A KO when I was 14 against a guy that always bullied me, since I was a sick kid. I trained like four weeks Tae Kwon Do and felt so good already that I KO’d him, he deserved it, I broke his nose though and the police came to the door and my parents took me off TKD.
What has been your favourite fight so far?
Funaki and Warpath, that was my latest fight and I just felt really good to be back. Also the Randleman fight because I looked so bad but they let me go on, TK was a good ending.
What is your fighting background?
2nd degree Black Belt Tae Kwon Do, 2nd Karate, 5th Kyokushin, Dutch champion Thai Boxing, 3 time King of Pancrase and I was the UFC Heavyweight Champ.
Sweetest fighting memory?
Beating up five bouncers in Sweden who attacked me, three of them ended up in hospital, the police came to break it up and threw me in jail, again, they deserved it. They almost took my eyes out, that was enough reason for me to do something back.
Were martial arts a pivotal turning point for you in terms of confidence?
Absolutely, but even when I was sick I never lost a street fight.
Where did you prefer fighting, UFC, Pancrase or Muay Thai?
I like everything, as long as I can fight. I love MMA though now, it’s just the best, cage or ring doesn’t matter for me.
Who would you most like to fight?
I always said Rickson Gracie, but right now my knee is banged up. Rickson is undefeated and a great fighter, I like to fight the best and see what I can do against him.
Who are your top five fighters?
Cro Cop, Fedor, Gomi, Chuck and still I like Wanderlei, he’s just an animal. But I like way more fighters than this. Everybody is getting so good, like BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, I can go on and on. My team in the IFL I also like a lot, you will hear a lot from them! Also Josh Barnett is really good.
What’s your favourite Pancrase match?
Funaki.
Who is/was, your biggest martial arts influence?
Bruce Lee and all my diseases that I had when I was a kid. I had to prove myself.
Did Pancrase ever approach you about working any matches as they did with others?
Never and I swear on my life, I would NEVER do this, I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror anymore. You are a fighter or not.
What celebrity would you most like to fight?
Nobody, I get along with everybody.
How is Kevin James doing with training? I’ve heard he hits like a bull kicks, and a few fans would love to see him in a celebrity MMA match.
He’s a nice guy, helped out a lot, everyday he was there for my training against Kimo (later Warpath). He hits really hard and is getting in a really good shape. He won’t fight, that’s not him, his career is booming and he doesn’t need it.
Congratulations on winning you comeback fight. How long will you continue to fight for?
Thank you! My knee is shot, I have to take care of that first. I also am going to do some movies, so I will see what I do.
Once you’ve retired, what will you do?
I would like to act and teach together, action comedy! I already did comedy/martial arts shows in Holland for TV and even European TV (Eurosport). But teaching, acting and the IFL are number one.
Who would you most like to have a rematch with?
I am okay with everything. They say if I want to fight Ken, but Ken has been unfortunate lately and I would look stupid if I would ask him to fight me now. I know him and go along really well him. Plus after that I fought him he lost to Funaki and Suzuki, I beat Funaki and Suzuki after that, that evened everything out for me.
What does someone have to do to beat Fedor?
A freaky boxer would be good but he needs to have a wrestling background, and a good one. Fedor is sick, really good! Right now I would say that Cro Cop has a very good chance, and even Barnett.
Who are the future stars of MMA?
My guys in the IFL are doing really good, I see a good fortune for them, the IFL is really a good organisation. They will make some really good money and they won’t get screwed for sure. I love to work for IFL as you already found out, I just came back from the IFL show where Pat Militech and Renzo Gracie each other fought. What a great show! The best, I did the commentary with Stephen Quadros and Kenny Rice, so that was really good, we were back together.
What is needed for MMA to go mainstream?
People are already starting o understand the submission moves, so they know what’s going on. IFL with having such good shows that they have now, they are going to make sure people like it because it’s on free TV, FSN! Too bad that England can’t get it, you will be amazed with production, these are the people who did many SuperBowls!
What matches would you like to see come about from UFC vs Pride?
Chuck/Wand, Chuck/Mauricio, Gomi and Penn, Gomi and Matt (Gomi needs to get bigger for that I think though). The heavyweights in Pride are too strong I believe, Fedor and Cro Cop are pretty much the best on the planet, also Josh Barnett is really good and very young, he also could beat Fedor. It’s all about who makes the mistake first.
How do you remember your trilogy with Frank Shamrock?
As a good thing. I just came back from the IFL in IL and Frank was there, we get along really well, were talking about our fights and how much we were talking all the time about all the times we fought. It was fun, Frank is a good guy.
I like it all, if you look at my record you will see that I actually won more fights by submission than KO. Also, every submission or KO came by different way. KO to the liver, palm strike, knee to the liver, to the plexus, low kicks etc. Submission; heel hooks, inverted heel hooks, toe holds, knee bar, guillotine chokes, rear naked, kimura, straight arm bar etc. So I don’t have a signature move, although I like body shots a lot.
Any messages for your fans?
I am still amazed with how many fans come to me and give me a hand, I really appreciate that, who would have known when I was that little kid that got bullied that this would happen to me? One thing for sure, I didn’t! I thank everybody for that, it’s awesome! Keep supporting MMA, and please keep watching IFL on FSN, it’s going to be huge!
Thank you, Mr Rutten, this is very much appreciated.
No problem, thanks and God speed!
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