Bas Rutten
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| Bas "El Guapo" Rutten | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Statistics | |
| Nickname | El Guapo |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Born | February 24, 1965 |
| Town of birth | Tilburg, Netherlands |
| Fighting style | Muay Thai |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Wins | 28 |
| By knockout | 12 |
| By submission | 13 |
| Losses | 4 |
| Draws | 1 |
Sebastian "Bas" Rutten (February 24, 1965 -) is a Dutch mixed martial arts fighter and color commentator. He was a three time King of Pancrase, former Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight Champion, and is a certified MTBN Thai Boxing instructor, Pancrase instructor, a 3rd Degree Black Belt in Kyokushin and a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. He is also the founder of "The Bas Rutten System" and the author of various martial art books and videos.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Tilburg, the Netherlands, Bas Rutten became interested in martial arts when he was 14 after watching Enter the Dragon, taking up Tae Kwon Do and getting his black belt in TKD in a year. He eventually got his 2nd Dan in Tae Kwon Do, then he trained in Kyokushin Karate, where he competed in bareknuckle full contact karate tournaments. At the age of 20 he started competing in Thai boxing, going undefeated, although he credits Kyokushin karate as the base of his striking skills. Starting as a striker and later on learning submission fighting, Rutten implemented a well balanced mixture of many techniques.
Bas Rutten calls himself "El Guapo" (Spanish for "The Handsome One"). This nickname was given to him by his wife. It is the name of the villain in the movie "The Three Amigos". In his fights, Bas' "trademark" was delivering punches and kicks to the liver of his opponents. In his "Bas Rutten's Big DVDs of Combat" Bas refers to this as a "liver shot". Bas is also known for his characteristic "Rutten Jump," which he performed in the ring every time he won a fight, resembling a jumping split.
[edit] Pancrase
Bas began his professional mixed martial arts career with the upstart Japanese fighting organization, Pancrase. In 1993, Japanese pro wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki traveled to Holland to scout fighters for their new "hybrid wrestling" organization, featuring submission fighting, but with no closed fisted strikes to the face. A precursor to what would become modern mixed martial arts, the organization was the first of its kind, and featured such early MMA names as Frank Shamrock, Vernon White, Maurice Smith, Ken Shamrock, and Guy Mezger.
His lack (at that time) of ground-fighting experience leading to early defeats at the hands of Masakatsu Funaki and Ken Shamrock, and more controversially losing to Frank Shamrock by way of a split judge's decision, Bas would come back in 1995 to beat the previously undefeated Minoru Suzuki and win his first "King of Pancrase" title. Avenging his losses to both Frank Shamrock and Masakatsu Funaki in 1996, he went on to defeat both Jason Delucia and Guy Mezger and in so doing became a three time "King of Pancrase." In 1996, he relinquished his title, in order to be present for the birth of his first daughter. [1] Bas returned to Pancrase, taking 8 more victories, bringing his winning streak up to 19 straight fights.
[edit] UFC
In 1998, Bas signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the biggest MMA promotion in the United States. His first fight in the UFC was against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at UFC 18, which Bas won by KO. Next he faced UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman at UFC 20, this fight went into overtime, with Bas taking a close decision victory to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Bas vacated the title later in the year, in order to drop down to middleweight (his natural weight class), and try to become the first person to hold a UFC title in two weight classes. [2]
While training for his next UFC fight in 1999, Bas suffered multiple serious injuries, including blowing out his knee (a long running injury), and tearing a biceps. Bas was forced to retire from MMA competition for the time being, by doctors orders. [3]
[edit] Retirement
After his retirement from fighting in 1999, Bas focused on becoming an actor, getting small parts on TV shows such as "Martial Law", "18 Wheels of Justice", "The King of Queens", and the Canadian series "Freedom", as well as appearing in low budget movies such as Shadow Fury, The Eliminator, and the comedy short "The Kingdom of Ultimate Power" which was featured in the 2005 L.A. Film Festival.
Bas was also the color commentator for the English productions of PRIDE Fighting Championships events, calling nearly every event from PRIDE 1 through the 2005 Grand Prix. Known for his sense of humor and first hand knowledge of the sport, Bas quickly become a fan favorite commentator. In April of 2006 Bas announced that he would not continue to announce for PRIDE, due to the pressure of constantly flying to Japan, and being away from his family every month. [4] He handed off commentating duties to former fighter Frank Trigg.
In 2006 Bas was tapped to coach a team for the new International Fight League, an MMA organization that focuses on team combat. His team, the Anacondas, were defeated by the Silverbacks 4-1, with the only win coming from Alex Schoenauer (a participant from The Ultimate Fighter Season 1).
[edit] Return to MMA
In May of 2006, Bas announced his return to MMA competition. Cleared by doctors to fight again, Bas was slated to face Kimo Leopoldo in the World Fighting Alliance on July 22, 2006 at The Forum in Los Angeles. But just two days before the event, Kimo tested positive for Stanozolol, a form of anabolic steroids. In place of Kimo, Bas fought Ruben "Warpath" Villareal. Bas took a first round victory by way of technical knockout out after low kicks left his opponent unable to stand.
Aside from training for his upcoming fights, Bas teaches martial arts seminars, and is the author of instructional books and DVDs. Kevin James mentioned training with Bas in an interview. He currently lives and trains in Los Angeles. He and his wife Karin have three daughters.
Bas has recently announced that he is teaming up with UFC legend Randy Couture in starting up a brand new fight-gym in Hollywood, called "Legends Mixed Martial Arts Training Center", where you can train Mixed Martial Arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai and Boxing. Besides Bas and Randy, several other well known instructors and pro-fighters will be teaching there, including: Karo Parisyan, Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Eddie Bravo. [5]
[edit] Record
- Muay Thai (The Netherlands - pre 1993)
- Wins: 14 KOs
- Entire Muay Thai career record: 14-1
- Mixed Martial Arts (Japan and USA - 1993 to 2006)
- Wins: 12 (T)KOs - 13 Submission - 3 Decisions
- Losses: 3 Submission - 1 Decision
- Entire MMA career record: 28-4-1
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round, Time | Notes |
| Win | Ruben Villareal | KO (Leg Kicks) | WFA-King of the Streets | 7/22/2006 | 1 3:24 | |
| Win | Kevin Randleman | Decision | UFC 20-Battle for the Gold | 5/7/1999 | 1 21:00 | wins UFC heavyweight championship and retires due to injury |
| Win | Tsuyoshi Kohsaka | KO | UFC 18-Road to the Heavyweight Title | 1/8/1999 | 1 14:15 | |
| Win | Kengo Watanabe | TKO (Lost Points) | Pancrase-1998 Anniversary Show | 9/14/1998 | 1 2:58 | |
| Win | Keiichiro Yamamiya | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | Pancrase-Alive 11 | 12/20/1997 | 1 4:58 | |
| Win | Osami Shibuya | Submission (Body Crunch) | Pancrase-1997 Anniversary Show | 9/6/1997 | 1 3:15 | |
| Win | Takaku Fuke | Submission | Pancrase-Alive 7 | 6/30/1997 | 1 4:28 | |
| Win | Kiuma Kunioku | Decision (Lost Points) | Pancrase-Alive 4 | 4/27/1997 | 1 15:00 | |
| Draw | Osami Shibuya | Draw | Pancrase-Alive 3 | 3/22/1997 | 1 15:00 | |
| Win | Manabu Yamada | Submission | Pancrase-Truth 7 | 10/8/1996 | 1 0:54 | |
| Win | Masakatsu Funaki | TKO (Lost Points) | Pancrase-1996 Anniversary Show | 9/7/1996 | 1 17:05 | |
| Win | Jason Delucia | TKO | Pancrase-Truth 6 | 6/25/1996 | 1 8:48 | |
| Win | Frank Shamrock | TKO (Cut) | Pancrase-Truth 5 | 5/16/1996 | 1 11:11 | |
| Win | Katsuomi Inagaki | TKO (Lost Points) | Pancrase-Truth 4 | 4/8/1996 | 1 14:07 | |
| Win | Guy Mezger | Submission | Pancrase-Truth 2 | 3/2/1996 | 1 19:36 | |
| Win | Ryushi Yanagisawa | Submission (Choke) | Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 7 | 12/14/1995 | 1 27:35 | |
| Win | Maurice Smith | Submission (Choke) | Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 6 | 11/4/1995 | 1 4:34 | |
| Win | Minoru Suzuki | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | Pancrase-1995 Anniversary Show | 9/1/1995 | 1 15:35 | |
| Win | Frank Shamrock | Decision (Split) | Pancrase-1995 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 2 | 7/23/1995 | 1 15:00 | |
| Win | Jason Delucia | Submission | Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 5 | 6/13/1995 | 1 1:32 | |
| Win | Maurice Smith | Submission (Kneebar) | Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 4 | 5/13/1995 | 1 2:10 | |
| Win | Takaku Fuke | Submission | Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 3 | 4/8/1995 | 1 1:52 | |
| Loss | Ken Shamrock | Submission (Kneebar) | Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 2 | 3/10/1995 | 1 1:01 | |
| Win | Manabu Yamada | TKO (Strikes) | Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 1 | 1/26/1995 | 1 1:05 | |
| Loss | Frank Shamrock | Decision (Majority) | Pancrase-King of Pancrase Tournament, Round 1 | 12/16/1994 | 1 10:00 | |
| Win | Jason Delucia | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | Pancrase-Road To The Championship 5 | 10/15/1994 | 1 1:43 | |
| Loss | Ken Shamrock | Submission | Pancrase-Road To The Championship 3 | 7/26/1994 | 1 16:42 | |
| Win | Minoru Suzuki | KO | Pancrase-Road To The Championship 2 | 7/6/1994 | 1 3:43 | |
| Win | Yoshiki Takahashi | TKO | Pancrase-Road To The Championship 1 | 5/31/1994 | 1 1:37 | |
| Win | Vernon White | Submission | Pancrase-Pancrash! 3 | 4/21/1994 | 1 1:16 | |
| Loss | Masakatsu Funaki | Submission (Toehold) | Pancrase-Pancrash! 1 | 1/19/1994 | 1 2:58 | |
| Win | Takaku Fuke | KO | Pancrase-Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 2 | 10/14/1993 | 1 2:03 | |
| Win | Ryushi Yanagisawa | KO | Pancrase-Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 1 | 9/21/1993 | 1 0:43 |
[edit] Trivia
Concerned that he might exhaust himself prematurely during his first Pancrase fight, Bas drew a large letter "R" on the back on each of his hands before going into the ring. The "R's" stood for "rustig" (Dutch for calm) and were intended as a reminder to pace himself. The measure proved to be unnecessary on that occasion when Rutten achieved a win by way of knockout in forty-three seconds (comparatively little of that time representing live fighting time), but he would go on to use the same aide de-memoir in several later matches.
In his spare time he enjoys playing the drums.
[edit] Quotes
"I do not believe in an eye for an eye, I believe in two eyes for an eye. But that's just me."
"We hip throw him to the side, he goes to the ground, we choke him out, and then once he's choked out we can do games like 'pull the pants down and hide the spice bottle'; it's a fun thing to do! And it will get a lot of laughs out of a lot of people."
"They say the only way to kill a lion is with a rear naked choke. I would just kick it in the head."
"Smack his face into the ambiance!"
"kick him in the balls, punch him in the balls, knee him in the balls, do whatever you like"
"I'm sorry sir, but I'm going to break your leg."
[edit] Filmography
- The Kingdom of Ultimate Power (2005)
- Backlash (2005)
- The Vault (2005)
- The Eliminator (2004)
- Shadow Fury (2001)
[edit] Books and videos authored
- Bas Rutten's Big Book of Combat, Volumes One and Two
- Bas Rutten's Big DVDs of Combat
- Bas Rutten's Lethal Street Fighting System
- The Bas Rutten MMA Workout
- Bas Rutten's Superior Free Fight Techniques
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Legends Mixed Martial Arts Training Center Official Site
- Bas Rutten at the Internet Movie Database
- Bas Rutten at Budovideos.com
- Bas Rutten at Sherdog.com
- Exclusive interview with Bas Rutten at Fightingmaster.com
- Interview with Bas Rutten at Ironlife.com
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- PRIDE Fighting Championship
- IFL - International Fight League official web site
[edit] Videos
| Previous champion Randy Couture |
4th UFC Heavyweight Champion |
Next champion Kevin Randleman |
