Where is Bas Rutten? - Fight Forum - MMA - UFC - Boxing - K1

Nimmy · 01-09-2007, 12:18 PM

After the UFC bought out the WFA, where did Bas go and is there any chance we might see him either fight or commentate for the UFC, i have never seen a full Bas Rutten fight but it love to see him in action.

Ownage24x7 · 01-09-2007, 12:20 PM

When did the Ultimate Fighting Championship buy out the World Fighting Alliance?

Bas should come back and fight full time.

Harms · 01-09-2007, 12:21 PM

I'm surprised he hasn't done an IFL superfight since the coaches usually fight in those.

MTKrav911 · 01-09-2007, 12:21 PM

He moved to a suburb outside of L.A. to get away from "The Dark Side" as he calls it. He's concentrating more on raising his young children.

He did his WFA thing, but now with the UFC buying it out? WHo knows? May we see Bas as acommentater for the UFC? I see it as a possibility since he was the Pride PBP guy for a while and with Rampage and Cro COp in the UFC, they may want an experienced guy who knows both fighters front and back for a few shows. I'd love Bas to do the UFC. He goes to a lot of their events and is treated like royalty. More so if he were to do the PBP.

GeorgeXVX · 01-09-2007, 12:23 PM

he also does class a lot and has the legends gym which he sometime coaches at.

Nimmy · 01-09-2007, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeorgeXVX

he also does class a lot and has the legends gym which he sometime coaches at.

yep him and randy couture invested in it.

Gygax · 01-09-2007, 12:37 PM

Bas has previously stated that that his contract with the WFA was for one fight only. So when the UFC bought the WFA, he had no contractual obligation left to the WFA. If he fights again, he'd likely show up in the IFL where he coaches, as previously posted.

Bomber · 01-09-2007, 12:40 PM

PAULLAZENBY.COM TALKS WITH "EL GUAPO"

Champion of Thai boxing, Pancrase and UFC, trainer, actor, commentator, husband, father, and self-professed "most handsome man in mixed martial arts", Bas Rutten is truly MMA's renaissance man. I managed to catch up with "El Guapo" between a month-long trip to his native Holland and a seminar engagement in Aruba to get the scoop on the many things that he's been involved in lately. Many thanks to da Basman for becoming PaulLazenby.com's very first e-mail interview! Check it out!

1. First of all, let us know what "El Guapo" has been up to lately (IFL-related business, seminars, family stuff, etc.).

Lots and lots of stuff. Just went fishing with some of the IFL guys in Mexico, trained Krzystof for his fight against Mike Whitehead which I thought (and the whole audience too) he won. Now it's off to Aruba for a seminar, I bring the family because I haven't seen them for a month, when I am back the next day to Oakland for the IFL, I will be the color commentator, then back and train the IFL guys in Vegas and than leave to Houston for the IFL show where they fight, straight do another instructor course for a week and than train my guys again for the show on March 17th against Franks Shamrock's team in the LA forum. Crazy busy!!

2. Give us a brief rundown of your IFL team, fighter by fighter, and tell us how they're progressing since joining the Anacondas.

Chris Horodecki, looks like little kid, but is a wolf in sheep clothes, man this kid can fight.
Jay Heiron, great wrestler and his striking is getting really good, plus is also good on the ground!
Benji Radach, also a great wrestler with heavy hands and a great ground game, he will have his debut and I have great expectations for him.
Alex Schoenauer, great Jiu Jitsu and take down defense, his striking improved dramatically and hits very hard.
Krzysztof Soszynski, he makes leaps and bounds, gets better day by day!

3. How is being on a team different from being an individual fighter? Is it better? Tougher?

I believe it's better, everybody trains together as a family, so that leaves less pressure on each fighter. They all support each other so much plus they all have their specialties that they gave to [one] another, way better than single fights, trust me, I have been there and I wish that I was part of a team. The IFL is really the greatest thing that could happen to MMA. Base salary, insurance, bonuses etc.

4. There is a lot of talk about the WFA since Jeremy Lappen's highly publicized resignation. What is your current status with them? Are they finished for good?

He's my manager and he's [finished] with them, I can't fight anyway anymore because of my knee and have some other things coming. Jeremy is great.

5. How are your injuries healing since your win over Ruben "Warpath" Villareal?

6 weeks before the fight I blew my knee out again, since they promoted me so much I shot it down with cortisones every week, than I tore my groin and popped a rib in the last week, right now I can walk normal again, but when I train I really have to watch out how I plant my feet, I have a partial ACL/meniscus tear and arthritis. Nice little combo he? If they fix my ACL/meniscus my arthritis will be worse, so there is nothing they can do.

6. Will we be seeing "El Guapo" back in the ring/cage anytime soon? If so, will it be in the IFL or somewhere else?

If, and that's a big IF, it will be for the IFL, I love this company.

7. Having resigned from Pride yourself, do you have any comments on Mauro Ranallo's recent decision to leave also?

He is absolutely right. The person who sneaked himself into the Pride is Jerry Millen, I warned Yukino and Hideki (the US Pride staff) [about] him but they didn't listen, now they got fired because of him, he worked himself in there by making up stories about him or something, I don't know, but no worries, they deserved it because they didn't listen to me and I never told any lie to them so Karma was a bitch for them. He already made up a story about Mauro at the time I was there, so when Mauro found out he was going to be Mauro's boss, he did the right thing and said F**** you, and left.

8. What do you think the future will hold for the Pride organization?

I really don't know, I think that the UFC will buy them out. I always had a great time at Pride, the Japanese staff was super nice, I will miss them dearly.

9. The recent K-1 Grand Prix featured Semmy Schilt vs. the incredibly durable Peter Aerts in the final. I know that you are very well acquainted with both fighters. Have you spoken with either one of them since that fight?

No I haven't, all my friends here in the States even complain about not seeing me anymore, I am so busy working on my future that I need all the time I can get, I even stopped partying because of that, and that comes from El Guapo's mouth!

10. How long do you think Semmy can remain at the top of K-1? Who, in your opinion, has the best chance of taking his title away next year?

You know, the last time the final 4 competitors were all Dutch, we really have the best Thaiboxers on the planet, and I am talking about the Heavyweights of course.

Continued in next post.

RockemSockem · 01-09-2007, 12:40 PM

He is really injured right now and to quote him on fighting again "If, and that's a big if, it will be for the IFL. I love those guys."

Edit: Bomber beat me D=

Bomber · 01-09-2007, 12:41 PM

11. Have you been paying attention to the K-1 MAX circuit? If so, who are some of your favourite fighters from that organization? What is your opinion of Dutchman Andy Souwer, who has been the champion of both MAX and Shoot Boxing, and was a finalist in the recent MAX Grand Prix?

He is a very good fighter. Watch out for Majid Raees, he's the teacher here in my gym in Thousand Oaks, this guy is a freak show and very good. He will be fighting this month against last year's K1 MAX Champion, whoever that was, I am sorry, but like I said, I don't have a lot of time to watch other things. I have never seen anybody as fast as him.

12. The IFL seems to be gaining major momentum lately with the addition of new teams and superstar coaches. Will it add an extra element of competition to have your Anacondas fighting teams coached by your old Pancrase rivals, the Shamrock brothers?

No, we all like each other. Really, we had a coaches' meeting last time and man, it's one big family, there is a lot of joking around and happy faces. But, of course we all want to win, we are still fighters, and that means that we have egos. Every SOLO athlete from any other sport is the same.

13. Is there any talk of offering IFL coaching jobs to former Kings of Pancrase Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki?

Right now they have Antonio Inoki, I think it will be like this for this season, but the IFL guys, Kurt and Gareb are not F***ing around, they are here to stay, so let's see what happens.

14. Some time ago, WWE made a play for UFC announcer Mike Goldberg, and they are showing increasing interest in adding an MMA element to their brand of wrestling. I know that you have had talks with them in the past, have they contacted you recently?

Not for commentating but for pro wrestling they did. They told me that the minimum amount of matches would be 220 a year, I just had a new daughter and although the offer was VERY good, I choose to see her grow up instead of being on the go all the time.

15. Are you familiar with the work of pro wrestler Samoa Joe, who utilizes a lot of submission-style technique? If so, what is your opinion of his in-ring performance?

I have no clue who he is.

16. Who are some up-and-coming fighters to watch for in the future?

All my guys watch out for them. We should have been in the finals because the referee made a mistake in the fight between Alex Schoenauer and Aaron Stark. It was NOT Aaron Stark's fault--he didn't tap. But when Alex put his submission on, and one that couldn't be escaped anymore, Aaron screamed and the ref put his hands on both fighters which means "let go" Alex let go and than the ref said "keep going, keep going". The ref told the commission that he made a mistake plus I wrote them a letter, but since this was in Portland, home of the silver medalist Matt Lindland (hey, we fought that team) they didn't overturn the verdict. All the coaches and I mean ALL the coaches came to me and said the same. But hey, what can we do? Oh, and don't get me wrong, Matt and his team are great guys, it was just a mistake and I have to come up for my team, that's my job as a coach.

17. Aside from IFL, it looks like Bodog may become a major player in the new year with its big budget and now Fedor vs. Monson on its next pay-per-view. At the same time, their shows have met with a lot of criticism on the internet. Have you had a chance to watch any of the Bodog shows? If so, what is your honest opinion?

I haven't seen the show but I heard that you did a tremendous job in commentating; even Mauro Ranallo called me to say that [Editor's note: Bas and Mauro are right, I totally kicked supreme ass]. Good job! Having Fedor, that MUST be good, he's the man!

18. IFL recently received sanctioning by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Do you consider its upcoming
Nevada shows to be just an expansion into new territory, or the start of a promotional war with UFC?

The IFL doesn't want war with anybody; they are a totally different concept than any other organization. That's why [they do] everything like they do, they want to create their own superstars not taking away from other organizations because that causes problems, you should meet the owners, you'll be surprised, ask ANY coach. Let me tell you this, Maurice Smith, Pat Millitich and myself wanted to say NO to MMA, I mean there was so much bad stuff going on, it was crazy so we wanted to stop, than the IFL came and look at us now.

19. In your opinion, what impact are the new, big money MMA groups having on UFC, if any?

Not a lot, truth to be said, the UFC did a tremendous job for MMA, they made the sport huge! The Ultimate Fighter series was a genius idea from Dana! To try to come in with another organization with the same concept, that's going to be very difficult.

20. With the Tara LaRosa vs. Julia Berezkova fight on the recent Bodog pay-per-view, and the continuing work of groups like Hook n Shoot and Smack Girl, female MMA is becoming more and more prominent. What will you say if one of your daughters ever comes up to you and says that she wants to become a professional MMA fighter?

If one of them wants, she can do it, but I want to be the trainer so that I can take care of her. My oldest daughter called me last week and told me that she KO'd a big guy who was bothering her friend, broke his nose in the process, I was very proud. She's 17 and 5'11. She rides horses and gets number one prizes all over the place, she goes to a special school for that, 4 hours a day riding horses, she's determined and like me, obsessive compulsive. My youngest daughter arm barred me when she was in diapers, never taught her anything. My middle one is the sweetheart and don't like to hurt anybody, what a princess!

21. I know that you have been discussing a possible movie project with Jason Statham (The Transporter, Crank), and that only a schedule conflict prevented you from having a role in "Grilled" with Ray Romano and your buddy Kevin James. What do you have going on in movies/TV right now, and please include in your answer the status of your independent short film "The Kingdom of Ultimate Power"?

That movie got chosen as one of the best 5 movies at the LA short film festival, and there were 650 movies. We won also first prize as best comedy at the short film festival in NY. There is some stuff going on and it will be very good, I don't want to say anything about it yet.

22. In closing, what message do you have for all the "El Guapo" fans reading this?

Keep coming back here, it's a great site, and as always, keep supporting MMA!

paullazenby.com :: home

MTKrav911 · 01-09-2007, 01:38 PM

Loved how he said he thought the UFC would buy Pride out.

FedorFan · 01-11-2007, 12:03 AM

Bas is the man. He really deserves all the respect he gets. MMA fighters really admire him, and long time MMA fans do aswell. He is a stand up guy, an amazing fighter, and charming as hell. Im proud to have been able to see him in a few fights. And I got to shake his hand once, it was brief but he took the time to lock eyes and give me a firm grip. I thought my legs were gonna buckle haha. Great interview, thanks for posting.

AikaImmortal · 01-11-2007, 09:10 AM

The UFC did not purchase an option on his contract after purchasing the WFA, and odds are with his injuries he will not risk another fight.

Bomber · 01-11-2007, 11:29 AM

What's up with your username? It's become illegible.
Are you the artist formerly known as AikaImmortal?

marnold · 01-11-2007, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nimmy

After the UFC bought out the WFA, where did Bas go and is there any chance we might see him either fight or commentate for the UFC, i have never seen a full Bas Rutten fight but it love to see him in action.

July 22nd fight. Good ol' Bas.
YouTube - Bas Rutten vs Ruben Villarreal

AikaImmortal · 01-11-2007, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bomber

What's up with your username? It's become illegible.
Are you the artist formerly known as AikaImmortal?

Indeed.