- published: 12 Mar 2013
- views: 555583
Sebastiaan "Bas" Rutten (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɑs ˈrʏtən]; born February 24, 1965) is a retired Dutch mixed martial artist, Karate and Taekwondo blackbelt, and kickboxer. 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). He is currently the star of Punk Payback on Fuel TV and co-host of Inside MMA on HDNet.
As a fighter, one of his favorite tactics was the liver shot (both punch and kick), and he popularized its use in MMA. Rutten is known for his charisma and has capitalized on his celebrity since retiring from fighting in 1999. He has worked as a color commentator in several MMA organizations, including Pride, and has appeared in numerous television shows, movies, and video games. He also coaches MMA and has authored several instructional materials.
Rutten was born in Tilburg, Netherlands and developed from the age of 6 a skin disease, named eczema, and severe asthma. Because of the skin disease he always had to wear long sleeves, turtle necks and gloves to protect him from showing his skin, his asthma made him very skinny and because of all this he was bullied on a daily basis as a kid. Rutten found refuge in climbing trees at a forrest behind his house, when bullies would chase him, he would climb in a tree and could swing from tree top to tree top, which made it impossible for bullies to follow pursued.
Mauro Domenico Antonio Ranallo (born December 21, 1969) is a Canadian sports announcer and commentator, with experience in football, hockey, professional wrestling, and mixed martial arts events. He is best known for his work as a commentator for PRIDE FC and, more recently, Showtime for Elite XC and Strikeforce broadcasts. He is currently an announcer for Strikeforce mixed martial arts alongside Gus Johnson. He began announcing when he was 16 years old. In 2006, he was lead news anchor and play-by-play announcer for the Canadian combat sports channel The Fight Network. Since leaving The Fight Network he has become the voice of MMA for Showtime MMA, host his own radio show at the The Score Television Network available on iTunes and is the lead announcer of the Muay Thai Premier League a global combat sports league featuring the fighting arts of Muay Thai.
Ranallo graduated from WJ Mouat Secondary School in Abbotsford, British Columbia. He began his career as an announcer and manager at the age of 16, when he was offered a job with All-Star Wrestling (in Vancouver), a nationally televised wrestling show throughout Canada. After that program ended production and the promotion folded in 1989, Ranallo became a disc jockey for Abbotsford, British Columbia radio station CFVR (now CKQC-FM).