Bas Rutten has reflected on his legendary fight career during an interview with Bloody Elbow.
The Dutch kickboxer had plenty of rivals during his iconic 33-fight run in the sport of MMA.
However, ‘El Guapo’ says one of his wins was more satisfying than the other 28 victories on his record.
It came against the fighter who handed him his first loss at Pancrase: Pancrash! 1 in January 1994.
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Bas Rutten’s most satisfying win
Masakatsu Funaki tapped out Bas Rutten with a toe hold when he was still clueless about BJJ.
Two years later, they rematched for Rutten’s openweight title at the Pancrase: 1996 Anniversary Show.
Since their first meeting, Rutten had amazingly taken part in 19 more fights, winning 16 of them and becoming a champion.
The now-60-year-old was able to defend against Funaki’s submission attacks early in their rematch.
When the fight was on the feet, Rutten battered his rival with palm strikes and knees to leave him a bloody mess.
Ultimately, he knocked Funaki out with a massive knee after a 17-minute fight for the ages.
“The Funaki match,” Rutten said when Bloody Elbow asked what his most satisfying win was.
“The first fight, he beats me with a toehold. Listen, I didn’t even know what a toehold was. I knew it hurt, but that was it. I never heard of the thing. And then I had to rematch, and now I was a different fighter because now I had all that submission experience.
“Then he made the mistake of coming to me before the fight, and he stands right in front of me, and he slits his throat. I remember looking at my manager, I go, ‘Dude, I’m gonna kill this guy now’.
“It was a crazy fight for him. It was the best fight they say because he got up five times. I broke both cheekbones, and his nose was broken. My knees were black and blue from hitting him, from kneeing him in the freaking head. My arms had bruises on my palms.
“I was getting tired now and then I grabbed him by the hair, which was legal. I grabbed him just really hard, and I drilled my knee in his face as hard as I could. That was it. The fight was over. I remember they raised my hand, and then right after they raised my hand, I fell backwards. I was exhausted.”
Bas Rutten pitches epic UFC White House idea
The UFC is set to host a once-in-a-lifetime show at the White House in June 2026.
Jon Jones and Conor McGregor both hope they will get to headline the unique event.
It’s currently unclear who will fight on the card, as Dana White won’t start building it until February.
The UFC CEO could be saved a job after Bas Rutten’s epic 12-fight pitch for a White House card.
“Line everybody up,” Rutten said about the event to mark Independence Day.
“Khamzat [Chimaev] has to fight there.
“Just every champion, I believe, needs to have a fight there.”