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Bas Rutten ‘Living Mixed Martial Arts Part III’ By Dave Carpinello
Once a year, PDG talks with Legendary Fighter and Analyst “El Guapo” Bas Rutten and asks him questions regarding the world of mixed martial arts and what his personal opinions are in regards to the year of fighting in review. The following is Part III of a great series of interviews involving the former King of Pancrase, the host of HDNet’s Inside MMA, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion and the man well regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists to enter a cage or ring.
PDG: Strikeforce has definitely emerged as the #1 contender to the UFC’s reign in the United States over the past year; with the signings of ‘King Mo’ Lawal, Dan Henderson, Fedor Emelianenko, Fabricio Werdum, Gegard Mousasi and their partnerships with DREAM and M-1 Global. How do you think Strikeforce did overall in 2009? Bas Rutten: I think that they are doing a great job, I loved the CBS show that they did and I thought that it was an amazing event. To be honest I think all the shows that they have done have been really good and they continue to add fighters to their roster and they continue to build the organization itself. Overall they have done a very good job.
PDG: You have been in the industry for a long time; going forward how do you think that Strikeforce can differentiate their organization and events from the product that the UFC offers to be successful? Bas Rutten: That is a very difficult question and the whole trick to the industry; once somebody figures that out, there will be major organizations popping up everywhere. It is just very hard to compete with the UFC right now because of the size and reach of the company. But like I said in the question before, Strikeforce is growing and adding quality fighters and from what I have seen they have the right approach. They keep adding shows and they have a perfect outlet with their partnership with Showtime and that is going to give them a chance to find real and upcoming talent. Then they have the big shows on CBS and if they are able to keep that approach than they have a chance.
PDG: Compared to our interview just about a year ago; how do you think the mixed martial arts industry has changed as far as a mainstream sport? Do you think it has gone up, stayed the same or gone down? Bas Rutten: I think it is doing really good. There is a lot more mixed martial arts being televised and I believe that the talent of the fighters has improved, they are in better shape, they have better technique and the only exception I can think of would be this latest season of the Ultimate Fighter where the fighters were getting tired after one round. I was thinking what are you doing? Getting in better shape and having good cardio should be something that every fighter is working on. It's ridiculous because if you get paid to fight....then you shouldn't be getting tired after one round. It is amazing that that still happens but for the most part fighters are getting better at technique, stamina and execution. So the sport you are seeing now is definitely better than a year ago.
PDG: So you would say that the sport has increased in popularity amongst sports fans over the last year? Bas Rutten: Oh yeah, For sure.
PDG: Lately a lot of fighters, especially in the UFC heavyweight division have come down with injuries and different illnesses; do you think that is just part of the cycle or is there some underlying issue with how these fighters are training that is leading to these problems? Bas Rutten: Everybody is training harder and that always leads to more injuries and there has been this crazy flu going around. Athletes are especially vulnerable because of the toll that their body takes and I would assume that if you compare it to any other professional sport that it is about the same. These guys are always cutting weight and training so hard that the body is vulnerable to break down. I think that is the problem that we are seeing right now but come January when the flu season is over, everything will be okay.
PDG: In a bigger sport it may not have been as noticeable but it seems that they have had to cancel five or six UFC main events in the last couple months. Bas Rutten: Yeah, sometimes stuff like that happens; it's like a bad omen, when something like that happens it seems to affect other people for some reason but it usually only lasts for a small period of time. Once it's gone though people will forget about it. It is kind of like Christmas....something bad in the world always happens like a plane going down or a major celebrity dies and it’s weird that it always happens in the months surrounding the end of the year.
PDG: You've spent a lot of your life overseas and especially in Japan; what did you think about DREAM and Sengoku deciding to combine their year end shows for DYNAMITE 2009 on New Year's Eve? Bas Rutten: I think it was a great idea for them to join forces for a mega show. If one of those shows would have been way bigger than the other one separately this never would have happened but since both promotions draw relatively the same amount of fans it made sense to combine the two shows. It really goes to show you that those two organizations really care about the fans and want to give them the best fights possible and so ultimately the fans will be the real winners on New Year's Eve.
PDG: Could this be the rebirth of PRIDE or is it something more such as the next step in the evolution of mixed martial arts in Japan? Bas Rutten: I really don't know the answer to that but if they can continue to sellout shows and New Year's Eve is a success than I think they have a chance to do something very big. The problem they are running into is that they lack the heavyweight fighters and they are very thin at the 205 lb weight class because most of those guys are signed with other organizations in the US such as Strikeforce and the UFC. In the earlier days they offered much more money to the fighters so it was easy to get them to come and fight in Japan but nowadays that is not the case anymore.
PDG: As far as I know the two organizations have yet to confirm whether they will continue to co-promote. Bas Rutten: It would be awesome and if this show is a success they definitely should continue to work together.
PDG: Whenever we talk, you always seem to have multiple projects going on at the same time; what are some of the things you were working on right now? Bas Rutten: I just finished up a project with the Cartoon Network where I am basically the fitness guru there, a so-called health expert there, how funny is that?
PDG: That's pretty cool. Bas Rutten: Yeah, they have already shown a couple of clips where the kids are doing push ups and punch and kick combos and all types of different exercises. Now some of the newer ones coming out are about nutrition and staying away from sugar and how to stay healthy by avoiding the spread of germs. A bunch of clips full of healthy tips for the kids and it was a very exciting project. The guys I worked with were really good at the editing and production and everything I did with them came out very nice.
PDG: Earlier you mentioned the Strikeforce show on CBS featuring Fedor vs. Brett Rogers. When you watched the main event did you get the impression that Fedor was still at the top of his game or do you think he has slowed down a bit? Bas Rutten: Fedor seems to always do that in the first round of his fights and then he just adapts going forward in the fight. When you watch him fight he doesn't have the greatest technique and nobody can tell me that he has good technique because it's not. He strikes from very weird angles and that's why he is always breaking his hand. This time it was his thumb and it's because he hits the wrong way. But when he connects he does a lot of damage and he has a good ground game and when you put the whole package together he looks really good. I thought he looked really sloppy though on the ground in his fight against Rogers and there were a couple of times where I thought he was going to go for submission and there was a perfect opportunity for him to get a toehold. Even though he looked sloppy it was almost like he was doing it on purpose to get his opponent comfortable and then boom there it is. You never know what is going on in the mind of this guy, he is a freak and when I say freak I mean it in a good way. Nobody can deny how good of a fighter he is and for me he is the number one heavyweight in the world and if you look at his record it is impossible to argue that point.
PDG: You and Kenny Rice talked about it on Inside MMA but how disappointing was it for you that the mega-fight between Josh Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko didn't happen back in August? Bas Rutten: Yeah it was very disappointing and it is a shame that stuff like that still happens. I just can't believe it and the things you hear about these days with athletes, it's just not like the old days anymore. Why are they taking all of these things? When I was fighting I didn't even take supplements. I only took Q10 and if I trained really hard I would take a protein shake. Other than that I wasn't putting anything into my body unless I was injured and the doctor gave me a lidocaine shot, which I later found out was not a good idea because it had lasting side effects. So if I knew what I know now back then I wouldn't even have allowed that. Let me say this....if you are injured don't fight; you need to be at 100% or you are going to regret it later in life. It is easier said than done and there were several fights in my career where I did not follow that advice and it took me several years to recover from those injuries. So don't do that boys and girls.
PDG: So do you think the fans will ever get to see Josh Barnett fight Fedor Emelianenko? Bas Rutten: I don't think it is going to happen and if it happens it will be in Japan. I think that Josh is going to have a very difficult time getting another fight in the United States. Who is going to take the risk to promote that fight with the liabilities from his past that he would bring if he was put into a main event again. It's like the actors that get banged up on drugs and alcohol; they become liabilities and can cause a whole movie production to go down the drain. So you see them less and less involved in the industry because nobody wants to work with them. It's a shame.
PDG: Speaking of actors, Steven Seagal has a new television show called “Lawman”; have you seen it? Bas Rutten: I haven't seen it but I read about it in Maxim and it was really funny because they said that when they are driving down the street and he sees some guys that he thinks are trouble the show goes to like slow motion.
PDG: Yeah they do like a cut scene where he uses his powers to sense if they are criminals are not. Bas Rutten: [laughing] Like he has a six sense or something. Props to that guy though because he is still making money. He made a career off of mixed martial arts but somebody like that shouldn't call themselves a real fighter and I don't know if he has ever said that and he is a great martial artist but that is a different story than being a real fighter.
PDG: Another actor/mixed martial artist has been rumored to be making his K-1 debut in 2010. Supposedly Jean-Claude Van Damme wants to get in the ring; what are your thoughts on that? Bas Rutten: I don't have any information on that but I would be super amazed if that happens. I hear from a lot of people that he still has a huge drug problem and he would definitely need to shake that off first. I want to be clear that this is all hearsay and it's not that Bas has ever seen him do any kind of drugs. I was on an airplane talking to a producer a couple of weeks ago when I was returning from working on the new EA Sports MMA Game and he told me that he met Van Damme who told him that he was clean but that he certainly didn't look clean. So that would be a very dangerous thing for him to go in the ring like that because a very bad accident can happen. Especially if he goes to K-1 and fights a Peter Aerts or someone, it is going to be over very quick and it could be very dangerous for Van Damme. Those kickboxing guys are no joke and come on what is he like 50 now? If he does it, win or lose I will have respect for him for stepping inside that ring.
PDG: You bring up the new EA Sports MMA game; how excited are you to be a part of that project? Bas Rutten: I was the first guy that they called, so that was really cool to know that those guys thought that they really needed me to make the game successful. It was like a year and a half ago that I signed a deal with them and so now when I'm seeing all the big names that they are signing it is pretty exciting. I went down to Florida a couple of weeks ago and got to see firsthand the quality of the game and now I can understand the long development process. It was really cool and when I saw the Fedor vs. Rogers footage that they showed on the big screen, you could have put a mask over Fedor's head and you still would have known that it was him fighting because of how precise they are with the gameplay. Unlike a lot of other games you do not start off with a skill set; you have to learn to be that fighter. Obviously if you are Royce Gracie you have a skill set in jiu-jitsu but you can learn to be a striker in the game by going to different camps and improving your striking skills. It is very nice and I am very happy to be involved with it and I'm actually going to be the one that welcomes you into the game.
PDG: So other then being the host of the game are you also a playable fighter in the game? Bas Rutten: Yes but I have not seen any of the gameplay footage of myself yet as we just finished doing the photo shoots. I also told them that my character better have a shaved head and body in the game because I was watching my first fight with a student of mine and I didn't have any hair on my back but being at the older age that I am there is hair growing out of everywhere including my ears.
PDG: That is some good stuff right there; I'm excited to see how different the EA game is compared to UFC Undisputed. Bas Rutten: So am I.
PDG: Let’s get back to the real cage. Your former student Kimbo Slice recently defeated Houston Alexander at the Ultimate Fighter Finale; what did you think of his performance and the way your relationship ended? Bas Rutten: I wouldn't say that it was a bad breakup, things can always get out of hand in the media but when he said that he wished Bas would have came to him, I did that and I gave him a 10 1/2 minute speech on how I felt about his progress as a fighter and he knows that. Everything is cool now. As far as his fight goes, the thing that I think hurt him the most was the cutting weight. And I think that was a big factor in the fight because they didn't throw a lot of punches in the first round and yet they were both still gassed.
PDG: Yeah, the first round looked like an episode of Dancing with the Stars. Bas Rutten: It was insane and the referee should have gone in there and pushed the action. That is what I liked about Japan in that if you weren't fighting then boom you got a yellow card and bada bing you just lost 10% of your fight purse and that will most likely keep you more aggressive. That was the same game plan that he was supposed to use against Seth Petruzelli. The first rule being that you do not rush in there, let your opponent throw some kicks and punches and find out what his plans are for the fight and I think that is what he did against Alexander. I was also very surprised at how Alexander fought in that he almost looked intimidated. Don't get me wrong there were some great moments in the fight and it was Kimbo’s first fight in the UFC, so there was some pressure in the fight and like I said I think that the weight cutting hurt him. I think that Kimbo should just fight at heavyweight and that would be better for him going forward.
PDG: They have been doing a lot of those weird catchweight fights lately; why can't the fighter pick a weight class and stick to it? Bas Rutten: Well that is one of the reasons I think they need to have a weight class from 205 to 235 pounds that is for heavyweights, then one from 235 to 265 pounds for super heavyweights and then anything over 265 pounds they could call the monster weight class. Something like that would be good because I think that the difference between 205 and 265 pounds is just too much.
PDG: Do you think that Kimbo has a future in the UFC? Bas Rutten: It will be very hard for him.
PDG: In your opinion who was the 2009 Fighter of the Year? Bas Rutten: That award has to go out to Anderson Silva followed by Georges St. Pierre, who I am a big fan of but the way that Anderson Silva cleans house right now is so nice, relaxed and pinpoint that I love it.
PDG: Who do you think is going to be the Breakout Fighter of 2010? Bas Rutten: I have to go with Jon Jones because this guy is going to be very good. Even his loss by disqualification to Matt Hamill isn't going to matter in the long term of his career because he is going to be great. His striking is already good even though he is a wrestler and with all that crazy stuff that he throws out there he only has room to grow as an exciting fighter. He has unbelievable reach and he looks like the President.
PDG: Besides your work on Inside MMA, the Cartoon Network and the EA video game; what other projects you have coming up in the near future? Bas Rutten: I am coming out with an invention that is going to be really cool but I can't give away the information on it quite yet because we just obtained the patent and we are getting ready to go into production. Everybody is going to use this new invention and if they don't and their opponent does they are going to be in real trouble. That is going to be my tagline for this new product for all athletes “You better be using this because if you don’t your opponent will and you will lose the stamina battle”. It is a real cool idea that I came up with a long time ago and there is nothing else like it out on the market and I have the patent. In addition to that, the B.A.S. (Body Action System) has been doing good and it is only going to get better now that we have all of the production of the product in one factory. It has been in constant development for the past two years because I am not about to have a product out there with my name on it that doesn't meet high quality standards. I am also doing something new with the Tokyo Five clothing brand and then also working on some other television projects and a book. The book is going to be fiction and will involve some real stories but it is not the story of my life. It is going to be something cool like “Bas Rutten – Detective”....wait that's not very cool, its going to be something that is cool. One other thing that I'm really looking forward to is this reality show in Holland called “Reunion” which is in its 10th season and they are going to do a show on me since I am the only European UFC heavyweight champion and it is going to be awesome because I was picked on as a kid because I had eczema and now I will get to see those classmates that used to bully me. I'm going to have a great time filming that. My list is long with things I have coming up but I am most excited about my new invention and I think this is really going to be it.
PDG: Once again I appreciated your time Bas; is there anything else you wanted to add? Bas Rutten: Anytime, I want to remind people of the great specialists at GLC 2000 and the great work that they do in helping relieve chronic joint pain and helping to alleviate the extreme pain incurred from previous injuries, the wear and tear of everyday life and the pain experienced due to the natural aging process. It is really good stuff and the guys over there have always been really good to me. If people are interested in real training I am going to have a new set of intructionals coming up and they can check those out at BasRutten.com. Oh, and don't forget to watch HDNet, your home for MMA, great MMA from around the world and of course our show Inside MMA. Thanks to all the MMA fans, God Speed and Party On!
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