New Bas Rutten Interview

[Brutus]

MMA WEEKLY - Your #1 Source for Daily MMA News, Interviews, Multimedia, and More

Have you ever wondered what it felt like to be slammed by Randy Couture, elbowed by Tito Ortiz, kicked by Bas Rutten or submitted by Dean Lister? If so, you’ll get your opportunity to find out as National Geographic goes into the world of mixed martial arts tonight with the season premier episode of “Fight Science” at 8pm Eastern/Pacific on the National Geographic Channel.

Using state-of-the-art technology the Fight Science crew dissects the skills of some of the premier MMA fighters to find out just how much force is behind some of the signature moves of each fighter.

Just before the show’s premier, MMAWeekly had a chance to speak to MMA living legend “El Guapo” Bas Rutten to discuss his participation in Fight Science, as well as his work with street fighting sensation Kimbo Slice, and his new role with the IFL.

MMAWeekly: First off Bas, how did you get involved with National Geographic’s “Fight Science” series?

Bas Rutten: Well I got contacted by Dean Lister. Dean had gone in for submissions and he said (to the producers), “If you need a striker, you’ve got to get Bas Rutten.” I’m in more. I’m also in the street fighting episode also, but my biggest part is in Sunday’s show “MMA Science.”

MMAWeekly: What was it like using your skills on their state-of-the-art science equipment?

Bas Rutten: I loved it, because I really wanted to see how hard we hit and kick. I didn’t like the bag, because it had sensors all over it, and if you didn’t hit the sensor directly, you’d have less power. So I was looking forward to the crash test dummy, and we all kicked it and it was good, I really enjoyed it. You’ll see on the show that they (the production team) were quite blown away. (Laughs)

MMAWeekly: It must have been fun getting a chance to hang out with the guys and show people what it’s really like to take a shot from the pros.

Bas Rutten: Yeah we did some crazy stuff. Randy (Couture) did some stuff with throwing the crash test dummy down. I did the kick and they said it was something like a car crash, but I don’t want to give it all away, you’ll have to check it out. There’s a lot of force going on, let me tell you that. Tito Ortiz came by and did some stuff on the crash test dummy, like elbows and stuff. We all had a blast, and a really good time, we had a lot of fun.

MMAWeekly: Okay, moving away from the show, I understand you’ve been prepping Kimbo Slice for his return to MMA against Tank Abbot for EliteXC’s next event on February 16th.

Bas Rutten: Yeah, I’ve been getting him ready with the boxing coach in my gym, and Kimbo’s making good improvements. He’s doing well. It’s going to be his biggest test. Tank is a tough dude, he can take a punch and he can certainly give one, so, you don’t want to get hit by Tank. From what I understand he’s lost like 30 pounds, which is good for Tank, so he’ll be in shape, but, I don’t see it being too big of a problem. Kimbo should be able to pull this one off.

MMAWeekly: You were recently named VP of Fighter Operations with the IFL. Does this mean you’ll be wearing a suit and tie from now on?

Bas Rutten: No, I’ll never do that. (Laughs) I wear a suit on TV, but thank god they leave me free so I don’t have to wear a tie, I can just wear shirts.

MMAWeekly: What are you looking forward to in your new role with the company?

Bas Rutten: I’m looking forward to putting the right connections with the IFL to get some guys in there so they can compete in the promotion, and see if I can pull that off. I have a great team to work with, with Kurt Otto and Shannon Knapp. They’re doing a really great job. Also, Shannon has been working with the American Top Team, so we got that team now coming. Xtreme Couture is going to be lead by Shawn Tompkins, so that’s going to be great also.

MMAWeekly: It looks like this year is going to be a fresh start for the IFL.

Bas Rutten: Yeah, definitely, it’s all new. Especially with the new teams coming in and the individual fights, so we can find out who is the strongest fighter in the weight class. We have the 145-pound weight class added also. I’m stoked; I’m really excited about it. Now we really need a good TV deal, so we can show the fights live, if that can happen it will be an unbelievable season.

MMAWeekly: We all know what kind of a busy person you are, so having said that, what else is going on for El Guapo these days?

Bas Rutten: Well I’m going to shoot an infomercial Sunday. It’s a product that I can’t talk too much about, but you can put it pretty much anywhere you’d like, living room, garage, gym, wherever you want to put it and you can beat the shit out of it. It’s really cool, we can use the Bas Rutten work out with the new thing when it comes out, and after one round I had to take a break because it really takes a lot out of you.

I’ve got two movies coming up also that I’m in. I’ve got a TV show that I’ve pitched and someone that really wants to do it who has a bunch of shows already on TV, so that looks good. Next week I’m going to pay a visit to the kids (that are portrayed) in the movie Gridiron Gang with The Rock. Myself and Hector Pena are going to go over there and talk to those kids, and I’m looking forward to that. Those things I really enjoy doing, seeing if we can go and make a difference.

MMAWeekly: Seems like you’ve got a lot going on, and this after you tell us that you’re going to slow down a bit.

Bas Rutten: You know I say it every year, that I’m going to slow down, then maybe next year, maybe next year, but it’s simply not going to happen. But you know what? I love it. I love what I’m doing and I’m having a really good time with it. I just really enjoy it. I started out as a Mixed Martial Artist, and now I want to promote it and get it out there. The more people I can get hooked to it, the better it is.

Bas is a living legend.

[Bigshanks666]

Good Interview. Bas is defenitly the man. Hopefully he can do something with the IFL and put some good fights together.

[Noise Chopped]

Hopefully Bas gets rid of that moronic team aspect to the IFL. And changes it to the IFC.