Bas Rutten
Dutch MMA fighter, three-time King of Pancrase open-weight champion and briefly UFC heavyweight champion in 1999, holder of an honorary 5th dan in Kyokushin karate.
Quick Facts
United StatesBiography
Bas Rutten is a Dutch MMA fighter and actor. He was born on 24 February 1965 in Tilburg and holds both Dutch and American citizenship. He became famous for the liver shot, which he popularized in MMA with both punches and kicks.
He began taekwondo at fourteen and, after returning to it at 21, earned 2nd dan. In Kyokushin karate he earned 2nd dan, and Jon Bluming later awarded him an honorary 5th dan. He also holds 2nd dan in Shintai karate and a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He took up kickboxing at twenty; of 16 professional fights he won 14, and in 1991 he lost a bid for the European muay thai title to Frank Lobman. Chris Dolman discovered him for the RINGS Holland dojo, and he trained shoot wrestling under Masakatsu Funaki.
Funaki and Minoru Suzuki brought him to Pancrase in 1993. He made his debut on 21 September 1993, winning against Ryushi Yanagisawa in the 48th second. He first won the King of Pancrase title on 1 September 1995 by choking out Suzuki, and was champion three times between 1995 and 1996. On 7 September 1996 he defended the title against Funaki with a knee to the face. He left Pancrase with a record of 28 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw.
On 7 May 1999 he defeated Kevin Randleman on points at UFC 20 and briefly held the UFC heavyweight title. He ended his MMA career on a 22-fight unbeaten streak. In 2015 he became the first European inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. He released the instructional materials Big Book of Combat (2002) and Lethal Street Fighting (2003). In the film Here Comes the Boom (2012) he played the character Niko.
Associated Martial Arts
A full-contact sport combining strikes and wrestling standing, in the clinch and on the ground. It has no belts and is contested under several rule sets (Unified Rules, ONE, IMMAF).
Catch WrestlingNotable figure→British catch-as-catch-can wrestling from Lancashire traditions, won by pin (fall) or submission. Through Wigan and Karl Gotch it influenced Japanese shoot wrestling.
KyokushinNotable figure→A full-contact style of karate developed by Masutatsu Oyama. Fighting is without gloves, kicks to the head are allowed, punches and elbows to the face are not.
Ranks and titles
- 5th danKyokushin
- 2nd danTaekwondo
Achievements and honours
- King of Pancrase Openweight ChampionshipProfessional title · 1995
- UFC Heavyweight ChampionshipProfessional title · 1999
Filmography
A screen role does not mean the person actually practises the art — that is listed above.