Talkin’ MMA & Kimbo with Bas Rutten
Published by on June 2nd, 2008 in Interviews

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By Scoop Malinowski

The following Interview was done before Kimbo – Thompson

MMA legend Bas Rutten shared some insights his own finest performance, Sylvia-Fedor, Kimbomania and more…

MMAMemories.com: In all your fights Bas, which one or two were you at your very best? Your sharpest finest performance?

Bas Rutten: “My rematch against Funaki. Pretty much all the other fights I was injured [laughs].”

MMAMemories.com: Who was the toughest man you faced?

Bas Rutten: “Funaki also. I had to knock him down four times before the final knee to the head. He stayed down.”

MMAMemories.com: Fedor vs. Sylvia – how do you see it playing out?

Bas Rutten: “Fedor’s gonna play it smart. I think he’s gonna go for a takeout. And he, once he goes to the ground, he should be able to get a ground and pound or a submission. But Sylvia on his feet is still very dangerous. If he connects with one it could bring maor trouble.”

MMAMemories.com: Do you think Fedor is just about unbeatable?

Bas Rutten: “Yea. Yeah. He’s really good [laughs]. I like him a lot. He’s very calm and he’s very focused. And he makes no mistakes.”

MMAMemories.com: I interviewed him last week at the Affliction press conference and his calm is amazing. Probably the most calm person I’ve ever intervewied in all sports.

Bas Rutten: “Yeah, for like five-six years it’s always like that.”

MMAMemories.com: Even before his fights is he like that, that calm?

Bas Rutten: “I know two of my friends in Holland they kind of build him up. Yeah, yeah, he’s always all the time calm. No emotions. And it’s a really good thing to have in fighting.”

MMAMemories.com: Kimbo – what does he need to work on to take it to the next level? What are his strengths and weaknesses?

Bas Rutten: “His strengths is he just loves to fight. He’s mentally very strong. He’s got great hands. And good takedown defense. His ground is getting along really well. I would say nobody’s perfect and he knows that. And that’s Fedor’s suit too. And it’s everybody’s. That’s BJ Penn – and he’s probably the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. But everybody wants to learn, and that’s what he’s doing right now. He’s just early in the game. He’s only busy for a year, if you think about it. And he’s getting better every day.”

MMAMemories.com: What can you tell fans that they don’t know about Kimbo?

Bas Rutten: “That he really likes to fight. Unlike 80% of the fighters – they fight for the wrong reasons. He really has a switch on or a switch off,whatever you want to call it. Because he really – and he really likes to hurt people in the moment he shoots in. And if you spar with him, or when I let him spar with other people, he’s really afraid to hurt other somebody. So he spars relaxed. He’s a big teddy bear [laughs]. But one it goes on it goes on. He’s a totally different animal.”

MMAMemories.com: He loves to train?

Bas Rutten: “He loves to train. You know, he never complains. He does everything you tell him to do. Another quality that’s very hard to find in fighters.”

MMAMemories.com: How good can he get? He must be improving by the month.

Bas Rutten: “He’s improving by the day. I teach him things today and I’ll put him in certain situations that I taught him escapes for, I do it the next day and he will escape.”