Issue 088
May 2012
Bas Rutten believes the current heavyweight champion will halt countryman Overeem from walking in his footsteps to UFC fame and fortune
In May 7, 1999, the man born as Sebastiaan Rutten – but better known to the fight world simply as ‘Bas’ – cemented his legacy in mixed martial arts and secured plenty of future paydays in the process of becoming the first and only UFC champion from the Netherlands.
LEADING MAN
BAS RUTTEN
Fight legend, Inside MMA presenter
While many in the crowd at the Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama, that Friday night disagreed with the controversial split decision that awarded Rutten the vacated heavyweight belt in an overtime bout against Kevin Randleman at UFC 20, they unknowingly witnessed the birth of Rutten’s American dream – which would later see him conquer the fitness world, as well as gain fame as a TV and movie personality.
Now, nearly 13 years later, another charismatic Dutch striker’s path to superstardom and riches is shadowing the similar steps that saw Rutten go from Holland to becoming a big star in Japan, before eventually making his way into the world’s premiere MMA organization. Now the only thing standing in Alistair Overeem’s way of repeating Rutten’s feat as a UFC champ is six-foot-four, 240lb Brazilian, Junior Dos Santos.
But if you ask Rutten, his nod won’t go to the man walking in his footsteps – and not just because he and Overeem had a falling out over the way Overeem treated Rutten’s good friends on his former Golden Glory team.
“Based on his past fights and the combinations, I truly believe that Dos Santos is going to win this fight,” said Rutten, echoing the sentiments he first stated on a radio show back in January. “We all know that Overeem has a glass jaw. Don’t act like all of a sudden I’m saying all this ’cause he’s not in the circle of friends anymore.
“He wasn’t a friend when he fought Brock Lesnar and when he fought Brock Lesnar, I actually posted that Overeem was going to take that one. I just look at his past fights. You look at the one against Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ (Dream 6, 2008). He was supposed to knock him out, and he had a tough time. He kneed him in the balls the whole time, and that’s how they stopped the fight.
“If you go back to the forums in between 2005 and 2007, when he had lost five times in seven fights, four times by knockout. And then the one time also to Chuck Liddell. Every forum would say he has a glass jaw. If you punch him, he would go down. That’s why if you see him throw a punch, there’s always one hand up. I’m not the only one saying it, I’m just making an observation that I like Dos Santos in this fight.”
Despite their differences, Rutten says he appreciates watching the journey Overeem has traveled and knows firsthand what the belt would mean to him.
“Overeem’s a very talented fighter. He only needs to connect once and that’s the end of the night. As a fighter, I can’t say anything bad about him. If a Dutch guy is going to win the title, I love it. It’s the best thing ever,” Rutten says, the excitement rising in his voice.
“It’s good for Holland, it’s good for MMA. And he deserves it. I just don’t like the decisions he made with friends and guys who considered him family, guys who sacrificed a lot for him. But whatever personal decisions he makes, I have to keep that separated from his action in the ring.”
Despite just turning 47, Rutten has days where he wishes he could be back in the ring again. “It’s very hard to replace that feeling of fighting. The tension, the preparation, and the energy once you’re in the place with all the people. That was hard to let go. I still have it today,” he admits.
Although, Rutten’s plate at the MMA table, now as an entertainer and MMA instructor, is overflowing. “I’m so freaking busy that I literally have to filter projects. But that’s a good problem to have. I’m truly blessed,” says ‘El Guapo.’
When he’s not preparing for his weekly Inside MMA show on HDNet, or teaching students firsthand at his gym in Westlake Village, California, twice a week, Rutten can be found practicing for his next role in Hollywood, or passionately pedaling his fight equipment – which can be purchased online at basrutten.com.
Currently, reruns of Punk Payback, a show dubbed as a “comedic street-fighting survival series” are airing on Fuel TV. While the series is a fun look at actual ways to avoid being a victim on the street, it’s also a very personal series for the three-time King of Pancrase, who was bullied as a child because of his asthma and severe eczema.
“It was an ugly disease and obviously kids don’t understand that. So right away you’re a leper or an outsider. I used to climb trees to escape the wrath of the bullies because they would never be brave enough to do it,” Rutten recalls, saying that bullying also pushed him into martial arts.
Rutten also has a new movie Here Comes the Boom coming out in the fall 2012, where he plays a coach to Kevin James’ character who is a high school biology teacher moonlighting in MMA. “It’s gonna be a fun movie and I bet that every mixed martial artist is really going to enjoy this movie,” he says.
With the continued globalization of MMA, thanks most recently to the UFC’s returns to Japan and Brazil, Rutten thanks his stars he was able to capitalize with his success in the sport and says future fighters will have even more avenues to utilize. “It’s great. I always say we owe it to Dana (White). He put us on the map and because of that, there are all of these opportunities in TV and showbiz,” says the man the UFC once dubbed as the ‘greatest martial artist in the world.’
“I’m pretty sure that if I wouldn’t have been a fighter, and wouldn’t have been known, it would have been very hard to get into movies and those things. I’m still excited for what the future holds for me and so many others in MMA.”
