Randleman entered mixed martial arts in 1996 when
Mark Coleman, one of Randleman's coaches at Ohio State, offered him a spot in the Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 4 in Brazil. Randleman accepted and joined Coleman in what would be known as
Team Hammer House.
Universal Vale Tudo Fighting Cornered by Coleman, Randleman made his debut on October 22, 1996 at Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 4 against Luiz Carlos Maciel, stopping him with punches in five minutes. He advanced to the next round to meet Canadian fighter Geza Kalman, who outweighed him by 40 pounds, and defeated him the same way in only 2 minutes more. Randleman reached the finals, where he encountered
Dan Severn's trainee
Dan Bobish. The latter controlled the first minutes from the
clinch, attempting
neck cranks and landing several punches, but Randleman skillfully escaped. The two then exchanged hard strikes, with Bobish getting the better of it, but Randleman scored a
takedown and
mounted him, from where he landed several strikes for the tournament win. In March 1997, Randleman returned to the promotion for UVF 6, in finding a difficult opponent in the first round in
luta livre veteran
Ebenezer Fontes Braga. The American controlled the takedowns, but the Brazilian defended solidly with strikes both standing and from his
guard every time, with Randleman attempting to sneak in
ground and pound through the latter. The bout soon turned controversial, however, as Braga would end up exiting the ring beneath the ropes several times, at some points even being externally helped by his team. Later in the bout, Braga scored several kicks and knees over a gradually fatigued Randleman, but Randleman was still able to control the fight, and later landed a striking combo that sent Braga out of the ring. After 20 minutes of fighting, a unanimous decision was given to Randleman, who acknowledged Braga's effort too. After managing to finish him with punches, Randleman advanced the finals to meet
Carlson Gracie's trainee
Carlos "Carlao" Barreto, another famous BJJ fighter. The fight started with a lengthy clinch battle, but Barreto pulled
guard and attacked him with upkicks and strikes. The Brazilian remained on the ground, where Randleman attacked with ground and pound, but fatigue eventually caught with him, and Barreto was finally capable to lock a
triangle choke for the win. The stoppage was disputed by Coleman, who wound up arguing with Gracie and his team. As a result, he was pulled from the card. He was later diagnosed with a concussion. The UFC did not announce that his main event fight was cancelled until right before it was to take place. As a result, there was no main event to this card. His fight, scheduled with
Pedro Rizzo, ended up taking place at
UFC 26, Randleman won via unanimous decision. However, he later lost the title to
Randy Couture at
UFC 28 via TKO. After losing the title, he moved down to
light heavyweight, feeling it was a more natural weight for his body, but suffered a setback, losing to
Chuck Liddell at
UFC 31 in his first fight at
light heavyweight before beating
Renato "Babalu" Sobral by unanimous decision in his final fight with the UFC.
PRIDE FC On September 29, 2002, Randleman made his debut in
Pride Fighting Championships, taking on Japanese wrestler
Michiyoshi Ohara. Randleman acquired an easy victory, as Ohara appeared to have no intention of trying to fight Randleman right from the outset, and even tried to flee and grab the ropes several times in an attempt to avoid damage from Randleman. This match was panned by the audience and Randleman himself, who left the ring before being awarded his trophy, was visibly angry. Throughout the course of 2002, Randleman gained victories over
Kenichi Yamamoto via TKO after vicious knee strikes from
north-south position and
Murilo "Ninja" Rua via TKO by cutting Rua with a counter left hook. This winning streak would eventually put him in the spot of contender for the
Pride Middeweight Championship, held by
Wanderlei Silva. At
Pride 25, Randleman faced another Middleweight contender, fellow American wrestler
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, in a match that determined the number one contender for Silva's belt. In the first round Randleman suffered his first loss in PRIDE, after an incredible
knee-
uppercut combination from Jackson knocked Randleman down. The referee stopped the fight after Rampage got dominant position and began landing strikes on Randleman. Randleman faced
Kazushi Sakuraba for his last match in 2003. Just three months before the fight with Sakuraba, Randleman was involved in a severe car accident in which he seized while driving his SUV. He hit a truck and was almost decapitated, but survived with a horrible head wound that required 180 stitches. However, he took an EKG test and several physical tests by a doctor which determined that he was medically okay to leave, and that there were essentially no issues other than the large skin wound. Randleman lost the fight to Sakuraba via a third-round
armbar submission. Randleman became one of the sixteen participants in the
PRIDE 2004 Heavyweight Tournament, alongside teammate
Mark Coleman. His first round match up at
PRIDE Total Elimination 2004 was against former
K-1 kickboxer Mirko Cro Cop, a participant heavily favored to win the entire tournament. Randleman knocked out Cro Cop by
ground and pound following a left hook that surprised and knocked him down. In the second round, at
PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004, Randleman faced off against the reigning
PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko. Again a heavy underdog, in a short bout he managed to
suplex Fedor onto his head, landing in
north-south position. This maneuver failed to damage Fedor, who quickly capitalized on Randleman's characteristic failure to inflict damage upon opponents from a dominant position by reversing him and submitting him with a
kimura, thereby eliminating him from the tournament. With his tournament journey over, Randleman went on to square off against friend and fellow American wrestler
Ron Waterman at
PRIDE Final Conflict 2004. Randleman picked up and slammed much bigger Waterman, and was ahead on the scorecards but made one mistake and lost by
americana in the first round. At
PRIDE Shockwave 2004 Randleman offered a rematch to
Mirko Cro Cop. Cro Cop submitted Randleman in the first round via
guillotine choke, avenging his loss and adding another loss to Randleman's losing streak in the process. In the
Opening Round of PRIDE's 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix, Kevin Randleman lost to
Kazuhiro Nakamura via decision. In November 2005, Randleman appeared in Bushido Europe: Rotterdam Rumble, Europe's first Bushido event, and defeated
Fatih Kocamis via decision, ending his losing streak, and giving him his first win in nearly a year. Randleman was taken ill with a serious fungal lung infection after his
Rotterdam bout that had unknowingly been present for some time. He underwent a successful surgery to have the infection removed. After recovering, he was scheduled to fight against
Vitor Belfort at a Strikeforce event in
San Jose, California on June 9, 2006, but was unable to, due to a recurrence of the infection. Belfort instead fought, and lost to,
Alistair Overeem, by unanimous decision. Kevin Randleman returned to PRIDE for their first show on American soil,
Pride 32: The Real Deal on October 21, 2006, where he was quickly submitted with a
toe hold in the first round by 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion
Maurício "Shogun" Rua. This match-up was made partly to capitalize on an incident where
Mark Coleman fought Rua and broke his arm with a trip takedown. After the referee stopped the fight, a brawl ensued.
Chute Boxe and
Hammer House members then entered the ring, clashing verbally and physically, creating bad blood between the two teams.
Controversy, illness and suspension from fighting After the bout with Rua, Randleman failed a drug test administered by the Nevada Athletic Commission.Randleman submitted a urine sample lacking any hormones to the
Nevada State Athletic Commission. This indicated that the sample was fake. On January 19, 2007, Randleman was hospitalized due to serious damage to his kidneys. In an interview with MMAWeekly, he stated he failed to submit a urine sample due to his use of painkillers and
antibiotics after his previous surgeries that may have prevented him from being cleared to fight, and his health issues were a result of the cumulative effects of his surgeries, medication and fighting on his body. The Nevada Athletic Commission met on February 16, 2007, to discuss the fake sample and revoked Randleman's license to fight. He was able to reapply for a license after October 21, 2007, a year from the date of his loss to
Maurício Rua. In 2007, Randleman was sidelined for more than a year when a staph infection under his arm leaked into his bloodstream. The infection nearly killed him; it left a gaping hole under his arm, shut down his liver and kidney and left him in a coma. He was quoted as saying "It looked like someone had taken a shotgun and shot me up close," says Randleman. After dismissing his symptoms for five weeks, he was admitted to the hospital in septic condition. Doctors were forced to remove portions of Randleman's lateral and pectoral muscles in an attempt to eradicate the staph bacteria from his body. In October 2007, he was quoted as saying of the staph infection "I was in critical condition for almost three weeks and I am two weeks out of the hospital now ... pain is just part of the healing, and it hurts a lot.... I had two organs shut down again. I think what I need to do is stop enduring the pain and go see the doctors earlier."
World Victory Road: Sengoku After one year and seven months of lay off due to kidney problems, a
staph infection and suspension, Randleman came back with a unanimous decision over
Ryo Kawamura on May 18, 2008, at
Sengoku 2. Randleman's next fight was scheduled to be on June 21, 2008, against
Jeff Monson at the Godz of War; however, Randleman injured his shoulder while training.
Ricco Rodriguez replaced him and fought Monson, losing a unanimous decision. Randleman said that he would fight at
Sengoku 6 in November, but did not. Later, he explained that he injured his shoulder very seriously in his comeback fight against
Ryo Kawamura, so he took a long rest. On November 7, 2009, Randleman fought Bulgarian prospect
Stanislav Nedkov at
Sengoku 11. Randleman started the fight with a good left leg kick and takedown. He used elevators and reversals to avoid damage from Nedkov, when Nedkov made a few takedowns. In the 3rd round Randleman repeated his strong left leg kick and used his new blue belt
Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills to avoid bottom positions and back immediately to the top positions on the ground. After three rounds the judges rendered a controversial split decision, with one judge for Randleman and two judges for Nedkov.
Strikeforce At the
Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz press conference it was announced that he had finalised the signing of a contract with
Strikeforce. Randleman's Strikeforce debut was on June 6 against journeyman and
IFL standout
Mike Whitehead at
Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields. Randleman looked to grapple immediately in the fight, whilst Whitehead controlled the fight on the feet. Whitehead won the first two rounds using takedowns but Randleman employed the use of reversals very competently to avoid significant damage. In the third round Randleman, having seemingly lost the previous rounds, threw caution to the wind and loosened his arms, becoming reckless with his strikes, but knocking his opponent down with a left hook to the chin. Randleman charged in to finish Whitehead and landed a few shots to Whitehead's head, but was unable to capitalize effectively on the knock-down. All three judges scored the bout 29–28 in favor of Whitehead. Randleman lost to Strikeforce newcomer
Roger Gracie via a
rear-naked choke submission in the second round of their
light heavyweight bout on May 15, 2010, at
Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery. He lost 10 out of his last 13 fights. Following the loss to Russian
black belt judoka, Baga Agaev with Agaev submitting Randleman with a modified
armbar and dislocating his elbow, Randleman had decided to retire. ==Professional wrestling career==