Bas Rutten

Quick Facts

Full Name	Bas Rutten
Occupation	Mma Fighter
Date Of Birth	Feb 24, 1965(1965-02-24)
Age	59
Birthplace	Tilburg
Country	Netherlands
Horoscope	Aquarius

Bas Rutten Biography

Bas Rutten is one of the most popular and richest MMA Fighter who was born on February 24, 1965 in Tilburg, Netherlands. A former UFC Heavyweight Champion, became the co-host of Inside MMA.

He has appeared on numerous talk shows which include He has been on many talk shows, including Joe Rogan‘s, where he told Rogan the story about the bar fight in Sweden.’s, on which he told Rogan the story of his bar battle in Sweden.

Sebastian “Bas” Rutten (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɑs ˈrɵtə(n)] ; born 24 February 1965) is a Dutch–American actor, retired mixed martial artist, kickboxer and professional wrestler. He was a UFC Heavyweight Champion, a three-time King of Pancrase world champion, and finished his career on a 22 fight unbeaten streak (21 wins, 1 draw). FightMetric wrote this when Rutten got inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame: “FightMetric, the official statistics provider for the UFC, ran the numbers on Rutten’s career. They back up the Dutchman’s inclusion into the UFC Hall of Fame and then some. In the 4-hours, 27-minutes and 8-seconds he spent as a pro fighter, Rutten scored 13 knockdowns without getting dropped himself, his significant strike accuracy was 70.6%, the highest FightMetric has ever recorded, attempted a record 53 submissions and successfully swept his opponents a record 46 times.” From 2007 to 2016, Rutten was the co-host of Inside MMA on AXS TV. Rutten became a naturalized American citizen receiving citizenship in the late 1990s.

At the age of 20 he started competing in kickboxing while working also as a bouncer and model. He fought 16 times, winning the first 14 by knockout, 13 in the first round, and losing his final two fights. One of them would be against famed Frank Lobman for the European Muay Thai title on 12 February 1991, with Rutten losing by KO in the first round. According to Rutten, he signed up for the match while under the influence and without any kind of earlier preparation, but he decided not to pull out. Another of his most famous fights was against Rene Rooze, who bit Rutten’s ear during the match. In response, Bas landed a knee to the groin, which interrupted the match and caused a brawl.

The couple had 2 daughters together. Karin.

Bas Rutten Net Worth

Bas Rutten is one of the richest Mma Fighter from Netherlands. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Bas Rutten 's net worth $1 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

He was afflicted with asthma and eczema when he was a child. This caused him to be bullied constantly.

He didn’t limit himself to fighting at the box, this fighter wrestled two bouncers in the same moment in the same Swedish bar.

At age 21, he moved out of his parents’ house and once again started training taekwondo. He was committed, eventually earning a 2nd degree black belt. He then began learning Kyokushin Karate and earned a 2nd degree black belt.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Bas Rutten height 6 ft 1 in Bas weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Bas Rutten Dating?

According to our records, Bas Rutten married to Karin Rutten. As of December 1, 2023, Bas Rutten’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Bas Rutten. You may help us to build the dating records for Bas Rutten!

The win granted him a challenge title match in September 1995 against the King of Pancrase Minoru Suzuki, which was their rematch from the fight at the beginning of their careers. The match was long and intense, as Suzuki rode Rutten for most of their exchanges in the bout, and actually managed to force him to spend a rope escape with a tight kneebar. Rutten held his own through his defensive acumen, occasionally countering with guillotine chokes and a surprising rolling kneebar from standing, until the match came to its last minutes. After getting from under a mount, Rutten threw a front kick to the body which downed Suzuki and followed with a guillotine choke, making the King of Pancrase tap out.

Facts & Trivia

Bas Ranked on the list of most popular MMA Fighter. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in Netherlands. Bas Rutten celebrates birthday on February 24 of every year.

At Pancrase 1996 Anniversary Show, taking place on 7 September, Rutten defended his undisputed title against Masakatsu Funaki in what is considered to be one of the greatest fights in Pancrase history. The Japanese wrestler came near finishing the match earlier with an ankle lock, but Rutten escaped miraculously and proceeded to fend Funaki off for the rest of the bout, utilizing the same stalling strategy he had used against Suzuki. Funaki made a wide usage of the knee-on-stomach and mount position to initiate leglock attacks, but the Dutch countered every time and eventually pushed Masakatsu away, moment in which the Japanese threw an illegal kick to Rutten while he was getting up. In response, the Dutch fighter knocked Funaki down with a palm strike, and then completely broke his nose with a second palm strike to a supine Masakatsu. The stunned Japanese tried to trade hits with Rutten, only for Bas to capitalize on this with his famed striking game. Rutten knocked him down twice with palms and knees, and he followed landing a lengthy, unanswered string of strikes until a knee to the face finally downed Funaki for the KO victory. In doing so, he became a three-time King of Pancrase.

Did Bas Rutten ever lose?

Kickboxing career He fought 16 times, winning the first 14 matches by knockout, 13 in the first round, and losing his final two fights. One of them would be against Frank Lobman for the European Muay Thai title on 12 February 1991, with Rutten losing by KO in the first round.

Are Bas Rutten and Kevin James friends?

That led to a meeting between James and Rutten. “He’s just a great guy, a great friend , and that was kind of what inspired me all along to start making a movie to incorporate that,” James said, “showing the human side of this sport that I just respect, that I wouldn’t do necessarily, but I respect so much.”

How good was Bas Rutten?

There was no shortage of hype around Rutten. He was undefeated in his previous 19 fights and had been touted as the world’s best fighter while transitioning from Pancrase to the UFC.

Why did Bas Rutten retire?

While training for his next UFC fight in 1999, Rutten suffered multiple serious injuries, including blowing out his knee (a long running injury), and tearing his biceps. He was forced to retire from MMA competition for the time being, by doctors orders.

Can you punch in Pancrase?

They based the promotion and its rules on professional wrestling. The promotion’s champions were called “King of Pancrase”. The rules allowed closed-fisted punches, except to the head , and palm strikes to the head.