EXCLUSIVE ChokeHimOut Interview: Bas Rutten
Interviews
Interviews
ChokeHimOut.com recently caught up with "The Legendary" Bas Rutten . Bas was as humble as usual and very respectful. Read on to hear about Bas' toughest fight, training Kimbo Slice, hanging with Kevin James, acting and working with the IFL...
C.H.O: You have a long career in fighting and MMA. When you were a child did you expect to be where you're at now?
BR: No I personally didn't expect it. After I lost the last time to submission, I started focusing on submissions. I started submitting guys and I thought to myself 'maybe you can be a champion in this thing'.
C.H.O: What's your most memorable moment thus far in your career?
BR: That would be my re-match against Funaki. He was the first guy to beat me by submission. The second time when I fought him I turned the tables. That was a good day.
C.H.O: Your known for your kickboxing skills. What made you train in submission grappling and jiu jitsu to start with?
BR: Like I said I don't like loosing and after loosing to Ken by knee bar it was unacceptable to me. I figured out that no one was going to strike with me anymore. I mean even Maurice Smith took me down, so I needed to start focusing on the ground game. I started training two times a day, seven days a week everyday. I started winning my fights by submission and got really good at that. I never had a teacher I taught pretty much myself. I was just watching tapes to see if I could come up with something better in set up's and counter techniques. I just really started focusing on submissions because I didn't want to loose anymore.
C.H.O: Who would you consider your toughest opponent so far?
BR: I would have to say Funaki at the time because he was so tough. I had knocked him down like four times. I hit him hard. My knees had black and blue marks on them from kneeing him in the head. My palms literally were bruised from also hitting him and every time I knocked him down he got up again. The last knee was like a full knee in the head before he dropped, but it took awhile and it took a lot of energy out of me.
C.H.O:Your last fight was in 2006, which you won. Do you have any upcoming fights planned?
BR: No. Six weeks before that fight all of my injuries started coming back. I tore my ACL and meniscus and my tendonitis came back in both arms. The tendonitis was one of the reasons that I stopped fighting before. That is a pain unlike any other pain. Once the tendonitis starts, it means that every workout you're going to be in pain for about an hour and there is nothing you can do about it. It's a really annoying pain. To go through that every workout, it's just a nightmare and I don't want to do that anymore.
C.H.O:Your training Kimbo Slice now and he did really well against Tank Abbott. How quickly is Kimbo picking up the MMA game?
BR: He is doing good, he is doing really good. He has been training a lot on the ground. Everyone thinks that I am a moron or something, that I didn't learn anything from my own mistakes and let my students make them also. They all think that he's not good on the ground so they WILL take him down when they fight him next time. It's not like we don't train him on the ground guys. Of course he is known for being a striker but we work a lot on the ground game and he picks up real fast. He is doing things real fast. For instance, things that I show him today he will do right away later in his training, so he picks up fast. I see a great career for him as long as he stays away from the injuries.
C.H.O: Do you prefer teaching as opposed to getting in the ring these days?
BR: It's the next best thing, but competing is still always the most fun of course. There is that adrenaline rush. But when your training is not fun anymore because of the pain that you have the whole time, you are not looking forward to it anymore and it takes the motivation away, so I can't compete anymore, it would mean that I would be in pain two times a day for about an hour, no thanks. But when you see someone you train pull things off that you showed him, it's the next best thing I guess.
C.H.O: What's it like going from fighting and teaching, into acting?
BR: I think once you are fighting professionally you have to learn how to control your nerves in front of a crowd. It's the most difficult and important thing in fighting. You see a lot of fighters that are really good in the dojo but that can't fight under pressure. They can't control their nerves. Once your nervous your fighting style doesn't flow anymore, there's certain set up's and things you don't see anymore. When you are acting you need to be relaxed too, I think it defiantly helped me that I was fighting before to control the nerves, I mean, what more pressure can you get, except for the army guys of course who when they "lock up" in a situation, might lose their lives. The first time I was acting I could dream my lines, than there were two camera's in my face, I was wearing a wig (was a bank robber and in disguise), it was hot, the wig was itching,I went like: "What was the first line again?". Like anything in life,if you can stay cool under pressure you perform the
best because your mind is calm and when it's calm it works of course the best.
C.H.O: You've been on the T.V. series King of Queens several times. How close are you to Kevin James?
BR: I've known Kevin for nine years. I've been training Kevin since the first season of King and Queens. I have to tell you that his world has changed dramatically for the good but he didn't, he stayed exactly the same person he was and I really admire that in him. Many people who "get big" have an attitude change. Kevin is one of those guys who is very talented and very strong, people don't realize that.
C.H.O: So Kevin trains with you regularly?
BR:Yes, every time we have time. Right now Kevin is flying all over the place and is shooting a movie in Boston and will be busy for the next two and a half months. Every time he is free we hang out and train.
C.H.O: It was announced you were the new vice president of fighting operations at the IFL. What kind of responsibilities comes along with this?
BR: I am very good with people. It's very easy for me to pick up a phone to whatever fighter and say 'hey man I need a fighter in this weight, can you help me out'. It opens a lot of doors with all of the connections that I have gathered over all the years and that's what I am going to do for the IFL.
C.H.O: What can we expect from Bas Rutten in the future?
BR: I'm reading scripts for some movie parts, but I am very selective. I want to put something good out there. I am coming out with an infomercial in about two months. It's going to be something that I have been working on for awhile now and finally it is going to happen. I just finished shooting the whole promo. I am doing so much stuff. I have the Inside MMA show which you can see every week on Wednesdays and Fridays. I also have the IFL shows. It's really busy.
You can get the latest on Bas at basrutten.tv
Article by Tuesday on Mar 28, 2008