Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman Passes Away

Former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman has passed away. Bleacher Report has confirmed via Twitter that Randleman died, suffering heart failure after he went to the hospital with pneumonia. He was forty-four years old.

Randleman made his UFC debut at UFC 19 in March of 1999 after accumulating a 6-2 professional record elsewhere. His first UFC fight was a win over Maurice Smith in the Road to the Heavyweight Title tournament; he lost to Bas Rutten in the finals for the vacant title via a very controversial split decision.

Randleman then won the title in his next fight, beating Pete Williams for the title that Rutten had vacated to drop down to light heavyweight. He had one successful defense before losing the title to Randy Couture at UFC 28 in November of 2000. His last UFC fight was a win over Ranato Sobral at UFC 35, after which he went to Japan to fight for PRIDE. Randleman retired in 2011 with a final professional record of 17-16.

On behalf of 411, our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Mr. Randleman.