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UFC Hall of Famer Bas Rutten on Fundamentals of Real Self-Defense, Savage Fight Stories, How He’s Handled Bullies, Breathing Techniques for Increasing Stamina and Endurance, The Art of Personal Reinvention, and Cultivating the Practice of Prayer (#621)

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“It’s very hard to control your emotions. But if you control your emotions, you’re going to win the fight.”

— Bas Rutten

Sebastiaan “Bas” Rutten (@BasRuttenMMA) is a Dutch-American actor, former mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and professional wrestler. He was a UFC Heavyweight Champion and a three-time King of Pancrase world champion, finishing his career on a 22-fight unbeaten streak with a strike accuracy of 70.6%, the highest ever recorded by FightMetric. 

Rutten was co-host of Inside MMA on AXS TV from 2007 to 2016, and he has been a color commentator in several MMA organizations, including Pride Fighting Championships. He has appeared in numerous television shows, movies, and video games as an actor and continues to be involved in MMA through his coaching and publishing of instructional materials. Bas became a naturalized American citizen in the late 1990s, and in 2015 he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

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Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.

Brought to you by Maui Nui Venison wildly delicious venison, LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 800M+ users, and Eight Sleep’s Pod Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating.

The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

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#621: UFC Hall of Famer Bas Rutten on Fundamentals of Real Self-Defense, Savage Fight Stories, How He’s Handled Bullies, Breathing Techniques for Increasing Stamina and Endurance, The Art of Personal Reinvention, and Cultivating the Practice of Prayer

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Want to hear another episode with someone who is harder to kill than the average human? Listen to my conversation with former UFC middleweight contender and Green Beret sniper Tim Kennedy here, in which we discuss how his “hurry up and fail” mantra adapts to the situation at hand, grueling Special Forces qualifications, walkout music selections, survival basics for urban dwellers, gauging situational awareness, and much more.

#310: Hurry Up and Fail — Tim Kennedy

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

  • Connect with Bas Rutten:

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

SHOW NOTES

  • [08:20] My first exposure to the unbridled might of Bas Rutten.
  • [10:03] Why is there such a strong martial arts tradition in the Netherlands?
  • [12:28] Breathlessness, Bruce Lee, bullies, and birds: a glimpse into Bas’s childhood.
  • [20:10] Why Bas walked out on a culinary career path and gave up modeling.
  • [23:28] How Pancrase entered the picture.
  • [33:08] Pancrase rules.
  • [35:47] Why Ken Shamrock is known as Wayne Shamrock in Japan.
  • [36:11] On fighting Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki.
  • [41:43] Underrated Japanese fighters.
  • [44:03] Remembering Pride, UFC’s Japanese predecessor.
  • [48:52] Pranks.
  • [54:17] Absolute monsters.
  • [57:44] Self-defense for beginners and bouncers.
  • [1:15:33] Why even professional fighters shouldn’t start street fights.
  • [1:17:15] Grand Theft Auto IV.
  • [1:19:28] Now a devout Catholic, Bas explains how the rosary is like meditation.
  • [1:32:06] Who picks fights with Bas Rutten these days?
  • [1:34:19] That time Bas got into a bar fight with five bouncers in Sweden.
  • [1:41:00] Re-learning how to breathe with the O2 Trainer.
  • [2:09:12] Parting thoughts.

MORE BAS RUTTEN QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“It’s very hard to control your emotions. But if you control your emotions, you’re going to win the fight.”

— Bas Rutten

“I like to see myself as a sheepdog. You’ve got wolves, you’ve got sheep, and you’ve got the sheepdogs to protect the sheep from the wolves.”

— Bas Rutten

“It’s better to have a skill and don’t need it than to need a skill and don’t have it.”

— Bas Rutten

“That’s the problem in this whole society right now. We think that pleasure is the same as being happy. It’s not. You’re just feeding your pleasures, your vices.”

— Bas Rutten

“I want to be a man who can overcome his weaknesses, vices, and imperfections. A man who’s not a slave to his passions and desires, but a real man who’s in control of himself.”

— Bas Rutten

PEOPLE MENTIONED

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6 Replies to “UFC Hall of Famer Bas Rutten on Fundamentals of Real Self-Defense, Savage Fight Stories, How He’s Handled Bullies, Breathing Techniques for Increasing Stamina and Endurance, The Art of Personal Reinvention, and Cultivating the Practice of Prayer (#621)”

  2. Is it possible to get the name of the sales book that Bas mentioned? I thought it might be in the show notes [hence my laziness]. Would be appreciated.

    Reply

  3. Bas’ storytelling chops are still there! I’m still mesmerized by his stories even if I get lost in some of the details. Thank you Tim! It’s been more than half a decade since I’ve last heard anything from Bas and I’m glad he’s in good health and even better spirits judging by the fun you guys had in this podcast.

    Reply

  4. Fascinating interview. Intelligent, down to earth, worldly and inspirational. I could have listened for days and dug further into all the details. Thank you both.

    Reply