Bas Rutten

Bas Rutten
Bas Rutten
Informações
Nascimento	24 de fevereiro de 1965 (60 anos) Tilburgo, Países Baixos
Nacionalidade	Holandês
Outros nomes	El Guapo
Altura	1,86 m
Peso	93 kg
Estilo	Muay Thai, Kyokushin, Taekwondo e Submission Fighting
Graduação	Faixa Preta em Taekwondo      Faixa Preta em Kyokushin
Cartel nas artes marciais mistas
Total	32
Vitórias	28
Por nocaute	12
Por finalização	13
Por decisão	3
Derrotas	4
Por finalização	3
Por decisão	1
Outras informações
Cartel no MMA pelo Sherdog

Sebastiaan "Bas" Rutten (Tilburgo, 24 de fevereiro de 1965) é um ator e ex-lutador neerlandês de artes marciais mistas (MMA) e kickboxer.

Ele foi campeão do peso-pesado do UFC e ganhou o título King of Pancrase três vezes. Encerrou sua carreira após uma sequência de 22 lutas sem derrota (21 vitórias, 1 empate). Foi o primeiro europeu a ser campeão do UFC sendo seguido por Andrei Arlovski, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping, Germaine de Randamie e Khabib Nurmagomedov. Rutten também treina MMA e é autor de vários materiais instrucionais. Em 2015, ele foi introduzido no Hall da Fama do UFC

Rutten has beaten many MMA champions over the course of his career, including wins over UFC champions Frank Shamrock, Kevin Randleman, Guy Mezger and Maurice Smith, and wins over King of Pancrase world champions Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. 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. 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.

Biografia

Rutten nasceu em Tilburg, Netherlands e se interessou por artes marciais aos 11 anos, após assistir à série em Enter the Dragon. Seus pais conservadores não o deixaram seguir a carreira no início. Ele começou a treinar boxe no quintal de um amigo da escola primária. Eventualmente, começou a treinar Tae Kwon Do. Era muito dedicado e, eventualmente, conquistou a faixa preta de 2º grau. Em seguida, começou a aprender Karatê Kyokushin e conquistou a faixa preta de 5º grau.

No ensino médio, ele era fisicamente fraco e tinha asma e eczema nas mãos, o que o fazia sofrer bullying ocasionalmente, embora escondesse isso de seus pais para poupá-los de mais preocupações. Anos depois, ele compareceu à reunião do colégio como um lutador condecorado e lançou um desafio amigável para lutar contra seus antigos algozes, o que eles recusaram.

Fighting career

Kickboxing

At the age of 20 he started competing in Thai boxing. He fought 15 times and won the first 14, all by knockout in the first round. He was TKO'd in his final fight.

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."

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.

Rutten would then go on to lose to future UFC champion Ken Shamrock via rear naked choke. He then lost a controversial split decision to Frank Shamrock in the first round of the King of Pancrase tournament. After impressively choking out expert grappler Manabu Yamada in his next fight, Rutten received a rematch and a title shot against 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 Shamock, 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?" ”

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. 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.

UFC

In 1998, Rutten signed with the UFC, the biggest MMA promotion in the United States. His first fight in the UFC was against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at UFC 18, which Rutten won by KO in overtime.

On May 5th, 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, utilizing some of the best striking from the bottom position to that point in MMA history, using elbow strikes to open up cuts on top of Randleman's head and punching Randleman to the face. This fight went into overtime, with Rutten taking a close decision victory to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion.

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.

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.

During his MMA career he became known for two particular things: his fondness of liver shots and his habit of doing a "Rutten Jump" (jumping split) after winning a fight. 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."

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, 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".

Ficheiro:EliminatorRutten.jpg

The Eliminator, 2004

Rutten wrestled a few times for NJPW from 2000 to 2002, including an IWGP title shot against Yuji Nagata, which he lost.

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.

Rutten has a cameo in the video game "Grand Theft Auto IV" on the in-game TV show called "The Men's Room." 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".

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 was 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 an former investor in the Legends MMA gym in Hollywood and used to teach there occasionally.

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.

He also trained former street fighter Kimbo Slice for his professional MMA bouts, as well as former Ring of Honor champion and NWA-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.

Vida pessoal

Rutten currently lives in Westlake Village, California with his second wife Karin and two daughters, Sabine (pronounced Sa-bee-nuh) and Bianca. He has another daughter, Rachel (pronounced Rah-SHEL), who lives with his ex-wife in The Netherlands.

Rutten got the nickname "El Guapo", which means "The Handsome One" in Spanish, after having breakfast in Japan with a table full of fighters. At the table he was talking to Tina Shamrock, Ken Shamrock's ex-wife, who was also present and is from Mexican descent. When Rutten asked what "El Guapo" meant, she told him it was "The handsome one". When fighters like Kevin Randleman left the table, they told Rutten, "See you later Guapo". Rutten stated that from that moment on other fighters started calling him "El Guapo", and the nickname was born.^{[carece de fontes]} Rutten recently became a citizen of the United States.

Religião

Rutten é um católico praticante, falando sobre sua fé em Deus no YouTube. Criado em uma família católica, Rutten parou de praticar a fé por volta dos 12 anos de idade, quando seus pais pararam de frequentar a igreja, mas ele retornou à fé em 2013. Ele creditou seu amigo Kevin James, e outros, por ajudá-lo em sua jornada de volta ao catolicismo. Rutten se manifestou contra a discriminação anticatólica em Hollywood.

Tatuagens

Rutten tem várias tattoos, cada uma delas com o objetivo de ajudá-lo espiritual e emocionalmente.

“ Everything has a meaning to me. I've got a symbol for the Year of the Snake, all these tattoos on the side of my knees and elbows are all to calm me down. I really believe in those kinds of spirits. I have my daughters' names on my wrists. In my right palm I have a qi or chi symbol which means life energy—and after I put that one on, I never lost a fight. Since [for some reason] I thought I was going to die soon, I put xiao on the other one, which means "long life." On my forearm I have a really cool samurai logo that I put on in a special place in Japan. It stands for "family." On my left arm is the sign of a Buddhist who protects all the people born in the Year of the Snake. A long time ago I put furoshin on my hand and that means "A spirit of unshakable calmness." So whatever stressful situation I get in, it helps me keep focused and relaxed. ”

MMA record

Cartel no MMA
33 lutas	28 vitórias	4 derrotas
Por nocaute	12	0
Por finalização	13	3
Por decisão	3	1
Empates	1

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round, Time	Notes
Win	28–4–1	Ruben Villareal	TKO (Leg Kicks)	WFA – King of the Streets	2006-07-22	1, 3:24
Win	27–4–1	Kevin Randleman	Decision (Split)	UFC 20 – Battle for the Gold	1999-05-07	1, 21:00	Wins UFC Heavyweight Championship and retires due to injury.
Win	26–4–1	Tsuyoshi Kohsaka	KO (Strikes)	UFC 18: The Road to the Heavyweight Title	1999-01-08	1, 14:15	UFC Debut
Win	25–4–1	Kengo Watanabe	TKO (Lost Points)	Pancrase-1998 Anniversary Show	1998-09-14	1, 2:58
Win	24–4–1	Keiichiro Yamamiya	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	Pancrase-Alive 11	1997-12-20	1, 4:58
Win	23–4–1	Osami Shibuya	Submission (Body Crunch)	Pancrase-1997 Anniversary Show	1997-09-06	1, 3:15
Win	22–4–1	Takaku Fuke	Submission	Pancrase-Alive 7	1997-06-30	1, 4:28
Win	21–4–1	Kiuma Kunioku	Decision (Lost Points)	Pancrase-Alive 4	1997-04-27	1, 15:00
Draw	20–4–1	Osami Shibuya	Draw	Pancrase-Alive 3	1997-03-22	1, 15:00
Win	20–4	Manabu Yamada	Submission (arm triangle)	Pancrase-Truth 7	1996-10-08	1, 0:54
Win	19–4	Masakatsu Funaki	TKO (Lost Points)	Pancrase-1996 Anniversary Show	1996-09-07	1, 17:05
Win	18–4	Jason Delucia	TKO (Liver Shot)	Pancrase-Truth 6	1996-06-25	1, 8:48
Win	17–4	Frank Shamrock	TKO (Cut)	Pancrase-Truth 5	1996-05-16	1, 11:11
Win	16–4	Katsuomi Inagaki	TKO	Pancrase-Truth 4	1996-04-08	1, 14:07
Win	15–4	Guy Mezger	Submission	Pancrase-Truth 2	1996-03-02	1, 19:36
Win	14–4	Ryushi Yanagisawa	Submission (Choke)	Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 7	1995-12-14	1, 27:35
Win	13–4	Maurice Smith	Submission (Choke)	Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 6	1995-11-04	1, 4:34
Win	12–4	Minoru Suzuki	Submission (Guillotine Choke)	Pancrase-1995 Anniversary Show	1995-09-01	1, 15:35	Won King of Pancrase title
Win	11–4	Frank Shamrock	Decision (Split)	Pancrase-1995 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 2	1995-07-23	1, 15:00
Win	10–4	Jason Delucia	Submission (Toe Hold)	Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 5	1995-06-13	1, 1:32
Win	9–4	Maurice Smith	Submission (Kneebar)	Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 4	1995-05-13	1, 2:10
Win	8–4	Takaku Fuke	Submission (Heel Hook)	Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 3	1995-04-08	1, 1:52
Loss	7–4	Ken Shamrock	Submission (Kneebar)	Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 2	1995-03-10	1, 1:01	For King of Pancrase Title
Win	7–3	Manabu Yamada	Submission (Side Choke)	Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 1	1995-01-26	1, 1:05
Loss	6–3	Frank Shamrock	Decision (Majority)	Pancrase-King of Pancrase Tournament, Round 1	1994-12-16	1, 10:00
Win	6–2	Jason Delucia	Submission (Guillotine Choke)	Pancrase-Road To The Championship 5	1994-10-15	1, 1:43
Loss	5–2	Ken Shamrock	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	Pancrase-Road To The Championship 3	1994-07-26	1, 16:42
Win	5–1	Minoru Suzuki	TKO (Knee to the liver)	Pancrase-Road To The Championship 2	1994-07-06	1, 3:43
Won	4–1	Yoshiki Takahashi	TKO (Broken Shin)	Pancrase-Road To The Championship 1	1994-05-31	1, 1:37
Win	3–1	Vernon White	Submission (Guillotine Choke)	Pancrase-Pancrash! 3	1994-04-21	1, 1:16
Loss	2–1	Masakatsu Funaki	Submission (Toehold)	Pancrase-Pancrash! 1	1994-01-19	1, 2:58
Win	2–0	Takaku Fuke	TKO (Knee to the liver)	Pancrase - Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 2	1993-10-14	1, 2:03
Win	1–0	Ryushi Yanagisawa	KO	Pancrase - Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 1	1993-09-21	1, 0:43

Filmografia

• Shadow of the Dragon (1992)
• Shadow Fury (2001)
• The Smashing Machine (documentário) (2002)
• The Eliminator (2004)
• The Vault (2005)
• The Kingdom of Ultimate Power (2005)
• Backlash (2006)
• Potent (documentary) (2008)
• Sinners & Saints (2009)
• Paul Blart Mall Cop (2009)
• Zookeeper (2011) (voz)
• Here Comes the Boom (2012)
• Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015)

Lutas

• 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

Ligações externas

• Official website
• Bas Rutten commercial
• Bas Rutten no Sherdog
• Bas Rutten no IMDb
• Inside MMAat the HDNet website
• Move It Movement Tour adon Cartoon Network

Precedido por: Randy Couture

4º campeão do peso-pesado do UFC 7 de maio de 1999 – 8 de junho de 1999

Vago Rutten se aposentou Próximo detentor do título: Kevin Randleman