The following is MMATorch columnist Jason Schiekle's exclusive one-on-one interview with Bas Rutten conducted in February 2010. Rutten is a three-time King of Pancase and UFC Hvt. Champion, with top wins against Frank Shamrock (twice), Kevin Randleman, Maurice Smith, Masa Funaki, and Guy Metzger. Born in Tiburg, Netherlands, he now lives in California. He retired in 1999 as a result of serious injuries in training to his knee and a serious bicep tair. He has moved on to author books on MMA, comment for Pride and Inside MMA, and more. Check out his website at www.basrutte.com.
Jason Schiekle: How were you first exposed to (MMA, NHB fighting, Pancrase), and what was was your first impression of it?
Bas Rutten: I fought September 1992 in Japan for Pancrase's first show, Ken Shamrock was fighting also and he was telling me about the UFC and that he was going to do it a month later. No rules and anything goes, is what he said, I asked him if he thought that it would be a smart thing to do? Since there are always assholes who knock you out but then give you a few more shots, and of there is no ref, who's gonna stop them? Later in Holland I saw an illegal copy of the UFC and saw the teeth fling into the audience, wow, I thought it was nuts. They need referees I said, then it's OK, the rules are tough, but I can live with that. No one to step in when something goes bad, that's just asking for trouble.
Schiekle: What made you decide to leave Thai Boxing to pursue a career in Pancrase?
Rutten: Losing my last Thai boxing match and hearing people say that they always thought I couldn't fight, that made me decide never to fight in Holland again. They forgot about my first 14 KOs, but that's typical I guess, you are only as good as your last fight, its sad though.
Schiekle: I remember when watching my DVD collection of your fights, you said after your second loss to Ken Shamrock that you decided that you weren't going to lose anymore, and you didn't. You then went on to become King of Pancrase. Why did you decide to leave Japan, when many top American fighters were going over there to continue their career's, during the peak of your career to fight in America?
Rutten: My wife was pregnant and got a poisoning. She AND the baby could die, so it was serious. Pancrase called me and told me and told me that I had to defend my title in December. I told them that I was going to stay home with my wife, they told me that if I would do that I they would strip me from the belt. I told them that wasn't a problem. I didn't say it that nice, though (laughs). It was a good decision; my daughter got born a week later and she was 7 weeks premature, only 2 pounds.
Schiekle: When you fought for the UFC, the sport was still two years away from returning to pay-per-view. Did you believe the sport could survive in the state it was in when you entered into it?
Rutten: Yes I did, and there were still a whole bunch of cable companies carrying it. I always thought that MMA would be HUGE, I even said it in my first interview after my first fight in Japan. I said that this, we called it "free fighting" at the time, was in four years from that date going to be the biggest thing. I was off about seven years, but it DID come true.
Schiekle: What do you believe contributed the most to the explosion in popularity of the sport (besides InsideMMA, of course)?
Rutten: The Ultimate Fighter, that was smart. Boxing had "The Contender," but a bunch of MMA fighters in a house with an open bar? Who doesn't wanna see that? There, the people at home got to see that there is more to MMA then just two guys in a cage beating each other up. That's the reason MMA got huge and because of that we now have a great show on TV called Inside MMA, haha
Schiekle: As the sport moves forward and continues to evolve, do you believe
that any changes to the unified rules or weight classes need to be made?
Rutten: I would love to have another weight class, 205 till 235. I would also love to see “instant replay” so that we can see a replay BEFORE the referee makes a decision. The judging can be better, John McCarthy has a better system for that and I think that the referees and judges need to be certified so that we don't see those crazy decisions anymore.
Schiekle: Currently, the major promotions operate under a "professional wrestling" style business model. Will there become a time where organizations will have to open up to cross-promotion in order for the sport to continue growing it's fan base?
Rutten: Yes it will. Right now the UFC is the "main man," so to say, head and shoulders above everyone else, StrikeForce is coming up. There will probably come another show, then, hopefully, the other two shows will become huge, also. Once that happens and we have three great organizations just like in Boxing, if that's the case, then there will come a time for cross-promotion. That's a couple of years away though, hopefully, could be longer.
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Completely agree with the new weight-class. I've been saying this for
about a year or so, 205-235 needs to happen. A 60lb weight difference is
too much. No other weight-classes have nearly that large of a span.
You have fighters that are winning fights (Brock) based mostly on size
advantage rather than skill and thats something that weight-classes are
supposed to reduce or completely prevent. This would happen if Brock
(walks around at 280, cuts to 265) fights Fedor (walks around at 230 and
fights at 230). It would be a huge disadvantage. If someone naturally
walks around at 235, they're screwed. They can't just build up 50 pounds
and become huge, then cut weight to 265. They can't cut from 235 to 205
and stay healthy. So, there needs to be another weight class, period.
Brock would have a much harder time fighting people his size and strength,
but he should. It may make him start applying submissions, and get into
some muay-thai like every other 'marital artist' out there. It would make
for a much more interesting fight than to just watch him lay on top of
someone, get them in a headlock and punch them until the ref calls it (I
used to do that to my brother when i was 7 yrs old, with no training!
gasp!)
Boles
12 Mar 2010, 19:20
Hey. I have a true fact for you. Brock Lesnar never wrestled in the NCAA.
He also never won the National championship in Division 1, either. and
even if he did, which he didn't, they decide the national championships in
by playing rock paper scissors, so as to eliminate all the skill involved.
You know, the ability to dictate where a match takes place, that's one of
those skills that gets bypassed when they play rock paper scissors.
Dumbass.
Greg Johnson
14 Mar 2010, 11:47
He retired in 1999 as a result of serious injuries in training to his knee
and a serious bicep tair. He has moved on to author books on MMA, comment
for Pride and Inside MMA, and more. Check out his website at
www.basrutte.com.
I love reading these articles, but the proofing kills me. tair?
basrutte.com ?
JK
31 Mar 2010, 14:44
Jake so say Lesner is only winning because of his size is an insult to mma.
he is a superb athlete with just as much talent as the belt says he has, he
is an accomplished champion before he started his mma career. weight limits
are there to level the playing field, but size has little effect in the
outcome of a match especially in the heavyweight divisions. Fedor has many
victories over much, much larger opposition. This is nothing new to any
combat sport. I could name a dozen mote notable Yarborough Vs Takase in
Pride 3.
