MMAConvert.com

Of the thousands of mixed martial artists in the world only a small percentage of them will ever attain stardom in this sport. With his undeniable talent, crowd-pleasing fighting style and charismatic personality, Bas Rutten would have undoubtedly been one of them. He just fought in the wrong decade, long before two guys named Forrest and Stephan sent the sport’s popularity skyrocketing.

Age still hasn’t stopped guys like Randy Couture and Mark Coleman from competing on the sport’s largest stage, but unlike them, Bas has two bad knees that guarantee he’ll never fight again. Bas seems okay with it, but if you ask him where he thinks he would rank amongst the world’s top fighters if he was 20 again like FIGHT! Magazine did, he would tell you he’d make it to the very top. And you know what, I like to believe he would. It’s just a shame we’ll never find out.