“A promoter wants a FIGHTER…a guy that’s gonna step in the ring and give everything he’s got”

Before Spike before ShowTime before Versus, Mixed Martial Arts was living in small venues and arenas in a limited number of states with many fighters looking for the ultimate test of will. Many call this time “The Golden Age” fighters were not fighting for money, nor fame; they fought for the love of competition. Only a chosen few got to make it the pinnacle promotion UFC but there were fighters that battled shady promoters, top tier fighter, injuries and all for one main reason that is to follow their DREAMS.

One fighter that has been in the MMA game for many moons is Randy HAUER. Randy story starts in Minnesota where he lived and had the opportunity to be a colligate wrestler for the university of Minnesota. He began his MMA training locally with some top fighters like Shawn “the MUSCLE SHARK” Sherk and Dave Menne. It was here that he knew he had found what he wanted to do with his life.

So to be the best he needed to travel in search of the best MMA gyms and promotions where he can train and fight. One place he called home was Las Vegas “THE HOT BED” where he began expanding his MMA contacts with names such as Melvin the Beast man, Kimo, John Louis etc… He wasn’t just there to make friends and meet fighters Randy was there to do what he does best and that is compete. So he trained and entered a prestigious tournament known as The Grapplers Quest which he was able to take 2^nd place. He got to meet one character that really helped him open doors into his MMA career that character was Ricco Rodriguez. They shared a few words in their first meeting and their friendship became instantaneous.

With a friend like Ricco, Randy was invited to go to BIG BEAR to train with some of the best fighters in the world such as Ricco, Tito Ortiz, Rampage Jackson, and got trained by Fabio Eahus and Sal Solis. While training there he had to prove his worth the only way to do this is to compete. So Randy took off to Arizona to a Machado Tournament and after winning his division he did something that many people might think is far fetch…..Randy tapped out EDDIE BRAVO. With a win such as that he was awarded his purple in jiu jitsu but at the time randy was not interested in getting ranked in jiu jitsu because MMA was his main focus. He makes a point to state that during this time Brazilians were not great strikers, this is all prior to Vitor and Wanderli, and Randy wanted to be a great MMA fighter which consisted of having a great stand up game and great ground & pound. So getting ranked in BJJ was put on the back burner. It was until he meant Sal Solis when he changed his perspective on the belt system and his whole training regime. Before he would cross train by doing boxing in the morning kickboxing in the afternoon and some grappling in the evening. With his new training camp in place he was able to work on aspects of the MMA game like cage work, ground & pound, stand-up transition to wrestling, etc.

A major part of the fight game was weight cutting and Randy was one of the few that would cut major weight, 30-40, pounds to fight. Being a high school and college wrestler helped him prepare him to go from 180 to 145. So he used this to his advantage to have superior strength over his opponents. Looking up to fighters like Mark Coleman and Tito Ortiz, it was no wonder why he pride himself on his ground and pound skills not his BJJ skills. His record indicates only one submission victory in his 7 wins. Working within someone’s guard he would go crazy with ground and pound, and he would get caught in the triangle choke but he blames that on his inexperience and his youth.

After having a rollercoaster of wins and losses in his MMA career he decided to try out for The Ultimate Fighter and with an inside connection since he knew Dana White personally from when he use to live in Las Vegas he thought he had a for sure seat. So he went in choked people out at the TUF audition but Randy was not what the UFC was looking for. Dana White pulled him aside and told him that the UFC had certain characters they wanted for the house and were just looking for the fighters that would fit into the characters. So even though Randy didn’t lose a fight he still lost by not making the cut due to marketing demographics.

Dana did help out by sending Randy to Scott Adams who is the promoter for the WEC and was offered a 3 fight deal. He had to take his first fight for the WEC against RAZOR ROB McCULLOUGH on short notice 4 days to be exact. He was trying to break out as a fighter regardless of the tough matches against some of the top tier fighters there was no way Randy was going to say NO. “When they offer you the plate and it might be the only time they offer you the plate so you better take the plate. In his last fight he fought Chris Bowles with a messed up knee taking a cordozon shot to numb the pain but after the first round his knee gave out and he lost the fight. After this fight he was hit with one more loss when he found out that his twin brother had passed away.

So with a torn ACL, personal issues, he decided to take a step back start teaching MMA. He last fought in 2007 and his last six fights were against some of the best fighters in the world such as Carlos Condit, Clay Guida, Spencer Fisher, Rob McCullough, Kyle Bradley and Chris Bowles. Now he is back in shape, eating clean, feeling young, more experienced, better trained, body healed, and looking to make a big impact starting in 2010 and the years to come.

His name once again is RANDY HAUER that’s H-A-U put you in the E-R.

ValleyTudo Writer

Tomas Moreno