Kevin Rosier (January 6, 1962 – April 14, 2015) was an American

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

and

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. He had much success as a kickboxer, winning a number of titles, but did not transition particularly well into the world of boxing and was mostly seen as a

journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

fighter. Notably, he also took part at the inaugural

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

event in 1993 where he reached the semi-finals.

Career

Kickboxing and boxing

Rosier spent the majority of his fighting career in

kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

where he held a record of 66 wins, all by knockout, and 8 losses. He was also the 3x WKA World Super Heavyweight Champion and

ISKA The ISKA (originally International Sport Karate Association, later also called the International Sport Kickboxing Association) is international bodies regulating sport karate and kickboxing matches. It is based in the United States. It was est ...

North American Super Heavyweight Champion. His kickboxing career began in the 1980s and his last bout came in 1999 when he lost to Mike Labree in a fight for the vacant IKF

International Kickboxing Federation The International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) is a sanctioning body for kickboxing and Muay Thai based in the United States. The IKF sanctions and regulates all aspects of these sports from Semi ContactIKF Point Kickboxing (IKF/PKB) to Full Conta ...

Pro Full Contact Rules Super Heavyweight World Title on May 15, 1999, in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. At 26 seconds into round 10, LaBree caught Rosier with a short left to the head and Rosier went down to his knees and the bout was stopped. He also had a 12-year career as a

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

in which he held a 7–17 record. He fought between 1989 and 2001 and came up against a number of high-profile opponents including

Josué Blocus Josué Edmond Blocus (born 20 November 1969) is a French heavyweight Boxing, boxer who competed in the Boxing at the 1996 Summer Olympics, 1996 Olympics. Blocus is a black Frenchman whose family is from Guadeloupe. Amateur career At the 1996 Euro ...

Roman Bugaj Roman Bugaj (born 9 August 1973) is a Polish heavyweight boxer. Before turning to boxing he was an amateur kickboxer – winning a European title. Career He turned professional in 1999. More than a third of his professional fights have been in ...

Tye Fields Walter Tyeson "Tye" Fields (born February 8, 1975) is an American former professional boxer who held the USBA heavyweight title. Boxing career Tye Fields grew up in Beaverton, Oregon. Fields played college basketball and was a starter at forwar ...

Vincent Maddalone Vincent "Vinny" Maddalone (born December 29, 1973) is an American professional boxer who fights at heavyweight. Professional career Maddalone, a hard-hitting brawler, turned professional in 1999 and became a popular contender often featured on ...

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Nikolai Valuev Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev ( rus, Никола́й Серге́евич Валу́ев, p=vɐˈlujɪf; born 21 August 1973) is a Russian politician and former professional boxer. He competed in boxing from 1993 to 2009, and held the World Boxing ...

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, Dan Voss Jr and

Paea Wolfgramm Paea Wolfgramm (born December 1, 1969) is a Tongan retired boxer. Nicknamed "The Tongan Warrior", Wolfgramm earned the Super Heavyweight silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, making him the first and only athlete from Tonga to win an Olympi ...

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In 1993, with only three weeks notice, Rosier elicited the help of his former student World Kickboxing Champion A.J. Verel to coach and train him for

UFC 1 ''The Ultimate Fighting Championship'' (later renamed ''UFC 1: The Beginning'') was the first mixed martial arts event by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), held at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, United States, on Novembe ...

, the very first

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

event held by the

. His first match in the tournament, the second in the card, pitted him against

American Kenpo American Kenpo Karate (), also known as American Kenpo or Ed Parker's Kenpo Karate, is an American martial art founded and codified by Ed Parker. It is synthesized mainly from Japanese and Okinawan martial arts such as karate and judo, with i ...

expert and two-time World Kickboxing Federation super heavyweight champion Zane Frazier.Don Beu, ''The Ultimate Fighting Championship: Jujutsu and Royce Gracie Reign Supreme at No-Holds-Barred Tournament'', Black Belt magazine, March 1994 Rosier opened the match knocking Frazier down with punches,

knee strike A knee strike (commonly referred to simply as a knee) is a strike (attack), strike with the knee, either with the kneecap or the surrounding area. Kneeing is a disallowed practice in many combat sports, especially to the head of a downed opponent. ...

s and an

elbow strike An elbow strike (commonly referred to as simply an elbow) is a strike with the point of the elbow, the part of the forearm nearest to the elbow, or the part of the upper arm nearest to the elbow. Elbows can be thrown sideways similarly to a hook, ...

to the turtled up Frazier's back, but his opponent recovered and went to exchange knee strikes with him in the clinch. At that moment, capitalizing on the lack of regulation about hair pulling and

groin attack A groin attack is a deliberate strike to the groin area of one's opponent. The technique can be quickly debilitating due to the sensitivity of the groin area and genitalia and is sometimes used as a self-defense technique. The technique is often ...

s, Frazier managed to take over by striking Rosier with a low blow and dragging him by the hair. The kenpo fighter dominated the fight with striking combinations both standing and on their knees, even breaking Rosier's jaw with a right hand. Some minutes later, however, Frazier slowed down due to exhaustion, allowing Rosier to recover and come back with several punches that put Frazier against the fence. Rosier then pushed him down to the mat and scored multiple punches and stomps to the back of the head until Frazier's corner threw the towel. In the semifinals, Rosier came up against Dutch

savate Savate (), also known as French Boxing (French language, French: ''Boxe Française'') or French Foot Fighting, is a French hybrid martial art and full-contact combat sport that combines principles of boxing, western boxing with a wide variety ...

fighter

Gerard Gordeau Gerard Gordeau (born 30 March 1956) is a Dutch former Savateur, Karateka, Kickboxer, and mixed martial artist. He is the 1991 World Champion Savate and holder of the Dutch Champion Karate title for eight consecutive years, but foremost known int ...

. The Dutchman targeted Rosier's knees with

leg kick A low kick (also known as a leg kick) is a kick in which the attacker strikes the opponent's lower body (thigh or calf) with the shinbone or foot. Under different names, such kicks are utilized in numerous martial arts, including as karate, taek ...

s and kept distance with him through jabbing. When Rosier was forced to cover down after a barrage of knees and elbows, Gordeau scored a stomp to the

spleen The spleen (, from Ancient Greek '' σπλήν'', splḗn) is an organ (biology), organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The spleen plays important roles in reg ...

, prompting Rosier to tap on the mat, signalling his submission. Although eliminated from the tournament, Rosier praised Gordeau and expressed the desire to return. After this, he continued to compete in MMA and next fought at

UFC 4 ''UFC 4: Revenge of the Warriors'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on December 16, 1994, at the Expo Center Pavilion in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. The event was seen live on pay-per-vie ...

where he lost via submission 14 seconds into his bout with "The Ghetto Man"

Joe Charles Joe Charles (born July 18, 1958) is an American mixed martial artist. He competed in the Heavyweight division. He is best known for his time in the UFC from 1994 to 2000. Background Born and raised in Los Angeles, Charles trained in Taekwondo ...

. He competed five more times in MMA, losing four and winning one, and retired with a record of two wins and six losses.

Later life

After retiring from competition, Kevin suffered several bouts of illness (including open-heart surgery and a nearly fatal fall while already in intensive care). By August 2013, Kevin was in stable health & reportedly residing in a retirement resort in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. In April 2015, Rosier died of an apparent

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

Championships and awards

Kickboxing

*1994 WKKC ( World Karate and Kickboxing Council) World Superheavyweight Champion *1990 WKA ( World Karate Association) World Superheavyweight Champion (above the waist) *1990 ISKA (

International Sport Karate Association The ISKA (originally International Sport Karate Association, later also called the International Sport Kickboxing Association) is international bodies regulating sport karate and kickboxing matches. It is based in the United States. It was es ...

) North American Superheavyweight Champion *3X WKA (

World Kickboxing Association The World Kickboxing Association (WKA) also known as World Kickboxing and Karate Association, is one of the oldest and the largest amateur and professional sanctioning body for kickboxing and Karate. History In 1976, the WKA was founded by Howa ...

) World Superheavyweight Champion *1989 All-Japan World Champion *1987 United States Kung-Fu Karate National No-Rules Tournament Champion *1989 WKA ( World Karate Association) World Championship Title Fight (full contact karate)The Ventura County Star Free Press, Oxnard Press Courier

Kickboxing record

, - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 1999-05-15 , , Loss , , align=left, Mike Labree , , Mass Destruction: The Ultimate Night of Fighting , ,

Lowell, Massachusetts, USA Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, it is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of the ...

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, , KO (left jab and right overhand) , , 2 , , 1:42 , , 15–4 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1989-05-14 , , Win , , align=left, Don Nakaya Nielsen , , AJKF: Knockout of the Century - Part 3 , ,

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Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 2–6 , Brad Gabriel , TKO (punches) , IFC: Battleground 2000 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:12 , Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 2–5 , Joe Bramante , Submission (rear-naked choke) , IFC: Fighters Revenge , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:01 , Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–5 ,

Dan Severn Daniel DeWayne Severn (born June 8, 1958), nicknamed "the Beast", is an American retired professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler. A UFC Hall of Fame member, Severn is considered one of the leading pioneers of ...

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, TKO (knees) , Extreme Challenge 15 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:53 ,

Muncie, Indiana Muncie ( ) is a city in Delaware County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It is located in East Central Indiana about northeast of Indianapolis. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 65,195, down from 70,085 in the 2010 c ...

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Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

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Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

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Professional boxing record

References

External links

* * * *
Kevin Rosier — retired MMA fighter and bodyguard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosier, Kevin 1962 births 2015 deaths People from Lancaster, New York Sportspeople from Erie County, New York American male kickboxers Kickboxers from New York (state) Heavyweight kickboxers Heavyweight boxers Boxers from New York (state) American male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing karate Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing aikido Mixed martial artists from Florida Mixed martial artists from New York (state) American male boxers Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 20th-century American sportsmen