heavyweight GP) to middleweight (or light heavyweight as the rest of the world calls it) to stay alive in the promotion. At this point in his career, it seems like he should spend more time developing his submission defense game and less time cutting weight. Nakamura is a tough customer and his wins over Bustamante, Gracie and the decision loss to Nogueira showed his development. Even if Randleman takes him down, Nakamura isn’t afraid of the mat. To me, this is a bad match-up for Kevin and has “Randleman-Fedor” written all over it. I think it will be Nakamura by submission in the first round.
Randleman began his MMA fighting career in 1996 in the Universal Vale Tudo Fighting event. He defeated UFC veterans Geza Kalman Jr. and Dan Bobish to win his first NHB title. Kevin returned to the UVF 6 tournament and beat UFC veteran Ebenezer Braga by decision and WVC veteran Mario Neto with strikes in the semifinals before losing to UFC/PRIDE veteran Carlos Barreto by triangle choke. At the Brazil Open heavyweight tournament, Kevin was knocked out by PRIDE veteran wrestler Tom Erikson in the final bout.
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Kevin moved down to light heavyweight and was knocked out by current UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell at UFC 31. A five-fight winning streak, which included victories over Brazilians Renato Sobral and Murilo Rua, has been followed by a dismal 1-5 showing with losses to Quinton Jackson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Fedor Emelianenko, Ron Waterman and Mirko Filipovic. Randleman knocked out “Cro Cop” at the 2004 heavyweight tournament Total Elimination show to advance to meet Fedor but the favor was returned at the Shockwave New Year’s Eve show when Mirko submitted Kevin in the first round.
NAKAMURA: Kazuhiro Nakamura is the All-Japan 100-kilo division judo champion and training protégé of Olympic judo champion and World gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida. He trains out of the Yoshida Dojo under the tutelage of Yoshida and training partner and PRIDE/UFC veteran Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. Nakamura is 5-3 in MMA, all in PRIDE, and he makes his 9th appearance in the PFC.
Nakamura debuted at PRIDE 25 against Rogerio Nogueira. He applied an impressive body-lock throw to the floor, landing inside Nogueira’s guard. Late in the first round, Kazuhiro would jump back into guard and strike Rogerio a number of times in the face, avoiding armbars, triangles and even an omo plata in the process. In the second round “Minotoro” never let up, letting Nakamura think he was trying for a choke but maneuvered him into an armbar for the win.
At PRIDE Bushido 1, Kazuhiro was pitted against Daniel Gracie. Early on there were no indications this was judo vs. jiu-jitsu, as both fighters were happy to trade on the feet. Although lengthy, the ground battle was more entertaining than most because neither fighter backed down. Nakamura landed the better strikes in the exchanges and took the unanimous decision. Kazuhiro defeated pro-wrestler Dos Caras Jr. by decision at PRIDE 27 and submitted Dutch striker Chalid Arrab by armbar at PRIDE Bushido 3.
A rematch with “Minotoro” Nogueira took place at PRIDE Bushido 4 but Kazuhiro lost the two-round decision. At the PRIDE Final Conflict show, he scored a career-making victory over Brazilian Top Team fighter Murilo Bustamante. It was a unanimous decision win and opened the door for a bout with Team Quest fighter Dan Henderson at PRIDE 28. Unfortunately, a bizarre slam caused a serious injury to Nakamura and the bout was over in less than 90 seconds. Kazuhiro took out K-1 kickboxer Stefan Leko with strikes in less than a minute at PRIDE 29 and now he prepares for the Middleweight Grand Prix.
MY PICK: Nakamura. Randleman has been bouncing back and forth from heavyweight (remember he was in the heavyweight GP) to middleweight (or light heavyweight as the rest of the world calls it) to stay alive in the promotion. At this point in his career, it seems like he should spend more time developing his submission defense game and less time cutting weight. Nakamura is a tough customer and his wins over Bustamante, Gracie and the decision loss to Nogueira showed his development. Even if Randleman takes him down, Nakamura isn’t afraid of the mat. To me, this is a bad match-up for Kevin and has “Randleman-Fedor” written all over it. I think it will be Nakamura by submission in the first round.
