Bas Rutten
Biofiles | Published March 8th, 2008
 Status: Mixed martial arts legend.
Ht: 6-1 1/2 Wt: 200
Born On: February 25, 1965 In: Tilburg, Holland
Childhood Hero: “Bruce Lee. I saw Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon in France. And right after that I begged my parents to do martial arts.”
Nicknames: “The Napalm - I love the smell of napalm in the morning [laughs after reciting the line from the classic movie Apocalypse Now]. Super Bas. El Guapo.”
Hobbies/Interests: “Family, drinking, having a good time [laughs].”
Favorite Movie: “True Romance. With Christian Slater, Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Patricia Arquette. Most crazy movie ever made. Super violent.”
Musical Tastes: “I like everything, man. I have no choice. What I like to train to is BioHazard. The Crash Test Dummies - I like them too. Real good.”
Favorite TV Shows: “Sopranos. Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
Childhood Dream(s): “Dreams that I was always falling. I keep falling, like from a diving board. And then I had dreams of beating people up, without getting a scratch. Dreams of people attacking me and me beating them up, like superhero. Then I suddenly wake up. No! Let me go back to that dream! Because it was so cool. And God or whoever controls dreams…and I go right back beating them up! I have no scratches. I love those dreams!”
Favorite Meal: “Dutch french fries and coquettes. A Dutch thing. I make it myself, actually. And people come over and try them and they freak out. So I think about selling them. Originally I’m a French chef.”
Favorite Breakfast Cereal: “Smacks.”
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Vanilla.”
Early Fighting Memory: “My first knockout on the street (age 14). When I trained only two weeks of tae kwon do. And they always used to bully me. After two weeks, I had enough cojones to say something back. The guy Jackie always used to bully me. Threw a right hand and knocked him out. After that knockout I felt like Bruce Lee. I had other fights before, but this was the best thing for me. Everybody knew about it right away.”
Funny Fighting Memory: “Was the first fight against Maurice Smith. I gave him a right high kick. And then I make a left high kick. I miss the high kick, lost balance and fell on my back. Then he wants to jump on me. But at the moment he went to jump on me, I put my hand up, like, stop. Like stop sign. So he stops. And I stand up and (gestured tipping) my hat, like, Thank you. Then we start fighting again. But everyone was like, Whooooa, what the heck just happened?! Why did he stop!? That was pretty funny. El Guapo stopped him, both times.”
Greatest Career Moment: “I think when I beat Funaki (in Tokyo, ‘96). Because he beat me in my third Pancrase fight - when I had no grappling experience. And he got me in a leglock. Then when I fought him the second time, before the fight, in the ring, he gave to me the slit throat to his neck sign. I looked at my manager, Now I’m gonna kill him. I totally fucked him up. Broke his nose. Broke the bone under his eye. Heavy fight, man. I knocked him down five times. There was blood everywhere. The last blow was a knee to his head. His nose was already broke. He showed a lot of heart in that fight. Every time he got up, the crowd went, ‘FU-NA-KI! FU-NA-KI!’ My palms were black - bruised from hitting him in the head so hard. I bruised my knees from knees to his head.”
Most Painful Moment: “The only time I experienced pain was getting knee-barred by Ken Shamrock (in Japan in ‘95). Man, that was like I felt like he broke my leg. Because I never experienced pain in the ring. That loss was the reason why I started training two times a day grappling. I never lost again, when I learned grappling, submissions and choke holds. Everybody knew I was a striker.”
Pre-Fight Feeling: “I’m real relaxed, actually. I want everyone to be relaxed in my dressing room. If someone shouts, ‘Knock him out!’…I send them out. I don’t like aggressiveness before the fight. I like relaxed. My friend Jan - he’s up in the sky now - I always have a feeling he’s with me. He makes me calm.”
Worst Injury: “Training injury. I was teaching a heel hook at Beverly Hills Jiu Jitsu. The guy put it on me, I was telling the class what to do. I am relaxed. Then suddenly my underleg made like an Exorcist twist, dislocating from upper leg. Out for a year (2000).”
Favorite Fighters To Watch: “Duane Ludwig. He’s my guy. He knocked out Jens Pulver in 1:15. He’s knocking out everybody. Thai boxer background. Like a little Rutten. They say he’s only a striker. But he’s very intelligent. He’s learning grappling. Randleman. Because he’s improving a lot. He’s now very strong all around. Doing many different moves, upside down knees. Sakuraba. He comes up with crazy things. All the time he goes for submissions when you don’t expect it. I like a lot of fighters. Guy Mezger. Murilo Ninja. Nogueira.”
Favorite Fights: “Oh my god, Nogueira and Herring. It went over and over. They tied each other up, one escapes, back and forth. They’re punching, kicking, non-stop action for 20 minutes. For heavyweights it went on and on. Allen Goes-Sakuraba. Matsui-Newton. In vale tudor two times - Pele and Makato. Real violent fight. Like unreal. And the knockout - Duane against Jens.”
Favorite Vacation Spot: “The Bahamas. Never been there, but I really want to go. I see it on TV.”
People Quality Most Admired: “Honesty.”
Family: Wife, Karin; daughters, Rachele, Sabine, Bianca
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