Bas Rutten

From OTMWiki

Bas "El Guapo" Rutten
Statistics
Nickname	El Guapo
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg)
Born	February 24, 1965
Fighting out of
Town of birth	Tilburg, Netherlands
Fighting style	Submission fighting
Mixed martial arts record
Wins	27
By knockout	11
By submission	13
Losses	4
Draws	1
No contests

Sebastian (Bas) Rutten (February 24, 1965 -) is a Dutch mixed martial arts fighter and color commentator. He was a three time undefeated Pancrase champion, 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.

1 Biography
2 Record
3 Filmography
4 Books and videos authored
5 See also
6 External links
- 6.1 Videos

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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 but soon changing to 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" (The Handsome). This nickname comes from his resemblance to the villain "El Guapo" in the movie 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.

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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 stikes to the face. A precursor to what would become modern mixed martial arts, the organization was the first of it's kind, and featured such early MMA names as Frank Shamrock, Vernon White, Maurice Smith, Ken Shamrock, and Guy Mezger.

Taking early losses from Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, and Masakatsu Funaki, Bas would come back in 1995 to beat Minoru Suzuki and win his first "King of Pancrase" title. Bas would avenge his losses to both Frank Shamrock and Masakatsu Funaki in 1996, and would go on to take victories over Jason Delucia and Guy Mezger, becoming a three time "King of Pancrase." In 1996, he relenquished 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.

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UFC

In 1998, Bas signed with theUltimate Fighting Championship, the biggest MMA promotion in the United States. His first fight in the UFC was a war against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at UFC 18, which Bas won by KO. Next he faced UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman at UFC 20, another war that went into overtime, with Bas taking a close descision 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), 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 bicep. Bas was forced to retire from MMA competition for the time being, by doctors orders. [3]

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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, and The Eliminator.

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 knowlege of the sport, Bas quickly become a fan favorite commentator. In April of 2006 Bas announced that he would only do select PRIDE shows in the future, due to the pressure of constantly flying to Japan, and being away from his family every month. [4] He handed off commentating duties for the Bushido shows to former fighter Frank Trigg, while still continuing to commentate for Pride's Grand Prix and New Years Eve shows.

In 2006 Bas was tapped to coach a team for the new International Fight Leauge, an MMA orginization 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).

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Return to MMA

In May of 2006, Bas announced his return to MMA competition. Cleared by doctors to fight again, Bas will Face Kimo Leopoldo in the World Fighting Alliance on July 22, 2006 at The Forum in Los Angeles.

Aside from training for his upcoming fights, Bas teaches martial arts seminars, and is the author of instructional books and DVDs. He currently lives and trains in Los Angeles and is married with three daughters.

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Record

Muay Thai (The Netherlands): 14-1 (pre 1993)
- Wins: 14 KOs
Mixed Martial Arts (Japan and USA): 27-4-1(1993 to 1999)
- Wins: 11 TKOs - 13 Submission - 3 Decisions
- Losses: 3 Submission - 1 Decision

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