Bas Rütten is a Dutch mixed style fighter. He has come a long way from a frail boy suffering from asthma and eczema to a true MMA legend. Bass is considered one of the charismatic fighters. His performances are equally interesting to watch for both professionals and ordinary people.
Biography: early years
Bas (full name - Sebastian) Rutten was born on February 24, 1965 in Tilburg, in the south of the Netherlands. In early childhood, doctors diagnosed him with asthma. When an exacerbation of the disease came, Bas spent two to three weeks in bed. These days he could not walk, because after five steps he began to choke.
Later, Rutten developed a skin ailment - eczema. In one of the interviews, the fighter recalled that in childhood, his mother smeared him every evening with a special compound and bandaged him before going to bed. In this state, he felt like a mummy. Because of the severe itching, Bas combed the body, and the mother had to re-apply the ointment and bandaging.
He went to school in gloves and only in clothes with a high collar and long sleeves. Naturally, this feature became the reason for the ridicule of classmates. To avoid attacks, he often hid in a tree in the forest behind his house.
Due to the fact that physical activity was minimized, Bas grew up as a frail boy. At the age of eleven, he saw a film with Bruce Lee, "Enter the Dragon." Having looked at it, he began to dream of martial arts. He also asked his parents to enroll him in the taekwondo section. However, they were against his passion for martial arts. Basu had to revise films with the participation of his favorite actor to the holes.
After two years of persuasion, the parents gave the go-ahead for sports. In just five months of training, Bas began to defeat the brown belt holders. His confidence in his abilities grew every day. He also became actively involved in street fights that often happened after school. The bass dealt with the strongest boys with ease. Once he even ended up in the police, after which his parents forbade him to practice taekwondo.
Becoming an adult, Bas continued to train. Soon he traded his favorite taekwondo for karate. But he did not do it for long. Soon, Bas became interested in Thai boxing, while working as a so-called bouncer in casinos and nightclubs. He spent 15 fights and only one of them ended in defeat for him. After such success, Bas decided to try himself in the professional ring.
Career
In 1993, representatives of the newly formed Japanese mixed martial arts organization Pancrase became interested in Ryutten. Bass went to the Land of the Rising Sun. The fighter himself admitted in an interview that it was there that animal instincts woke up in him. He went into battle with any opponent, even with those who significantly surpassed him in weight. The bass has established itself as a powerful punching fighter. The rivals began to fear him. In the ring, he acted like a well-trained street fighter.
Bas suffered his debut professional defeat at the hands of Masakatsu Funaki, who was a very experienced fighter. After the failure, Ryutten changed his training plan, starting to practice wrestling on the ground and conducting painful holds.
Bass soon defeated Minoru Suzuki, who had never lost before. Rutten knocked him out with a powerful knee to the liver.
In the next battle, Bas was defeated by American fighter Ken Shamrock. It is noteworthy that the third defeat to Ryutten was inflicted by Ken's half-brother, Frank Shamrock. After 8 months, Bas met with Ken again and again could not defeat him. This defeat was the last in his career. The next 11 years were marked only by victories. Bas wanted to meet a third time with Ken Shamrock in 2000, but he refused.
Rutten went down in Pancrase history as the greatest fighter ever. So far, no one has managed to break his record for victories. He also won the Pancrase overall title.
In 1998, Bass moved under the wing of the UFC. Then it was a small and modest organization. In 1999, Ryutten became the UFC Heavyweight Champion.
In 2006, Bass ended his fighting career. His last rival in the professional ring was the American Ruben Villareal, whom he sent to a technical knockout. At that time, Bas entered the ring under the auspices of the WFA. He fought his final fight in Los Angeles.
After leaving the ring, Ryutten turned to television. He can be seen in TV shows and films, including:
- "Chinese policeman";
- Fury of the Shadows;
- "Kingdom of absolute strength";
- "Fat Man in the Ring".
Bass tried on the role of a commentator as well. In this role, he was excellent and won the love of millions of martial arts fans around the world thanks to his sense of humor.
Rutten also realized himself as a coach. He has worked with several fighters, including Kimbo Slice, a street fighter who became popular through YouTube videos. Bass has also coached celebrities at the famous Legends MMA Gym in Hollywood.
Personal life
Bas Rutten is married twice. From his first marriage, the fighter has a daughter, Raquel. She lives with her mother in the Netherlands. The fighter prefers not to talk about his first marriage in an interview, and he also does not advertise the reasons for the divorce.
Bas's current wife's name is Karin. In the second marriage, the fighter had two daughters - Bianca and Sabina. The family lives in the States, in the small California town of Westlake Village.
