An Irish Whip Exclusive: Interview with Bas Rutten!

Last week, I sat down with the one and only King of Pancrase, "El Guapo," Bas Rutten. He had some fascinating things to say about the current state of MMA, his family, projects he's working on, and of course, The Irish Whip. Follow the link below to see our exclusive interview.

Ben Zeidler: Would you say that watching Enter The Dragon was your biggest inspiration in getting involved with Mixed Martial Arts, or was there something earlier than that?
Bas Rutten: Yes, Enter the Dragon was the first time I got introduced to martial arts.

BZ: How has your experience been during your time as a coach in the IFL? How do you think the "team MMA" concept will play a role in MMA in the future?
BR:The coaching experience was great! I love it when I teach and the guys do what I say and win their fight, its very cool to do, you create this special relationship with them and its great when it pays off. The team format is great! These guys always have training partners and everybody is like a big family, we go to the movies together, dinner, breakfast and lunch, we even went on a fishing trip in Mexico, really cool. I wished that the team concept was there when I was fighting, all the guys have their own strengths and they pass it on to eachother so they get really strong, everybody tells the other fighters their secret techniques because they want to win as a team. Normally they wouldn't do that. Also, they are certain to fight at least 5 fights a year, winning or losing, so for the fighters its great. They also have a monthly pay check, so they don't have to do a job on the side plus if they get injured, that pay check keeps coming....

BZ: We at The Irish Whip loved The Eliminator, do you plan on making more movies in the future?
BR: I am working on getting my own movie done, its a real good story and I have already three or maybe even four A class actors who want to be in it. Let's hope it works out, its really cool, you watch!

BZ: What are your opinions on the recent upsets in the past UFC events?
BR: Upsets happen, I always say, this is MMA, anything can happen. Upsets are good also, makes both fighters, the winner AND loser, better.

BZ: Being one the best and most colorful commentators of MMA, is there a chance that you could replace Mike Goldberg?
BR: I like Mike Goldberg, I am happy with the IFL right now but the phone doesn't stop ringing. I have so many offers its crazy! It's really cool, it means that I am doing something good right? The IFL is great for me, so when it's good, I am happy!

BZ: Being a long time commentator for PRIDE FC and familiar with the "PRIDE scene," do you think the merging of UFC and PRIDE is a good or bad thing for mixed martial arts as a whole?
BR: For the fans, it's great! The UFC can give them great fights. But I believe competition is great also, they need more organizations otherwise if you are locked up and if you lose a few fights, your career is over. There are too many good fighters, so in order for them to compete on a regular base, they HAVE to win, that's a lot of pressure. So again, competition is great!

BZ: Who do you feel is the toughest opponent and what do you consider the biggest/best win of your career?
BR: My toughest opponent was Funaki, I knocked him down 4 times and he kept coming, the whole place was chanting: Funaki, Funaki! Than my final knee to his head kept him down, I was exhausted! For me that was also my biggest win because he beat me before and this was a re-match. Of course, my fight for the UFC Heavyweight title was also important for me, it was controversial, but I knew I won, John Mc Carthy said that he didn't stand us up because I was working from the back. Also when Kevin Randleman said in an interview that after I kicked him in the liver he couldn't do anything anymore, it made me feel good. Kevin is a great guy.

BZ: It's been reported that you've been contacted by WWE for potential work there. What are the factors that weighed into your decision not to pursue that option?
BR: The WWE offered me very good money but I had to do 220 shows a year!? My wife had just given birth to our second daughter, I wanted to see her grow up, so I said no. With that schedule I could have never done that, 220 shows a year and that's WITHOUT the traveling.

BZ: Please tell us about the training center that you are opening up with Randy Couture in Hollywood.
BR: Legends is a treally cool training center, I am on the road so much so I cannot be there to teach classes as much as I would like to be. The week of July 9-13 I am in Los Angeles so I can teach then. It's really a really good place, great teachers besides Randy and myself, there is Chris Reilly, who is also one of the owners, he's a great striking coach! Also Jeremy Williams (the coach from the "Contender") is a great instructor, Jason Miller, Karo Parisian, they all teach there and it provides an electric atmosphere with intense training capabilities with instructors who really know the fight game.

BZ: Your bar fight videos have taken on something of a cult following due to your use of original catchphrases. Are you pleased with the type of exposure they have received?
BR: I love the bar fighting DVD, when I saw the clip with the sounds on youtube, I was crying from laughing. I know its very good though, I have bodyguards, police officers, bouncers etc all emailing me how much it helps them. It's straight to the point, no BS. Funny story, I was sitting in the lounge at United airlines and this group of guys were looking at me, suddenly they got up and came to me, so I got up because I thought something was going down, they said that everything was OK and that they were Air Marshals and than they pulled out the Bas Rutten street fighting DVD, they asked me to sign them. How cool was that?! I sent them free Big DVD's of Combat, I mean, these guys protect all of us!

BZ: How did you find out about The Irish Whip and do you plan to continue following it as a reliable source for mixed martial arts news?
BR:The Irish Whip? I was surfing the internet and came to it, a really good site about MMA, I love it, very new news, and that's what the fans want right? Of course I book marked it and I will be back for sure!

BZ: We know you've been doing a ton of work with MMAtoday.com. What's been the most fun part of working with them and are there any big projects coming up on the site that you can tell us about?
BR: MMA Today a great online channel with many video clips all about fighting inside AND outside the ring or cage. You watch what happens in about three weeks, than the site is going to be what we really want it to be like and you will freak out! We have great ideas and now it's coming, sorry, its a surprise! I am going with some other fighters on Tuesday at the movie premiere party in Hollywood for the feature film, "Captivity". You will get to see really good footage from that as we will be shooting on the red carpet and inside the premiere party.

BZ: Can you give us any predictions for tomorrow's UFC 73 event?
BR: I am sorry for the UFC event, I don't like to do predictions because I know a lot of these guys. I can tell you that its going to be a great show though!!

BZ: Thanks so much for talking with us today. We really appreciate you taking the time.
BR: Thanks guys, Godspeed and party on!!

-An interview by Ben Zeidler