Pride GP Preview

Heavyweight GP Tournament Reserve Bout:
Kevin Randleman “The Monster” vs. Ron Waterman “The H2O Man”

RANDLEMAN: Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman is a two-time NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Champion, a three-time NCAA Division 1 Wrestling All-American and the UVF 4 Iron Fighter Tournament Champion. The Hammer House fighter makes his eighth appearance in the PFC (4-3) with a MMA record of 15-8.

Kevin has had as many ups and downs in his career as has his trainer and mentor Mark Coleman. He’s had spectacular wins over Maurice Smith, Pete Williams, Pedro Rizzo, Renato Sobral and Murilo Rua and crushing defeats at the hands of Tom Erikson, Bas Rutten, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson. Even his last two bouts were an emotional rollercoaster. He Knocked out kickboxer and tournament favorite Mirko Filipovic in an exciting display of raw power at April’s Total Elimination show. Then he almost scored another huge upset by slamming Fedor Emelianenko on his head, but the Russian fighter would not be denied and he submitted Randleman via armlock mere seconds later.

Kevin is an emotional competitor by nature and he has to let what happened with Fedor go. There is a slim chance he will even get in the tournament and if he does, it will likely be in place of the winner of the Nogueira-Kharitonov “winner,” and it will probably be a rematch with Emelianenko.

WATERMAN: As the minister of the Team Impact power-lifting team, WEC Heavyweight Champion and member of the Colorado Stars, Ron Waterman is 11-2-2 in MMA. He has made a successful return to active fighting in 2002 with a 6-1-1 record in that time and a 1-1 record in the PFC. Ron is a four-time UFC veteran and four-time Pancrase veteran with bouts against Andre Roberts, Tim Lajcik, Kengo Watanabe and Jimmy Ambriz. The Greeley West High School Head Wrestling Coach, pottery teacher, and former WWE professional wrestler has six wins via submission and three wins by way of strikes; so the heavyweight’s game is diverse.

Waterman battled Dutchman Valentijn Overeem at Pride 24 and submitted the Team Golden Glory fighter with a keylock in just over two minutes of the first round. His second bout in Pride was also a one-rounder -- but with far different results. Croatian kickboxer Mirko Filipovic Knocked out Waterman for the first time in his career and handed him a rare loss. He recently defeated rotund Japanese striker Keigo Takamori in under two minutes on the Pancrase: Brave 5 card.

MY PICK: Randleman. Kevin cannot afford to look past Waterman and must treat this like the one-fight night it is. Right now he isn’t “in” the tournament. He needs two things to happen to move on: He has to defeat his opponent and someone currently in the tournament must not be able to continue. Kevin only controls one of those variables.

Should the opportunity to fight present itself, Kevin needs to stay calm and focused rather than empty his tank immediately like he’s just happy to be there. As for Waterman, it seems like ages since he was named an alternate for this tournament and it was good that Pride let him fight again recently to keep the ring rust away. He’s bigger than Kevin (four inches in height and likely 40 pounds heavier) but the explosive edge goes to Randleman. I would have liked to see Ron brought along against fighters like Gary Goodridge and Gan McGee before being thrown in as the tournament alternate. Randleman by technical knockout in round two.