GIFathon: Bas Rutten (Part 1)

Photo via Elite MMA

Although now he's mostly known for his MMA commentary, Bas Rutten was a force to be reckoned with in the early days of the sport. Check out highlights from his early fights courtesy of Zombie Prophet.

These days Bas Rutten is probably best known for his eccentric commentary style. However, in the early days of MMA, Bas was one of the most feared competitors in the game. As T.P. Grant pointed out in an MMA Origins piece, 'El Guapo' made his name in the Japanese promotion Pancrase. He brought a technical and violent striking style out of Holland and established a respectable ground game after giving up a couple submissions early in his career. Bas retired in 1999 after winning the UFC Heavyweight title from Kevin Randleman at UFC 20. He returned for single fight in 2006 where he TKO's Ruben Villareal using almost nothing but leg kicks.

Because Bas is awesome, Zombie Prophet and I got the tag team back together to bring you a ton of highlights from his Pancrase days. Part 1 takes you through the first 7 fights of Rutten's career, ending with his first fight against Ken Shamrock. Throughout his 33 fight career, Rutten only lost to three men. Ken Shamrock is the only loss that went unavenged, despite the two meeting twice in Pancrase.

Bas Rutten vs. Ryūshi Yanagisawa