The former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder burst on the scene in 1996 when he defeated three opponents in less than 19 combined minutes on a single night to emerge as the last man standing in the Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 4 tournament in Brazil. A decorated amateur wrestler with off-the-charts physical tools, Randleman started his career with 14 wins in his first 19 appearances but never quite reached the astronomical heights many expected from the man they called “The Monster.” Run-ins with athletic commissions, a near-fatal staph infection and a late-career tailspin left history to wonder might have been.
Nearly seven years after his death, a look at some of the numbers that marked Randleman’s remarkable journey in combat sports:
44: Years of age for Randleman when he died on Feb. 11, 2016. He was born on Aug. 10, 1971 in Sandusky, Ohio.
3: All-America selections for Randleman as a collegiate wrestler at Ohio State University, where he was a three-time NCAA finalist and won back-to-back national titles for the Buckeyes in 1992 and 1993.
9: Randleman wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 53% of his career total (17). His list of victims includes Mirko Filipovic, Murilo Rua, Mario Neto and Dan Bobish. He owned eight other wins by decision (47%).
364: Days spent by Randleman as undisputed UFC heavyweight champion. He captured the crown with a unanimous decision over Pete Williams at UFC 23 on Nov. 19, 1999, made one successful title defense and then surrendered it in a third-round technical knockout loss to Randy Couture at UFC 28 on Nov. 17, 2000.
20: Seconds needed for Randleman to punch out Brian Foster at a Revolution Fighting Championship event on July 13, 2002. It went down as the fastest finish of his 33-fight career.
63: Rounds started by Randleman as a professional mixed martial artist. He went the distance on 12 different occasions and carried an 8-4 record in those bouts.
8: Submission losses on the Randleman resume, accounting for 50% of his career total (16). He was undone by two armbars, one triangle choke, one kimura, one keylock, one guillotine choke, one kneebar and one rear-naked choke.
21: Takedowns landed by Randleman across his seven UFC appearances. He completed them on just 30 attempts, giving him a 70% success rate.
5: Countries in which Randleman plied his mixed martial arts trade. He went 6-7 in Japan, 4-6 in the United States, 6-2 in Brazil, 1-0 in the Netherlands and 0-1 in Russia.
373: Combined victories between the 16 men—Agaev, Filipovic, Couture, Roger Gracie, Stanislav Nedkov, Mike Whitehead, Mauricio Rua, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Ron Waterman, Fedor Emelianenko, Kazushi Sakuraba, Quinton Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Bas Rutten, Tom Erikson and Carlos Barreto—who defeated Randleman. They sport a .709 cumulative winning percentage at 373-151-8.
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