Interesting match here with Kawamura–a very highly touted veteran of Pancrase–against veteran Kevin Randleman. Randleman’s had a number of health problems recently including kidney problems and a lung infection that required surgery. This fight will be a test to see how much he has left..

ROUND 1:

Randleman shoots right after the opening bell and gets the takedown. He’s got Kawamura in a bodylock from behind similar to the one that he performed his legendary suplex on Fedor from. Of course Fedor landed on his head, but since he’s a cyborg it didn’t faze him and he submitted Randleman less than a minute later. Just one of the most unreal things I’ve seen not only in MMA but any sport. Randleman goes for a suplex but Kawamura blocks it. So far Randleman’s strength seems to be giving Kawamura problems but as a Pancrase fighter this is his kind of bout. Randleman now with a few blows from behind–he’s still behind him apparently trying for a suplex but working in fists where he can. Kawamura transitions into an arm bar out of nowhere but the crafty vet Randleman doesn’t panic and defends it well. Same position now with Kawamura’s head resting against the turnbuckle and Randleman behind him. Ref separates them and moves them back to the middle. Randleman’s corner yelling at him over and over to get his hands up, which Kawamura apparently heard and tried to land a straight right which Randleman blocks. Round drawing to a close without much more action Good round for Randleman–he didn’t do anything overwhelming but used his size and strength advantage to wear down Kawamura. Impressive to see him fighting such a smart fight in his return to the ring–due to his injuries he hasn’t fought since October of 2006.

ROUND 2:

Fighters look to exchange punches and for the moment at least Randleman keeping his hands up. Straight right by Randleman misses. Randleman bulls his opponent into the corner. With the exception of the arm bar attempt its been all Randleman though Kawamura isn’t hurt. High kick by Kawamura just misses. He could be banking on having superior conditioning to Randleman due to the American fighter’s health problems and lengthy layoff. Low kick by Kawamura. Randleman’s corner yelling at him to keep his hands up constantly–he appears concerned more with Kawamura’s low Muay Thai style kicks. The kicks have certainly concerned Randleman as Kawamura has him backing up. Ref stops the action momentarily though I’m not sure why–it wasn’t a low blow. Maybe a problem with the mouthpiece? Reverse body lock by Randleman now which has worked well for him so far–spoke to soon as Kawamura grabs an arm and tries for a Kimura. Randleman yanks his arm away and retreats to the other corner. Same thing again, with Randleman bulling his opponent to the corner and Kawamura immediately trying for the Kimura. Kawamura has scored with a few nice straight right hands and has Randleman backing up now. Sort of strange dynamic since based on their backgrounds it would seem that Randleman would have the edge in the standup but Kawamura now peppering him with straight rights. Another example of how some basic boxing training would benefit both fighters–Kawamura isn’t doing anything tricky; he’s just loading up his straight right and letting it fly. Nevertheless, its giving Randleman fits. Anyway, Kawamura’s round as he had Randleman backing up and on the defensive throughout.

ROUND 3:

This would be the first fight to go the distance tonight if the fight follows to form of the first two rounds. Randleman finally does the obvious and starts to counterpunch, scoring effectively by firing over Kawamura’s hands and finally getting the best of a striking exchange. His corner is really excited by this, so I’m thinking that they told him to do it during the break. Randleman bulls Kawamura back to the corner again with the reverse bodylock. The ref breaks it up and moves them back to the middle before Kawamura could go for another kimura. Randleman tries for a takedown but Kawamura sprawls out of it. Randleman catches his opponent in a guillotine choke that judging from Kawamura’s heavy breathing was cinched in pretty well but he can’t get a submission and Kawamura’s head pops out. Back to the reverse bodylock again with Kawamura trying to straighten Randleman’s arm out for a kimura. Kawamura spins around and throws a punch, which backs Randleman up. High kick by the Japanese fighter just misses. Kawamura backing Randleman up with his striking now and he’s likely thinking that if he doesn’t do something Randleman will win this round and the fight. 30 seconds left now as Randleman bulls his opponent into the corner again. Kawamura striking and throwing kicks gets out of the corner. Tough fight to score–neither fighter really caused much damage, and each controlled roughly 1/2 of the fight. If you’re doing it by rounds, I’d definitely give Randleman round 1, Kawamura round 2 and IMO Randleman would take round 3. If its being judged by the full fight its a lot closer–picture freezes up for the moment…..

Based on what I can tell when the picture comes back it looks like Randleman has won the decision…he tries to get the assembled fans to start a “one more time” trying to shill for a rematch but no one picks it up. Until I hear otherwise, I’m just going to call it Randleman by decision….

KEVIN RANDLEMAN WINS BY UNANIMOUS DECISION

Randleman very classy and gracious to the Japanese fans in his postfight speech. He grabs a baby on the way out and poses for a picture, which was really cute. BTW, our Japan expert Lyman Hoyt just IM’d me and confirmed that Randleman wins by unanimous decision….