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Only $26.95 for the entire set
of Bas Rutten DVDs. All fights
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of Bas Rutten DVDs. All fights
COMPLETE.
All orders secured with Paypal.
Bas Rutten Career DVDs
$26.95
$26.95
Career Discs on the legendary mixed martial artist:
Bas Rutten vs.
Ryushi Yanagisawa I
Takaku Fuke I
Masakatsu Funaki I
Vernon White
Yoshiki Takahashi
Minoru Suzuki I
Ken Shamrock I
Jason Delucia I
Frank Shamrock I
Manabu Yamada
Ken Shamrock II
Takaku Fuki II
Maurice Smith
Ryushi Yanagisawa II
Guy Mezger
Katsuomi Inagaki
Frank Shamrock III
Jason Delucia III
Masakatsu Funaki II
Manabu Yamada II
Osami Shibuya
Kiuma Kunioka
Takaku Fuke III
Osami Shibuya II
Kei Yamamiya
Kengo Watanabe
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka
Kevin Randleman
Bas Rutten vs.
Ryushi Yanagisawa I
Takaku Fuke I
Masakatsu Funaki I
Vernon White
Yoshiki Takahashi
Minoru Suzuki I
Ken Shamrock I
Jason Delucia I
Frank Shamrock I
Manabu Yamada
Ken Shamrock II
Takaku Fuki II
Maurice Smith
Ryushi Yanagisawa II
Guy Mezger
Katsuomi Inagaki
Frank Shamrock III
Jason Delucia III
Masakatsu Funaki II
Manabu Yamada II
Osami Shibuya
Kiuma Kunioka
Takaku Fuke III
Osami Shibuya II
Kei Yamamiya
Kengo Watanabe
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka
Kevin Randleman
Sebastiaan "Bas" Rutten (born February 24, 1965) is a retired Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He was the
UFC Heavyweight Champion, a three time King of Pancrase world champion, and finished his career on a 22 fight
unbeaten streak (21 wins, 1 draw). 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.[1]
[2] 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.
Contents
Early life
Rutten was born in Tilburg, Netherlands and became interested in martial arts at the age of 11 after watching Enter the
Dragon.[3] His conservative parents didn't allow him to pursue it at first. He started to train boxing at the backyard of an
elementary school friend. He eventually started to train in Tae Kwon Do. He was very committed and eventually earned
a 2nd degree Black Belt. He then began learning Kyokushin Karate, and earned a 5th degree Black Belt.
In high school, he was physically weak and had eczema on his hands for which he was bullied occasionally. Years later,
he attended his high school reunion as a decorated fighter and issued a friendly challenge to fight his former tormentors,
which they declined.[4]
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.[3]
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."[5]
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 Shamrock, 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?" [6] ”
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.[3] 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.[7]
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 5, 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, 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 split decision
victory to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Judging at that point was not based on the current 10 points per
round system, but who the judges felt won the fight overall.
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.
[3]
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.[3]
During his MMA career he became known for two particular things: his fondness of liver shots and his habit of doing a
jumping split after winning a fight.[3] 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."[8]
Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz has credited Rutten for inspiration during his early days. Ortiz
said; "I looked up to Bas Rutten. Bas was my idol. People were just so scared of fighting him, he was like the man. I
thought that was what I need to do now. If I train as hard as he does then one day I'll be as good as him and two years
later look where I am, I'm on top of the world. I'm got to say thanks to him, (Bas) for helping me out by making me
believe in dreams."[9]
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".
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.[10]
Rutten has a cameo in the video game "Grand Theft Auto IV" on the in-game TV show called "The Men's Room."[11]
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".[12]
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 a former investor in the Legends MMA gym in Hollywood and used to teach there occasionally.[13]
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. [14]
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.
Personal life
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.[4]
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.[citation needed] Rutten recently became a
citizen of the United States.
Tattoos
Rutten has several tattoos, each of which is intended to help him spiritually and emotionally:[15]
“ 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. ”
Championships and Accomplishments
* Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling
o King of Pancrase Openweight Championship (1 Time)
* Ultimate Fighting Championship
o UFC Heavyweight Championship (1 Time)
UFC Heavyweight Champion, a three time King of Pancrase world champion, and finished his career on a 22 fight
unbeaten streak (21 wins, 1 draw). 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.[1]
[2] 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.
Contents
Early life
Rutten was born in Tilburg, Netherlands and became interested in martial arts at the age of 11 after watching Enter the
Dragon.[3] His conservative parents didn't allow him to pursue it at first. He started to train boxing at the backyard of an
elementary school friend. He eventually started to train in Tae Kwon Do. He was very committed and eventually earned
a 2nd degree Black Belt. He then began learning Kyokushin Karate, and earned a 5th degree Black Belt.
In high school, he was physically weak and had eczema on his hands for which he was bullied occasionally. Years later,
he attended his high school reunion as a decorated fighter and issued a friendly challenge to fight his former tormentors,
which they declined.[4]
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.[3]
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."[5]
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 Shamrock, 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?" [6] ”
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.[3] 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.[7]
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 5, 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, 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 split decision
victory to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Judging at that point was not based on the current 10 points per
round system, but who the judges felt won the fight overall.
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.
[3]
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.[3]
During his MMA career he became known for two particular things: his fondness of liver shots and his habit of doing a
jumping split after winning a fight.[3] 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."[8]
Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz has credited Rutten for inspiration during his early days. Ortiz
said; "I looked up to Bas Rutten. Bas was my idol. People were just so scared of fighting him, he was like the man. I
thought that was what I need to do now. If I train as hard as he does then one day I'll be as good as him and two years
later look where I am, I'm on top of the world. I'm got to say thanks to him, (Bas) for helping me out by making me
believe in dreams."[9]
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".
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.[10]
Rutten has a cameo in the video game "Grand Theft Auto IV" on the in-game TV show called "The Men's Room."[11]
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".[12]
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 a former investor in the Legends MMA gym in Hollywood and used to teach there occasionally.[13]
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. [14]
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.
Personal life
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.[4]
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.[citation needed] Rutten recently became a
citizen of the United States.
Tattoos
Rutten has several tattoos, each of which is intended to help him spiritually and emotionally:[15]
“ 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. ”
Championships and Accomplishments
* Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling
o King of Pancrase Openweight Championship (1 Time)
* Ultimate Fighting Championship
o UFC Heavyweight Championship (1 Time)