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Bas Rutten
File:Bas rutten strikeforce.jpg
BornSebastiaan Rutten
(1965-02-24) February 24, 1965 (age 59)
Eindhoven, Netherlands
Other namesEl Guapo ("The Handsome One")
ResidenceLos Angeles, California, United States
NationalityDutch
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
DivisionHeavyweight
Fighting out ofLos Angeles, California, United States
TrainerCor Hemmers
Rank2nd degree black belt in Taekwondo
2nd degree black belt in Kyokushin
Years active1993 – 1999, 2006 (MMA)
Kickboxing record
Total16
Wins14
By knockout14
Losses2
By knockout2
Mixed martial arts record
Total33
Wins28
By knockout12
By submission13
By decision3
Losses4
By submission3
By decision1
Draws1
Other information
Websitehttp://www.basrutten.com/
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Last updated on: March 21, 2011 (2011-03-21)

Sebastiaan "Bas" Rutten (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɑs ˈrʏtən]; born February 24, 1965) in Eindhoven a city in The Netherlands,is a retired Dutch mixed martial artist, Karate and Taekwondo blackbelt, and kickboxer. He was a UFC Heavyweight Champion, a three time King of Pancrase world champion, and finished his career on a 22 fight unbeaten streak (21 wins, 1 draw). He is currently the co-host of Inside MMA on HDNet.

As a fighter, one of his favorite tactics was the liver shot (both punch and kick), and he popularized its use in MMA.[1][2] Rutten is known for his charisma and has capitalized on his celebrity since retiring from fighting in 1999. He has worked as a color commentator in several MMA organizations, including Pride, and has appeared in numerous television shows, movies, and video games. He also coaches MMA and has authored several instructional materials.

Early life

Rutten was born in Eindhoven, Netherlands and became interested in martial arts at the age of 11 after his family went on vacation to France,the movie Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee was playing at the local movie theatre.Bas wanted to go see the movie but he could not get in because he was just 11 years old and the movie was rated 18+,so he and his friend sneaked into the theatre and after the movie he became addicted to martial arts.[3] His conservative parents didn't allow him to pursue it at first. He started to train boxing at the backyard of an elementary school with a friend. He eventually started to train in Tae Kwon Do. He was very committed and eventually earned a 2nd degree Black Belt. He then began learning Kyokushin Karate, and earned a 2nd degree Black Belt. [4]

In high school, he was physically weak and had eczema on his hands for which he was occasionally bullied.

Fighting career

Kickboxing

At the age of 20 he started competing in Muay Thai kickboxing. He fought 16 times and won the first 14 by knockout, 13 in the first round. He lost his final two fights by TKO.[3]

Pancrase

Rutten then began his professional mixed martial arts career with the Pancrase organization in Japan. In 1993, Japanese pro wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki traveled to Holland to scout fighters for their new "hybrid wrestling" (Bushido 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.

Rutten would go on to dominate his first two fights in Pancrase, winning each fight by KO. Rutten's first knockout was so brutal that his opponent, Ryushi Yanagisawa (who was also the #4 ranked fighter in Japan at that time), had to be carried out of the ring and brought to the hospital in an ambulance where he spent 2 days recovering. Rutten's striking was so powerful that, according to Frank Shamrock, it would often intimidate the other fighters. Frank Shamrock said, "His kickboxing was devastating. It was something everybody feared. The other thing he had was a basic understanding of real fighting...Bas had that street fighter mentality."[5]

However, his lack (at that time) of ground-fighting experience led to a loss to the extraordinarily skilled Masakatsu Funaki. Rutten, realizing the importance of ground fighting, went to train with the master catch wrestler Funaki. The training paid off, as Rutten would KO the previously undefeated Minoru Suzuki with a liver shot due to a knee to the liver. Rutten later said that this win was one of the happiest moments of his life.

Just 20 days after the biggest win of his career to date, Rutten faced another steep test, fighting future UFC champion Ken Shamrock, who at the time was one of the best fighters in the Pancrase organization. Rutten turned in a hard effort but ultimately lost the fight via rear naked choke. Rutten bounced back after the loss to Shamrock with a submission win over Jason DeLucia.

Rutten then participated in one of the biggest events in mixed martial arts history to date, the King of Pancrase Tournament. The winner of this tournament would be crowned the first ever champion of Pancrase. He was one of the four #1 seeds in the tournament and his first fight was against MMA newcomer (and future UFC champion) Frank Shamrock. Rutten ended up losing a close (and somewhat controversial) decision in a fight that was considered to be a large upset, considering Rutten was a #1 seed in the tournament and Shamrock was, at the time, an unknown fighter making his MMA debut.

Rutten found a measure of redemption after the upset loss in the first round of the King of Pancrase Tournament by choking out expert grappler and King of Pancrase Tournament Finalist Manabu Yamada in his next fight. With such an impressive showing against the tournament finalist, Rutten then received a rematch and a title shot against tournament winner and then current King of Pancrase Ken Shamrock for the King of Pancrase title, but lost early in the fight via submission due to a kneebar.

After his second loss to Shamrock, Rutten focused on grappling even harder than before and started training 2 to 3 times a day solely on submissions. Rutten would then go on to win 7 out of his next 8 fights by submission. He put together a series of wins against future UFC champions Frank Shamrock and Maurice Smith and eventually challenged King of Pancrase Minoru Suzuki for the title. Rutten would beat Suzuki for the second time, winning his first King of Pancrase title. After putting his title defenses on hold due to an injury, Rutten returned to the ring and beat interim King of Pancrase Frank Shamrock for the undisputed King of Pancrase title.

Rutten then avenged his loss to MMA legend Masakatsu Funaki in 1996 in what is considered to be one of the greatest fights in Pancrase history. Rutten described the war with Funaki in an interview:

"Before the fight when he came to me, he made that thumb over the neck, throat slashing motion like I was going to go down. I turned to my manager and said, "Okay, now I'm going to kill this guy, you watch". My game plan was to keep the fight going for 15 minutes...Funaki had never fought above 15 minutes. But then, like 12 minutes into it, while I'm still on my knees he kicks me in the head. I block, but for me that was an illegal thing to do. So right away I start, BANG, BANG, BANG, and he goes down. From that moment on, I totally destroyed him. You got to see the fight; it was a massacre. My palms were black from hitting him so hard. He had the gods on his side or something, because he stood up every time. I hit his face back on the mat and you hear it slam into the mat. His nose is all the way to the side, broke, they have to straighten it out. I go, "Oh my God, this guy can take a shot!" I kneed him so hard in the head. He went down four times. But the last knee I gave to him was like everything I had. I grabbed him by the head and kneed him. It was really like a Rocky movie. I'm standing there and I fall backwards, and I'm totally out of breath. I get up and the referee holds my hand up. Then he lets my hand go and I drop again, BOOM! I was exhausted, I gave everything I had; I really wanted to destroy him. I broke his cheekbones and broke his nose, just because he said he was going to kill me. Oh, I was so angry at him. But afterwards, friends again...what a crazy sport this is, huh?" [6]

Rutten then went on to defend his title against 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 second daughter.[3] Rutten returned to Pancrase, taking 8 more victories, bringing his unbeaten streak up to 19 straight fights.

Rutten left Pancrase as one of the most dominant fighters in the history of the organization. MMA legend Ken Shamrock was the only fighter in Rutten's career which did not avenge his losses to. In 2000, when Rutten was PRIDE FC's color commentator, a third fight with Shamrock was entertained. Rutten agreed to come out of retirement if it would be against Shamrock in a fight in PRIDE FC. However, Shamrock stated that he already beat Rutten twice and that a third time wasn't necessary. Later, in 2002, Rutten said that he would not want to fight Shamrock again even if it was offered to him because of the friendship they developed over the years, and that he would not be able to put his mind and heart into fighting Ken.[7]

UFC

In 1998, Rutten signed with the UFC, the biggest MMA promotion in the United States. Rutten entered the UFC with a massive amount of hype; he was undefeated in his last 19 fights and was touted by the organization as the greatest martial artist on the planet.

Rutten was originally scheduled to fight heavyweight champion Randy Couture in a title match for the UFC Heavyweight Championship in his first fight, but Couture had a contract dispute and left the UFC to sign with a different promotion. The title was then stripped from Couture and a tournament of sorts was set up to determine the next champion.

Rutten's first fight in his quest for the UFC belt was against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at UFC 18, which Rutten dramatically won by KO with just a minute left in overtime.


On May 5, 1999, at UFC 20, Rutten faced Kevin Randleman for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. The first four minutes consisted of Rutten taking a lot of punishment from his guard. However, after the fight was stood up to check Rutten's cut, Rutten landed a devastating liver kick to Randleman's body to turn the tide of the fight. Randleman's pace slowed down considerably after the liver kick, which ultimately helped Rutten score judges' points by being the more active fighter. Rutten pounded away at Randleman from inside his guard, using elbow strikes to open up cuts on top of Randleman's head and punching Randleman to the face. The fight went into overtime, with Rutten taking a very close split decision victory to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Judging at that point was not based on the current 10 points per round system, but who the judges felt won the fight overall.

Rutten vacated the title later in the year, in order to drop down to middleweight (now known as light heavyweight) a weight closer to his natural weight, in a bid to try and become the first person to hold a UFC title in two weight classes.[3]

While training for his next UFC fight in 1999, Rutten suffered multiple serious injuries, including blowing out his knee (a long running injury), tearing his biceps, and suffering a neck injury. He was forced to retire from MMA competition for the time being, by doctors orders.[3]

During his MMA career he became known for two particular things: his fondness of liver shots and his habit of doing a jumping split after winning a fight.[3] Rutten talked about the origins of the "Rutten Jump" on his website: "When I won my first fight in Pancrase, I was so hyped that I jumped up in the splits to each side of the ring. Why? I don't know. But, it became my trademark and I had to do it after every fight that I won."[8]

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz has credited Rutten for inspiration during his early days. Ortiz said; "I looked up to Bas Rutten. Bas was my idol. People were just so scared of fighting him, he was like the man. I thought that was what I need to do now. If I train as hard as he does then one day I'll be as good as him and two years later look where I am, I'm on top of the world. I'm got to say thanks to him, (Bas) for helping me out by making me believe in dreams."[9]

Post-fight career

After his retirement from fighting in 1999, Rutten focused on becoming an actor, getting small parts on TV shows such as Martial Law, 18 Wheels of Justice, The King of Queens, "Lights Out" 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. It also won the first prize at the short film festival in NY for "best comedy".

Rutten performed a few times for NJPW from 2000 to 2002, including an IWGP title match against Yuji Nagata.

Rutten 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, Rutten quickly became a fan favorite commentator. In April 2006 he announced that he would not continue to announce for Pride, due to the constant flying to Japan, and being away from his family every month.[10]

Rutten has a cameo in the video game "Grand Theft Auto IV" on the in-game TV show called "The Men's Room."[11] He also did motion capture for the main character's fighting moves. He said that when he arrived at the motion-capture place in New York he asked the people in charge how violent they wanted to have it and they told him to "give it all he got". After two hours they stopped him and said, "It's OK, you don't have to go any further".[12]

He was also featured in WCW vs. the World for the PlayStation, but was named "Thunder Dome" to avoid copyright laws.

On January 23, 2008, he was announced as the new Vice President, Fighter Operations reporting directly to IFL CEO Jay Larkin. His role was to build relations between the IFL and its fighters as well as work on potential match-ups between fighters. He also hosted the weekly shows "Battleground" and "International Fight League" with Kenny Rice. This all ended when IFL went out of business in late 2008.

Currently, he and Rice host Inside MMA, a weekly MMA variety show on HDNet. The pair also did remote English commentary and play-by-play for Dream events broadcast in North America on HDNet. The pair were eventually replaced by Guy Mezger and Michael Schiavello, who attend the events live in Japan. He is currently appearing in public health service ads, airing on Cartoon Network.

Coaching

He is certified as an instructor of both MTBN Thai Boxing and Pancrase.

Rutten coached Mark Kerr during the filming of the HBO documentary The Smashing Machine.

In 2006 Rutten was tapped to coach a team for the International Fight League, an MMA organization that focused on team combat. His team, the Anacondas, defeated the Silverbacks 3–2.

Rutten is a former investor in the Legends MMA gym in Hollywood and used to teach there occasionally.[13]

Rutten is now a part owner of the MMA gym Bas Rutten's Elite Mixed Martial Arts in Thousand Oaks, California. He teaches an MMA class on Tuesdays.[14]

He also trained former street fighter Kimbo Slice for his professional MMA bouts, as well as former Ring of Honor champion and TNA World champion Samoa Joe.

Last fight

On May 2006, Rutten announced his return to MMA competition. Cleared by doctors to fight again, Rutten was slated to face Kimo Leopoldo in the now defunct World Fighting Alliance on July 22, 2006, at The Forum in Los Angeles. Two days before the event, Kimo tested positive for Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. In place of Kimo, Rutten fought Ruben "Warpath" Villareal. Rutten took a first-round victory by way of technical knockout after low kicks left his opponent unable to stand. With that he brought up his professional record to 28 wins 4 losses and 1 draw.

Personal life

Rutten currently lives in Westlake Village, California with his wife Karin and three daughters, Sabine who is 16, (pronounced Sa-bee-nuh), and twin daughters, Rachel (pronounced Rah-SHEL), and Bianca who are 12. [15]

Rutten is known by the moniker "El Guapo", which means "The Handsome One" in Spanish. Rutten recently became a citizen of the United States.

Tattoos

Rutten has several tattoos, each of which is intended to help him spiritually and emotionally:[16]

During Rutten's career, whenever he had a fight, he would write two capital "R"s on the back of his hands with a magic marker. The "R" stood for Rustig, the Dutch word for "calm". This was intended to help him remember to stay calm during his fights.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
33 matches 28 wins 4 losses
By knockout 12 0
By submission 13 3
By decision 3 1
Draws 1
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win 28–4–1 Ruben Villareal TKO (leg kicks) WFA: King of the Streets July 22, 2006 1 3:24 Los Angeles, California, United States
Win 27–4–1 Kevin Randleman Decision (split) UFC 20 May 7, 1999 1 21:00 Birmingham, Alabama, United States Won UFC Heavyweight Championship.
Win 26–4–1 Tsuyoshi Kohsaka TKO (punches) UFC 18 January 8, 1999 1 14:15 Kenner, Louisiana, United States
Win 25–4–1 Kengo Watanabe TKO (lost points) Pancrase: 1998 Anniversary Show September 14, 1998 1 2:58 Tokyo, Japan
Win 24–4–1 Keiichiro Yamamiya Submission (rear naked choke) Pancrase: Alive 11 December 20, 1997 1 4:58 Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Win 23–4–1 Osami Shibuya Submission (body crunch) Pancrase: 1997 Anniversary Show September 6, 1997 1 3:15 Urayasu, Chiba, Japan
Win 22–4–1 Takaku Fuke Submission (armbar) Pancrase: Alive 7 June 30, 1997 1 4:28 Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan
Win 21–4–1 Kiuma Kunioku Decision (lost points) Pancrase: Alive 4 April 27, 1997 1 15:00 Urayasu, Chiba, Japan
Draw 20–4–1 Osami Shibuya Draw Pancrase: Alive 3 March 22, 1997 1 15:00 Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Was injured mid-fight and had to have surgery
Win 20–4 Manabu Yamada Submission (toe hold) Pancrase: Truth 7 October 8, 1996 1 0:54 Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Win 19–4 Masakatsu Funaki TKO (lost points) Pancrase: 1996 Anniversary Show September 7, 1996 1 17:05 Urayasu, Chiba, Japan
Win 18–4 Jason Delucia TKO (liver shot)[1] Pancrase: Truth 6 June 25, 1996 1 8:48 Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan
Win 17–4 Frank Shamrock TKO (cut) Pancrase: Truth 5 May 16, 1996 1 11:11 Tokyo, Japan
Win 16–4 Katsuomi Inagaki TKO (lost points) Pancrase: Truth 4 April 8, 1996 1 14:07 Tokyo, Japan
Win 15–4 Guy Mezger Submission (heel hook) Pancrase: Truth 2 March 2, 1996 1 19:36 Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
Win 14–4 Ryushi Yanagisawa Submission (choke) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 7 December 14, 1995 1 27:35 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Win 13–4 Maurice Smith Submission (choke) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 6 November 4, 1995 1 4:34 Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Win 12–4 Minoru Suzuki Submission (guillotine choke) Pancrase: 1995 Anniversary Show September 1, 1995 1 15:35 Tokyo, Japan Won King of Pancrase title
Win 11–4 Frank Shamrock Decision (split) Pancrase: 1995 Neo-Blood Tournament Second Round July 23, 1995 1 15:00 Tokyo, Japan
Win 10–4 Jason Delucia Submission (toe hold) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 5 June 13, 1995 1 1:32 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Win 9–4 Maurice Smith Submission (kneebar) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 4 May 13, 1995 1 2:10 Urayasu, Chiba, Japan
Win 8–4 Takaku Fuke Submission (heel hook) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 3 April 8, 1995 1 1:52 Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Loss 7–4 Ken Shamrock Submission (kneebar) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 2 March 10, 1995 1 1:01 Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan For King of Pancrase title
Win 7–3 Manabu Yamada TKO (Triangle Arm Choke) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 1 January 26, 1995 1 1:05 Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Loss 6–3 Frank Shamrock Decision (majority) Pancrase - King of Pancrase Tournament Opening Round December 16, 1994 1 10:00 Tokyo, Japan
Win 6–2 Jason Delucia Submission (guillotine choke) Pancrase: Road to the Championship 5 October 15, 1994 1 1:43 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 5–2 Ken Shamrock Submission (rear naked choke) Pancrase: Road to the Championship 3 July 26, 1994 1 16:42 Tokyo, Japan
Win 5–1 Minoru Suzuki KO (knee to the liver) Pancrase: Road to the Championship 2 July 6, 1994 1 3:43 Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan
Win 4–1 Kazuo Takahashi TKO (broken shin) Pancrase: Road to the Championship 1 May 31, 1994 1 1:37 Tokyo, Japan
Win 3–1 Vernon White Submission (guillotine choke) Pancrase: Pancrash! 3 April 21, 1994 1 1:16 Osaka, Osaka, Japan
Loss 2–1 Masakatsu Funaki Submission (toe hold) Pancrase: Pancrash! 1 January 19, 1994 1 2:58 Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Win 2–0 Takaku Fuke KO (knee to the body) Pancrase - Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 2 October 14, 1993 1 2:03 Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Win 1–0 Ryushi Yanagisawa KO (palm strike) Pancrase - Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 1 September 21, 1993 1 0:43 Urayasu, Chiba, Japan

Filmography

Film and television credits

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Shadow of the Dragon Kismet Film
1999 Martial Law Roman Van Reit TV Episode: "Nitro Man"
2000 Freedom The Bad Guy TV Episode: "Lonewolf"
2000 The King of Queens Emil TV Episode: "Party Favors"
2001 Shadow Fury Kismet (Adult) Film
2002 The Smashing Machine Himself Documentary
2002 Modern Warriors Himself Documentary
2002 NJPW Samurai TV Himself TV series
2004 The Eliminator Dakota Varley Film
2005 The Vault General Matos Film
2005 The King of Queens Niles TV Episode: "Deconstructing Carrie"
2005 The Kingdom of Ultimate Power Vlad Rifka Short
2006 IFL: International Fight League Announcer TV series
2006 Backlash Grazer Film
2007 Fight Science Himself TV Documentary
2007 The Modern Warrior Himself TV Documentary
2008 Grand Theft Auto IV Himself (voice) Video Game
2008 Fight Science Himself TV Episode: "Fighting Back"
2009 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Drill Instructor Film
2009 Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony Himself (voice) Video Game
2010 EA MMA Himself (voice) Video Game
2010 Sinners & Saints Dekker Film
2011 Zookeeper (voice) Film
2011 Lights Out Dokaj (MMA fighter) TV episode: "Bolo Punch"

Works

  • Bas Rutten's Big Book of Combat, Volumes One and Two (2002)
  • Bas Rutten's Big DVDs of Combat
  • Bas Rutten's Lethal Street Fighting (2003)
  • Bas Rutten's MMA Workout (2001)
  • Bas Rutten's Superior Free Fight Techniques
  • Bas Rutten's "Extreme Pancrase" No-Holds Barred Fighting System
  • Training with Bas Rutten "Never Back Down Special Features" 2008

References

  1. ^ a b The 10 Best Signature Moves in MMA. Bas Rutten's liver shot is #1.
  2. ^ The Origin of Bas Rutten's Love of the Liver Shot?
  3. ^ a b c d e f Official biography
  4. ^ "Bas Rutten". PANCRASE Official Site. Retrieved 2010-11-20.Template:Ja icon
  5. ^ The overlooked origins of mixed martial arts: Part II. KocoSports.com. Retrieved on 2010-11-15.
  6. ^ T NATION | MMA Legend Bas Rutten. Tmuscle.com. Retrieved on 2010-11-15.
  7. ^ [1] [dead link]
  8. ^ FAQ: The Home of Bas Rutten. Wednesday, 3 November 2004
  9. ^ Tito Ortiz interview by Pooch : Submission Fighting UK Interviews. Web.archive.org (2001-05-01). Retrieved on 2010-11-15.
  10. ^ Bas Rutten exposes Gary "Jerry" Millen
  11. ^ GTA4: Rutten is hilarious
  12. ^ Bas in GTA4
  13. ^ Legends Gym: Bright Lights, Big City
  14. ^ Bas Rutten’s Elite MMA Gym
  15. ^ Who's the Bas?
  16. ^ Bas Rutten: Exclusive Interview in Black Belt Magazine
Preceded by 4th UFC Heavyweight Champion
May 7, 1999 – June 8, 1999 		Vacant
Rutten retired
Title next held by
Kevin Randleman
Preceded by 3rd Pancrase Openweight Champion
May 16, 1996 – October 1996 		Vacant
Family reasons
Title next held by
Masakatsu Funaki

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