If you are interested in MMA battles, you probably know Kevin Randleman (also known as “The Monster”). He was a big guy who fought very worthily. However, he had some problems with the law and probably used illegal steroids. Unfortunately, a few years ago this athlete died of heart failure. Perhaps this death was partly associated with side effects of steroids.

The athlete’s bio

The future sportsman was born on August 10, 1971 in the city of Sandusky, Ohio. “The Monster” began to perform as a fighter in his university team. He became a 2-time champion of the first NCAA division. Early in his career, Kevin trained at Mark Coleman’s club “T.H.H.”, but subsequently moved to the gym located in Las Vegas. The sportsman’s career in MMA began October 22, 1996 with victories over Daniel Bobish and some other athletes. On March 3, 1997, while fighting at UVF 6, he defeated Ebenezer Fontes Braga & Mario Neto, but Carlos Barreto defeated him. June 15, 1997 at Brazil Open Fight event, Kevin turned off Homme de Neve by the elbow kick to the head, but in the next battle, Kevin was knocked out by Tom Erickson.

The Sportsman competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the heavyweight and light heavyweights many times. After defeating Maurice Smith, he fought with Bas Rutten to achieve the heavyweight title. Despite the fact that “The Monster” had an advantage in this fight, he lost it according to the total quantity of points. Kevin became the heavyweight tittle-holder of the UFC in November 1999 when he beat Pete Williams at the UFC 23 tournament, later he was retired by Randy Couture at UFC 28. After losing the belt, the sportsman moves into the light heavyweight class. In his 1st fight, the sportsman was defeated by Chuck Liddell. This happened before his victory over Renato Sobral in the final battle.

In September 2002, the sportsman’s debut in Pride FC took place in a battle with Japanese wrestler Michioshi Ohara. It was an easy victory for “The Monster”. In 2002, The sportsman defeated Kenisha Yamamamoto and Murilo Rua. After a series of victories, he approached the owner of the prestigious title Wanderlei César da Silva. At the PRIDE 25 event, the sportsman was to fight the American fighter Quinton Jackson. The fight was to determine the top rival for the championship belt of Silva. Kevin lost in the 1st round, and it was his 1st bad fight in PRIDE. Despite the bad fight with K. Sakuraba in 2003, the athlete together with his friend Mark Daniel Coleman became one of several participants in 2004 championship. The sportsman’s 1st fight at Pride FC 2004 was against former member K-1 Mirko Filipovic, who all foreshadowed the victory at this tournament. The sportsman won in this hard fight by knockout.

In the 2nd fight at Pride FC 2004, the sportsman fought with the top athlete in heavyweight Fyodor Emelianenko. Fyodor won this battle, “The Monster” emerged from further struggle. After PRIDE 2004, “The Monster” fought against his friend, fighter Ron Waterman, at PRIDE Final Conflict 2004. Kevin was defeated in the 1st round by conceding a submission move. At the PRIDE Shockwave 2004 tournament, “The Monster” offered a re-match to “Cro Cop”. Mirko “Cro Cop” defeated “The Monster” in the 1st round, taking revenge for the past defeat. In the first battle at the 2005 Grand Prix, the sportsman lost to Japanese athlete Kazuhiro Nakamura. In November 2005, “The Monster” performed at the Bushido Europe and achieve a victory by decision. After this tournament, “The Monster” fell ill, he was found to have a staphylococcal infection of the lungs. After recovery, he was to perform the MMA fight with Vitor Belfort (famous fighter who probably used steroids). The meeting did not take place, because the sportsman fell ill again. In the autumn of 2006, Kevin returned to Pride FC for the PRIDE32 tournament. There the sportsman was defeated by leg lock in the 1st battle against Maurizio Roy.

Kevin Randleman and steroids

After the battle with Roy, the sportsman failed the doping test conducted by experts from the Nevada Sports Commission. In one interview, he said that he failed the doping test, since he took painkillers and antibiotics after the operation, which could also affect the defeat in combat. On February 16, 2007, the Nevada Sports Commission revoked the athlete’s license to participate in the battles. We don’t know what drugs he used. Probably these were Winstrol or nandrolone.

On August 16, 2007, the sportsman was arrested in Goodsprings for many accusations, among which was drunk driving. Kevin had a wife (Elizabeth) and 2 children (a boy and a girl).

You might be interested in UFC steroids and steroids in MMA.

Kevin Randleman’s death

In February 2016, Kevin died of heart failure. At the time of his death, Kevin was in a hospital where he was treated for pneumonia. The man was only 44 years old.

Before that, in particular in 2007, the fighter complained about staph infections, which did their disastrous work and simply “ate” the athlete’s body. For many years, the internal organs of the fighter slowly ceased to function properly. For the most part, this was because the sportsman took a lot of these meds, which are included in the banned list now. But in those days, there was no question of any full-fledged doping control, so every MMA sportsman survived as he could. According to Kevin, he was often hospitalized, as any abrasion and bruising resulting from physical exercises allowed infection to become more active.

Here are some comments from the MMA athletes about the death of Kevin:

• Bas Rutten: “I heard that the news was confirmed. Kevin passed away. This is the worst news. Condolences for Elizabeth and her children. Rest in peace, my friend. “
• Harry Goodridge: “The UFC legend, Kevin Randleman, passed away at the age of 44. I cannot believe that my friend passed away. The second one in two months.”
• Frank Trigg: “Kevin Randleman. The amazing strength of the spirit of rivalry and an excellent athlete. He sincerely believed that he could achieve what he wanted.”
• Antonio Silva: “Rest in peace, Kevin Randleman.”
• Lance Palmer: “He was a legendary fighter and veteran of UFC and Pride, husband, father and wonderful man! I always equaled Kevin as a fighter. Rest in peace, my friend.”

By the way, a few years ago, when an autopsy of a deceased bodybuilder (not Kevin) was performed, medical researchers from the University of Padua in Italy found that his heart muscle weighs 900 g and the liver was 2700 g, while a normal human heart weighs 300 g and the liver is approximately 1500 g. Italians suggest that the cause of the death was steroid injection. Summarizing all the available information in their article, Italian scientists published data that they obtained as a result of four forensic autopsies of three bodybuilders (including the above) and one cyclist. All the dead athletes used steroids, and all of them died of heart failure.