Bas Rutten

The art itself is about conditioning, so...

And if you look at MMA legends like Bas Rutten or GSP, Kyokushin black belts themselves.

So I think that that art holds a lot of legitimacy.

[sniffs] Then we get a little closer, we're talking about the clench.

I mean, you would have to go back to Maurice Smith to find a kickboxer who it, it, it worked out for.

And don't bring up Bas Rutten, by the way.

Bas won the title, but he won it from his back.

So the kickboxing wasn't relevant, dare I argue.

So what's that experience like when you head over to Japan? You're in Pancrase.

You're fighting guys like Bas Rutten and Funaki and all these guys.

What the heck is that experience like?

Well, it was pretty, it was pretty wild.

It was just, I was like, "Oh, now I'm in a field in Japan," like, trying to figure it out, like, what on earth? Um, no one spoke English, so it was just this weird time.

[laughs] And then, you know, you're just waiting to fight.

Uh, so I think I lived there for almost two months, and at the end, I fought Bas Rutten, and my career began 'cause I beat him, you know, by decision.

But I mean, I don't remember.

They said, "Wait a minute, we can maybe make some money out of this." So good friend Donny put down the dancing tap shoes, the clogging shoes for a little bit and said, "You know what? I'm going to make a self-defense video.

That's what I'm gonna do." Hopefully it'll be as good as Bas Rutten's MMA self-defense.

If you've never seen that, you owe it to yourself to see that.

But he decided, "You know what? I'm gonna put one, uh, together, a self-defense video." And you guys, can you believe it, Todd? You're lucky enough, you're gonna get a world premiere right here on the, uh, Toy News this week.

Well, the UFC, well, hey, what the heck? [laughs]

[laughs] And you know, and, uh, who was that? I think it was Ba- was it Bas Rutten saying something about that, that, you know, the, the Gracies just had a great marketing, and when they set the UFC up they just ...

And, hey, don't quote me on this, but I think you can find that video somewhere and he's saying that they started by finding all guys who were standups, you know, to join that, uh, that tournament in the beginning.

You know what I mean? The no holds barred, blah, blah, blah.

I don't know how real that is, but Bas Rutten said, so I'm like, eh, okay.

Well-

Maybe that's what happened

Yeah, I posted...

I think maybe three years ago I got to hang out with Bas Rutten.

Okay.

He used to do crazy leg locks back in...

And I just felt horrible when we came home.

But I was interviewing Bas Rutten, and I'm so embarrassed because when I interviewed him, I called him Bas Rutten.

But anyone who knows MMA, Bas Rutten, he's tough, world champion, MMA fighter, brilliant, intelligent, A chess player, you know, it's like when you when you fight against him, it would be like fighting against that guy.

I forget his name, Magnus, the great chess player.

He he doesn't even sit down.