Kevin Randleman Joins UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2020

During last night’s UFC on ESPN 8 broadcast, the UFC officially announced that the late former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman was named for the UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2020 in the Pioneer Wing. The UFC will be streaming the 2020 UFC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony later this year on UFC Fight Pass.

In a statement from the official press release, UFC President Dana White stated, “Kevin Randleman was one of the first real athletes in the early days of UFC. He was a two-time NCAA Division I National Champion and All-American wrestler at The Ohio State University. He was the fifth heavyweight champion in UFC history and one of the first athletes to successfully compete at both heavyweight and light heavyweight. He was a pioneer of the sport and it’s an honor to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2020.”

Randleman joins the UFC Hall of Fame as the 17th member of the Pioneer Era wing. The category includes athletes who became pros before November 17, 2000, which is when the unified rules of MMA were adopted, the minimum age of 35, or have been retired for one year or more.

Randleman’s career over the course of 15 years included wins over Kenichi Yamamoto in the middleweight tournament at UFC 23. Also, he defeated Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in PRIDE FC. He made his Octagon debut at UFC 19 on March 5, 1999. Randleman would eventually win the heavyweight title after beating Pete Williams at UFC 23.

During his amateur wrestling career, Randleman he became a two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion for Ohio State University in 1992-1993. He sadly passed away at the age of 44 in 2016 due to complications from pneumonia. He’s survived by his wife and four children.

UFC will be announcing more inductees for the Class of 2020 in the coming weeks.