How Bas Rutten Mentally Broke Opponents Before the Fight Started... | DSH #1871

Summary

Podcast Summary: Digital Social Hour with Bas Rutten

Episode Title: How Bas Rutten Mentally Broke Opponents Before the Fight Started...
Episode #: DSH #1871
Date: March 19, 2026
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Bas Rutten

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Overview

In this dynamic and candid episode, former MMA world champion Bas Rutten sits down with Sean Kelly to explore the art of mental warfare in fighting, the tough realities behind Bas’s success, his battles with addiction, the science of breathing, and how overcoming adversity as a bullied child shaped his mindset. The episode offers unique insight into Bas’s philosophy on competition, resilience, innovation in training, and personal growth, punctuated with his trademark humor and no-nonsense honesty.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Overcoming Adversity: Childhood & Health Struggles

• Skin Disease and Bullying:
  • Bas recounts living with severe eczema as a child, resulting in social isolation and bullying:
    • “I was the leper in school. That’s what they called me.” (02:06)
  • His mother would “mummify” him nightly with homemade bandages.
• Childhood Coping & Nature:
  • Escaping into the forest for hours a day built his early physical strength and fostered a connection to “grounding”/earthing.
    • “I spent four hours a day in the forest... I really believe in that.” (01:21)
• Asthma:
  • Lifelong severe asthma, hospitalization, and later, development of his O2 Trainer to retrain respiratory muscles.
    • “Three and a half weeks in, my asthma was gone.” (38:18)

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2. The Evolution of a Fighter: From Karate to MMA

• Early Career in Japan:
  • Bas’s formative years were mostly in Japan, where the unique, silent atmosphere transformed his fighting style.
    • “In Japan, it’s completely quiet... That made me the fighter.” (05:01)
• Mental Strategy & Control:
  • The quiet, respectful Japanese fight culture allowed Bas to focus, use mental chess, and develop control in the ring.
• No Weigh-ins, No Fear:
  • His first fight in Japan featured no official weigh-ins, and a 33-pound weight difference with his opponent.
    • “He says, ‘No, no, everybody fights everybody. There’s no weight classes.’” (05:48)
  • The pressure (30-minute round, big opponent) forced him to pace himself and mature as a fighter.

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3. The Mental Game & Psychological Warfare

• Subtle Mind Games:
  • Bas broke opponents with unpredictability and psychological tactics:
    • “Little tiny things to make him angry… Now he’s telegraphing... Let him wait in the ring, stroll slowly, next fight run to the ring. Throw them off.” (14:07)
  • In-Fight Distractions:
    • Speaking English to his Dutch manager—to be understood by opponents.
    • “In the middle of the fight, I would stop…‘You want to go to Buggy tonight or Gas Panic?’” (15:35)
    • Host: “Ah.” Bas: “I just want him to have these little distractions that start clouding his mind.” (15:34)
• Self-Motivation and Mental Toughness:
  • Rooted in overcoming early hardships; Bas learned to “brainwash” himself for endurance, flipping fear of fatigue into a need for it.
    • “I literally started screaming that I love getting... more tired. I want to be more tired.” (37:14)
    • “You’d be amazed how your body reacts to your mind.” (37:10)

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4. Innovations in Training, Fighting, and Teaching

• Creativity in Submissions:
  • Bas became obsessed with ground fighting after three submission losses, inventing setups and waking his wife with new techniques.
    • “I woke her up at least five, six times… I would dream a submission and I would put her in that submission…” (17:59)
• Notable Recognition:
  • BJ Penn praised Bas’s hand control instructional:
    • “Bas, it could be one of the best instructions I’ve ever seen in my life.” (18:26)
• Karate Combat and Commentary:
  • His return to karate roots through commentary; belief that cross-training is key for karateka in MMA.
    • “Once it starts cross training, the guys with the karate background actually doing really well.” (10:17)

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5. Body Mechanics, Timing, and the “Liver Shot”

• Importance of Timing in Strikes:
  • Targeting opponents’ breathing cycles to maximize the impact of body shots:
    • “If you breathe in when you’re getting hit or kicked, that’s it.” (24:20)
    • Timing kicks/punches when the opponent is inhaling or the muscle is relaxed for maximal effect.
• Origin of the Liver Shot:
  • “I coined that phrase. That’s really cool because I saw on Showtime Boxing, [they] said, ‘Oh, there was a liver shot.’” (21:13)
• Core Toughening:
  • You can strengthen the core, but placement/timing is critical:
    • “A lot of fighters don’t aim – you punch my solar plexus, it’s a whole different animal.” (23:01)

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6. Addiction, Recovery, and Optimizing Health

• Pain Pill Addiction:
  • Post-career injuries led to addiction; prescription Suboxone left Bas with critically low testosterone.
    • “Your testosterone level is 5. A woman is 70 or 80. We’ve never seen anything like this. 5. That was it.” (35:59)
  • Recovery required personal discipline and bio-optimization (vitamins, comprehensive blood testing).
    • “In three months, they completely changed my...” (33:00)

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7. Social Media, Modern Life, and Youth

• Critique of Digital Overload:
  • Bas and Sean discuss the damaging effects of excessive online life, instant gratification, and cyberbullying on youth.
    • “93% of [an] average 18-year-old’s free time is online.” (52:49)
    • “If it doesn’t make you mentally stronger or smarter, don’t do it.” (53:02)
• On Bullying and Mental Health:
  • The emotional scars from childhood bullying run deep.
    • “Sticks and stones... that’s the dumbest thing. Words are way more aggressive for kids.” (47:38)
    • Bas describes a dark moment nearly driven to violence by bullying—rescued by his mother. (49:09)
  • Emphasizes the cyclical nature of bullying, and its root in unaddressed pain.

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8. Lasting Relationships and Life Philosophy

• Marriage and Personal Growth:
  • 33-year marriage—highs, lows, and the necessity of communication and mutual respect.
    • “Leave the emotions out. Says, yeah, okay, let’s stop now…if you just talk, I think that’s everything.” (52:22)
• Final Advice:
  • Put the effort in—whether for marriage, fighting, or self-improvement, don’t expect instant results.
    • “Whatever I do, you can, everybody can do it. You just put a little bit of effort.” (52:29)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If it doesn’t make you mentally stronger or smarter, don’t do it.” (53:02) – Bas Rutten
• “I never lost a fight again after I learned that... I didn’t lose my last 22 matches just because I made a conscious decision to start learning the freaking game.” (16:52) – Bas Rutten
• “Words are way more aggressive for kids to hear constantly... That’s the dumbest thing.” (47:38) – Bas Rutten
• “I literally started screaming that I love getting... more tired. I want to be more tired. Oh, I love this, I love this.” (37:14) – Bas Rutten
• “Creating things yourself and then actually winning a fight with it, that’s cool.” (18:00) – Bas Rutten
• “It’s always the things that we don’t want to hurt will get hurt. That’s Murphy’s Rule.” (13:01) – Bas Rutten
• On quiet Japanese crowds: “There’s somebody sitting in the 30th row... I can understand what he says while I’m fighting in the ring.” (05:01)

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• 00:00 – Bas opens about pain pill addiction and personal philosophy.
• 01:21 – Discussing grounding, childhood eczema, and strength origins.
• 05:01 – Fighting in Japan, mental focus, and crowd dynamics.
• 08:37 – On modern heavyweight skill and evolution of MMA.
• 10:17 – Karate in MMA, necessity of cross-training.
• 14:07 – Mental warfare: psychological tricks before and during fights.
• 16:52 – Re-inventing himself after losses and self-coaching.
• 18:26 – BJ Penn’s praise for Bas’s instructional creativity.
• 21:13 – The origin of the “liver shot”.
• 24:20 – Timing strikes to opponent’s breathing for maximal effect.
• 32:05 – Battle with painkillers/suboxone, vital health lessons.
• 35:59 – The lowest testosterone ever seen due to addiction.
• 38:18 – Rewiring the mind about fatigue; O2 Trainer, breathing mastery.
• 47:38 – The psychological cost of bullying and the cycle of abuse.
• 52:29 – Reflections on marriage, communication, and society’s need for comfort.

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Closing Notes

Bas Rutten’s stories are raw, inspiring, and laced with humor. Driven by adversity, he became a master of both physical and psychological combat—and now channels his experience into teaching, commentary, and invention. Whether discussing the pain of bullying, the science of fighting, or how to thrive in modern life, Bas exemplifies resilience, adaptability, and relentless self-improvement.

Links mentioned:

• O2 Trainer: o2trainer.com
• Bas Rutten’s socials:
  • Twitter: @BasRuttenMMA
  • Instagram: @basruttenmma
  • YouTube: Official Bas Rutten
  • Facebook: Bas Rutten

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This summary captures the heart and mind of Bas Rutten’s journey, focusing on the strategies—mental and physical—that made him a champion both inside and outside the ring.

Transcript

[Bas Rutten]

I had a pain pill addiction. Right. That happened after my last fight because I thought all the injuries were gone. I didn't fight for seven years. What are you trying to accomplish? It makes you so weak. And then the hurt it does to other people. I mean, there's two. One gets hurt, the other one's just an idiot. If it doesn't make you mentally stronger or smarter, don't do it.

[Podcast Host]

All right, guys, got bass here. Today we are in Austin.

[Bas Rutten]

Nice.

[Podcast Host]

Your hometown now, right? Weather's been weird everywhere, I feel like lately. Right.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, it's. You believe in all that stuff, the. You know, the global warming, you know, because they. They say if you go 500 years back, there's the same wave the whole time it's riding. So then. But they only take the last hundred years and I go, I don't know, man. It looks to me that we see that the water is getting less. Right. Than the mountains, you know, that there was water before. So. Yeah, it's a scary thing. Nobody does anything.

[Podcast Host]

I feel like humans are contributing because there's. They're just manipulating the weather now, you

[Bas Rutten]

know, that is the scariest thing ever. Starting to play God. I think everything happens for a reason. You shouldn't be doing that.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I try not to mess with natural, like, natural processes, you know, we always lose. Never works out.

[Bas Rutten]

Never works out. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

I'm big on nature, though. I love, love the outdoors.

[Bas Rutten]

Oh, it's everything. I truly believe. That's where people say, I used to do 9:1 on pull ups. I was so freaking strong. They go, where does it come from? I was spending. I had a horrible skin disease as a kid. Right. So I got bullied a lot. So I spent a lot of time in the forest, swinging treetop to treetop. And I was really good. Like, I've spent four hours a day in the forest constantly swinging. Swinging. I think that also earthing. I really believe in that.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Grounding.

[Bas Rutten]

Grounding. I think that combination, I think helped me a lot.

[Podcast Host]

How long did you have the eczema for?

[Bas Rutten]

Well, I still had it when I was fighting in Japan. You saw little dots everywhere, pieces. But the. The worst would leave. And I weren't 17. That's when I started to clear up.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Was it a diet change or how did you fix that?

[Bas Rutten]

I think I grew out of it.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Bas Rutten]

I simply start to grow out of it. But, yeah, before was not nice. I mean, it would. I was the leper in school. Right. That's what they called me. So my head would literally burst. If I would do this. So my mom every night said, the mummify me is what we called it. And the whole family would send in all bed sheets to rip them up for bandages. And in the middle of the night, I had a tile next to my bed, which I would hit because I would prefer pain over itching that would drive in those. But eventually you scratch it off, you have to do it again. My mom. So, yeah, she spent a lot of time with me.

[Podcast Host]

I've seen some things online where the skin conditions are sometimes a parasite thing. Have you seen that?

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Do you think you might have had parasites?

[Bas Rutten]

Maybe all the way to back. Yeah. But. Right. We didn't have any animals. Normally that's corn from animals, but I had a person who just did ivermectin because she felt really bad. She started also putting it on her face because now you have to buy the cream. Right. Because it's hard to get the pills. So you simply go to a place for four horses and you take that because it's the same stuff. But you should see the pictures. You literally saw these little wormy things come out of the skin. Whoa. Yeah. That was really freaky. I didn't expect that. Yeah. And she. For two weeks, she said, man, new person. Because the last six months, she's super tired. And somebody said, listen, you get dogs, you get the fruit. You know, there's probably parasites. Damn. And she starts taking the. Two weeks. She's a new lady. Yeah. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

I had to. I used to love sushi. I just stopped eating it because I'm scared of parasites.

[Bas Rutten]

Dude. You see these videos on Instagram, right? Where they. Very close up, look at the piece of salmon, and then you see these little moving things in there. Yeah. No, I can't buy something anymore.

[Podcast Host]

Salmon, tuna. I used to go to the sushi buffet and go hard, but.

[Bas Rutten]

Oh, dude, scary.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Bas Rutten]

You know, Mercury, all the crap that we don't need.

[Podcast Host]

Well, I took a blood test. My. My heavy metals were pretty high.

[Bas Rutten]

Oh.

[Podcast Host]

So I was like, holy crap.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, that's sushi for shonen fish. Yeah. It's scary because we think it's healthy. Right. I mean.

[Podcast Host]

Well, the crazy thing is people in Japan are healthy.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, I think so.

[Podcast Host]

I think it's just where you're getting the fish from, right?

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

The quality.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah. Yeah. And it's weird because in Japan, everybody smokes everybody. You know, but somehow, I mean, they do way better with hard problems, all that other stuff.

[Podcast Host]

They're all skinny over there.

[Bas Rutten]

Right. They say a lot of people Think it's the seaweed also. Right. That could be really good for you, but we will never know. Yeah. Who knows? Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You ever fight in Japan?

[Bas Rutten]

I fought my most by my career now.

[Podcast Host]

Oh yeah.

[Bas Rutten]

I, I fought three fights only in America. And the rest I think, what is it, 28, 29 fights in Japan.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Wow. So you were there for a while.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, that was. I started September 21, 1993.

[Podcast Host]

You weren't even there, Wasn't even born yet.

[Bas Rutten]

No. So yeah, those are crazy, crazy time.

[Podcast Host]

Did you like fighting over there or fighting here more?

[Bas Rutten]

Liked it over there. There they leave you alone. Meaning. Yeah. So in, in the, during the fight, I pick up nervous things from people and anger and all that stuff, which I don't. You don't need for a fight. And in, in Japan, it's completely quiet, like death quiet. You. There's somebody sitting in the 30th row. If he speaks like me right now, I can understand what he says while I'm fighting in the ring.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

That's how quiet it is. And somebody gets hit, they go up and. And it's that vacuum again. Nobody says anything. And I think that made me, that made me the fighter. So whenever it was a kickboxer, I kickboxed before, I was a very angry guy. Everything in the first round, but not technical blasting and then just try to annihilate your opponent.

[Podcast Host]

You were Mike Tyson and it worked.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, but Mike has had technique. I had technique in training, but during the fight I was too excited, maybe too nervous. You want to get it over with, you know. And thankfully he had a lot of power, but against a good guy, that would have been a problem for me because there's no way I could go five rounds like that. Of course, so. And that completely changed in Japan and I always laugh about it because there was no weigh ins, which I thought it was weird. And then I found out on the day of the fight that my opponent walks up to me and I thought it was the promoter and it was the old guy. And I go, hey, you're the promoter. He goes, no, I'm fighting you tonight. I go, oh, sure. Wait, I was like 33 pounds heavier. Then the promoter walks up and I go, is he not too heavy? He says, no, no, everybody fights everybody. There's no weight classes. I go, great, great. But of course, I'm bluffing now. And I go, how many rounds are we fighting? He says, one. I go, great. How many minutes? He goes, thirty. I go, great. And I look at my manager I go, dude, I didn't even know the rules actually, you know, so I just came in and that was it, man. I was 40. Three seconds later, I dropped him hard.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

And an instant, instant. In Japan, it was the wildest thing ever. But during the fight, what I was talking about is like, this was the first time during the fight that I was completely in control. Like I was trained. When you're training and sparring, if you can fight like that under pressure, that's the goal, you know, if you can do that, that's it. You're going to be something. And that suddenly happened even more. I could listen to people, English speaking people, what they were saying, you know, I go, what is going on while I'm fighting? I'm thinking, what is? I was so in tune with everything. And I think it was the fact that the guy was heavier at a 30 minute round. I didn't want to freaking unload. If I can't put him away. I got 28 and a half more minutes to go, you know. So I think that all together with the audience being quiet completely changed me. It was like boom, overnight. Suddenly I was the fighter that I

[Podcast Host]

always wanted to be.33 pound difference, that's a lot, man.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, yeah, that's my Last one was 265. That was actually in America and I was 211, I think.

[Podcast Host]

Geez.

[Bas Rutten]

So yeah, but that's the gap. They need to do something with that gap. They need like a cruiserweight, you know, 205 to 265. Because those guys, 265, they're not 60, they're 65 on the weigh a day. They're probably 280 pounds, you know, once they tune up again. So then size will matter.

[Podcast Host]

That's an 80 pound difference.

[Bas Rutten]

That's an 80 pound difference. And nowadays everybody has technique. In the early days they could get away with it. So these guys would run out of gas or, you know, maybe he's not good there. I'll bring him over there. Right now, everybody's good everywhere. So now fighting a 265 pound beast. Yeah, the skill being 210, it's a lot of difference.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, the skill level's gotten a lot better, right?

[Bas Rutten]

Oh, yeah. But everybody, I mean, look at God, all these guys, the way they move with like freaking welterweights, it's crazy. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Did you ever hear about Andrew Tate when you were fighting back? Kickboxing?

[Bas Rutten]

No, no. I started learning about him more later and he started coming. Yeah. And he did so fights because I looked into it. And he was a very decent kickboxer. Yeah, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

He was a champ, right?

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, yeah. So there's different leagues, Just different leagues. There's so many leagues. Like for me, Holland, of course, we're fighting K1, which later on became Glory. That was us because we have, we have the tallest people in the world in Holland. So that means we have a lot of natural heavyweights. And we just started going over there. We, I say, not me, but Peter Earth and Astro, Horse Rumble Deckers. I mean, these are guys, Semi Shield, Alistair Overeem, you know, all the monsters. Tyrone Spong, who's actually going to fight now for Karate Combat, which is going to be crazy because I think he's one of the best strikers on the planet. But they're all Dutch. They all came from Holland.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. How'd you get involved with karate combat?

[Bas Rutten]

Five years ago, they, they called me. They said, hey, we want to put karate on the map. We have a full contact karate league just with takedowns and these crazy rules. I, I already stopped them. I say, yeah, sign me up. Because I started with karate, right? So now karate, that I did taekwondo, then I started kickboxing. From kickboxing go to mixed by slots. So now to turn it back to karate, I come kind of full circle. So, yeah, I would love to do that, be a commentator on that show to stay in touch with all the new fighters. Doing good, man. It's, it's amazing how it goes.

[Podcast Host]

That's cool. Why do you think karate fighters struggle in the ufc?

[Bas Rutten]

Well, it's because, well, George P. Is Karate fighter. Is a karate fighter, you know, it's. If you go in solely as a karate fighter, makes bar starts, you get loose, you know. But if you go in also being a blade belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu and you know, and have some wrestling skills, you, you see now it's. So most of the time it's somebody who comes solely from karate and if he doesn't have any takedown defense, that's going to be a problem, of course, because he's got taken down, he's going to get submitted. So. But once it starts cross training, I think the guys with the karate background actually doing really well. The guys who always really. Yeah, their distance range is distant different that their blitz also you have, that's what they call in karate. There's this blitz that they certainly propelled themselves forward and it goes super fast. We always talk about this. We have Rafael A. Who's considered to be the goat. The guy's like 43. I think now, five world titles, 11 European titles. I mean, the guy is the k. The goat of karate. And he had to fight Raymond Daniels. Raymond Daniels is a very freaking nature. I mean, he's a really great stak. Huge fan. So if I had to better house, I had to put it on. I put it on Raymond Daniels.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

But I got FBD him.

[Podcast Host]

Damn.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, so that kind of put us on a red because people go like, okay, that's a karate guy who fought only two times, full contact. Now he suddenly decides to fight full contact, and then he beats a guy like that, you see? So I can't wait for the rematch because I. Raymond Daniel's mind works like a freak and I know he's going to find some things against it. So a rematch would be really cool. So much. Mm.

[Podcast Host]

Who's your favorite fighter to watch right now?

[Bas Rutten]

Oh, that's such a tough question, man. It's the. Well, Aspinall, I mean, he starts really getting out there. But also I like the guys inside out. Good, clean.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Bas Rutten]

You know, like I was a crazy guy, a lot of profanity at the time, and I would, I, if I had to go back, I wouldn't do that anymore. But I like the guy who shows, you know, the family and the relationship he has with his father and he became his trainer from Aspinall, you know, and if you hear that story, it's such a badass story, and then you see him, you God, you know, for that weight class to move like he does and knows everything, you know. Yeah, I like fighters like that. I like fighters who are different, like the TJ Dillard shots, you know, the Dominic Cruisers, the people who flipping stances all over the place. But Gaethje, I mean, once you start, you can't kind of stop. Pereira, gigantic fan, you know, Israel, I want him as the first big one on my podcast. I really want to dig into his mind, how that works.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. You know, so he's had a lot of up and downs too.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah. But the thing with him is, what I like is, for instance, with Pereira, that he loses by knockout and then he comes back knocking him out, you see, and that, that, that takes a special fighter. Normally you see this only at K1. I always said most of the time in any other sport, boxing, whatever it is, you see a guy raiding, raining, killing everybody, and suddenly gets knocked out. That could completely destroy his career. Then the loser start, losses start to come because now everybody knows, okay, he's not God, you know, we can. And somehow those K1 fighters don't have that. For instance, like a Peter Urs. He will get knocked out. And then he goes on to that year to win the entire tournament, which would end in December, which is three fights in one night against the strongest freaking strikers on the planet. You know, how are they possible to shake that off and simply go to the next fight? But that's it. That's exactly the answer when I said simply go to the next fight. Because if it starts hunting you, you will get hit again. It's always the things that we don't want to hurt will get hurt. Right. That's Murphy's rule. It always goes wrong. So. But they found a way to stop it. That's cool.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I love the mental side of fighting. I think that's a sport in itself, right? The mental game.

[Bas Rutten]

It's everything. That's what I loved the most about messing with your opponent. Saying little tiny things to make him angry, you know, so he does. He starts loading up his punches. Me, he's telegraphing now like little tiny dicks. But very respectful. I always did it. I never went out to family, you know, and then weird things like going to the fight and I let him wait for a minute and a half. They go, minute and a half. It's not long ago for a guy who's waiting in the ring. It's a very long time to wait for me to just start walking. I don't even walk. And the production is screaming at me the whole time. You got going out. I'm not going to go. I wait. I decide when I go. And I just want him to wait to get aggravated. And then walks very slowly to the ring. Now he's been there waiting five minutes since the music started. He's getting agitated, you know, and that's those kind of things I really liked. And then the next fight, I would run everybody's head above the bed. That song started playing. I'm freaking running to the ring suddenly. So now if they prepare themselves, says, oh, it's probably gonna let me wait five minutes to get. Whoop. Now I'm there. She throw them off, do something that they don't expect that. That they might start thinking about. And then during the fight, I was. I have my Dutch corner, which I never had a coach, right? Because I trade myself. And so I have my manager there. And I would talk English to my Dutch manager. Why would you think I would talk English to a Dutch manager? Because I want my guy to hear what I say.

[Podcast Host]

Ah.

[Bas Rutten]

So I'm in the middle of the fight. I would stop, and I look at him, and there's a few bars. Gas Panic and Motown. There's two bars in Rongi, which is the go district in Japan. Bad. And I. And I stop in the middle. I go, you want to go for buggy tonight or Gas Panic? He goes, what do you mean? I go, gas Panic sucked last time. Right. I'll get back to you. And then I continue fighting again. This guy is thinking, what is he doing? He's talking about partying tonight. You know, I just want him to have these little distractions that start clouding his mind, and hopefully I can capitalize on that.

[Podcast Host]

I love that, man.

[Bas Rutten]

Wow.

[Podcast Host]

You didn't have a coach, you said.

[Bas Rutten]

No, no. I taught the basics from Chris Dolman in Holland, But I've been there 12 times, 15 times. That's it. My first year, I trained on a bag two times a day on a bag. And then I found. After my third loss by submission, I got really angry with myself because I go, dude, you're idiots. You know, I need to learn that freaking game. And then I start becoming very vocal. And I found one guy, Leon. Leon van Dijk. Good, good guy. Picked up things really fast. Young, like, 20 years at the time. A super strong, like, bizarre. And we just started rolling two, three times a day. And then after my last loss by submission, I won my next eight fights by submission.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

People were like, whoa. I never lost a fight again after I learned that I didn't lose my last 22 matches just because I made a conscious decision to start learning the freaking game. But we are so comfortable as fighters in our own game. Like, if I'm in striking and at class, I just beat everybody. But it's nice. It feels good. But the ground, if they catch me the whole time, I don't really want to do that. Well, I flipped that right away. I said, let's do only ground. Let's do only striking on types for stamina. Not even sparring anymore, because I know I can spar. I mean, I've been doing this for such a long time. Let's focus on the ground. And that's when we started doing it, and I became obsessed with it. I fell in love with it. It suddenly clicked in the possibilities and the setups. And I go, my God, if I create different setups, that one that he doesn't know yet, you know, I can catch him. And then I start making four different setups for every submission. I. I became. I always say this in the interviews of people get maybe sick of it, but I would wake up my wife. I woke her up at least five, six times in the middle of the night. Because I would dream a submission and I would put her in that submission and I would say, your shoulder shooting, right? Or your elbow or this and that. Yeah, yeah, write it down. And then the next day, I would do it in training.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah. I came up with moves. I. The boss drew the neck crack, which is. It's a body crunch. And I told him, I said, watch, I'm going to pull out a cool move tonight. And four minutes, you see me pointing to the guard. I thought, it's a stupid move, but creating things yourself and then actually winning a fight with it, that's cool.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. It must feel rewarding. Yeah. So you are really creative with it. It's almost like you're like a writer. Like you're creatively thinking of ways to fight people.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah. Because I would go the biggest. How do I say it? I would simply look at how would I escape. And if I escape a certain way, like for instance, an armor, straight armor, right. If I throw my body right now in the same line as his arm and he doesn't have control over my hand, I can hitchhike out, I can roll out and probably I could put you in a knee bar. If you roll a knee bar, I'll land it 90% of the time after escape. But that's what I also like, escaping and right away going into a counter attack. Because then there's maybe not ready yet. But anyway, for the arm bars, because I say, oh, how would I arm bar somebody who fights like me? Because I. I need to control his head, I need to control his arm. So I start coming up with that hand control. And then in 2000 or 2001, around that time, I made my big DVDs of combat. I made a book, two big books, books of combat fighting instructional and then the DVDs. And I got a phone call one day and it was BJ Penn. And I first thought they were messing with me because I never saw BJ before. And I was a gigantic fan. Am a gigantic fan. So for who's doing this? And he goes, oh, for real? I go, oh, dude, okay. So I recognize voice. We start talking. He says, hey, I'm watching your instructionals. This is the freaking prodigy. And I go, oh, what? What? He goes, where did you learn that hand control? I go, I did that. He says, what do you mean? I said, well, I. I could escape if I don't do the hand control. He goes, dude, that is A very smart thing to do. I go and he says, buzz, it could be one of the best instructions I've ever seen in my life. She says, I got to go, I got to run. He had to run for Matt Hume, I believe at the time. Time. And wait, wait, wait, wait. I said, can I use your quote? Because a quote like that from BJ Penn you see, but then you know you're doing something right. And it was just me getting obsessed with it. And because I fell in love with it, I wanted to do it. The whole house was with posters and combinations and setups to an arm bar. If I create four different setups, sitting mount to go to an arm bar, you know, and you don't know one of them, that's probably the one that's going to catch you now if you're a really good fighter, I will never catch you again. But once is enough to win a fight. I mean, so that's how I always worked.

[Podcast Host]

You were known for the liver shot, right?

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, body shots. It was my first Thai boxing class. I thought it was a badass karateka and somebody dropped me. He figured me out really fast because in karate heavy hands, there was no strikes to the head. And he knew right away as soon as he hit the head. Of course, I've never been hit in the head. You over commit with the speed bringing your hands up, exposing the body. And he was a type A class A fighter already, which is probably. And I think the second combination already got me. And I'm on the ground. I never experienced this in my life. What is that? And he explained that's the liver and the shot to the liver. So yeah, that deliver shot. Actually I coined that phrase. That's really cool because I saw on a showtime boxing somebody said, oh, there was a liver shot.

[Podcast Host]

Wow, you made that for.

[Bas Rutten]

Okay, yeah, I started with that. Yeah. So that was, that was kind of cool. But you know, I, I, yes, I dropped a bunch of people with it. But if you want to see a really good one, what the code that you chafa right now. The lady. Yeah, dude. Gigantic fan. I am. You watch her. I mean she drops people with body shots. It's so well timed. She's really good. From Holland. The name will pop up in a little bit. Nikki Hoski. Okay. Yeah. You watch this guy dropping people with body shots. He has rainbow body shots tonight. Knockouts.

[Podcast Host]

People don't know how much that shot hurts. It's Ryan Garcia. Lost his last fight to a liver shot. The boxer.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Well people were saying on social Media, like, why would he stop fighting? But they don't realize how much they

[Bas Rutten]

have no idea about it. Like, like I said, I thought I was a tough guy, and there's just nothing you can do. They can literally just walk over to you and knock you out.

[Podcast Host]

Just ask.

[Bas Rutten]

There's nothing you can do. You said that's why body shots, it's against the person. Don't really like as a fighter. Yeah. I go, oh, I'm gonna body shadow. Because the knockout, they just wake up. Yeah, right. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Hurts more than.

[Bas Rutten]

Oh, yeah, much more. And then standing there, you know, with a little smirk. Yeah, that was. Is it fun stuff?

[Podcast Host]

Is it possible to strengthen your core to absorb those body shots?

[Bas Rutten]

Oh, yeah, of course. You know, you do that a lot. You know, I. I don't. Didn't do a lot of apps, but I did a lot of standing from karate and letting yourself get kick, kick, kick, kick the whole time. Now, that's. That's why I always say with fighters, aiming is so important. And you go, oh, yeah, no, you don't. A lot of fights don't. On the main card, I see guys who don't still not aim, like, really aim, because you can kick me just above my belt, like a roundhouse kick. I'll take it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Bas Rutten]

But you punch my solar plexus, it's a whole different edible, you know. And then, of course, you got the liver here, which is also connected to all this was the second biggest organ in the body. Yeah. Skin first and liver. So once you hit a body shot, you can just. Anywhere here is going to be okay. It's. He's going to feel it. So.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. So everyone's got weak points on their body, and you're. You're trying to exploit those. Right.

[Bas Rutten]

And especially when you go later in the fight, they start breathing. The thing with breathing is. And I have my second fight. I always mentioned this because I thought it was super cool, and I. I think it is super cool. So this is the first. I was very sick. They let me travel for eight hours on my. On the day of the fight, I was throwing up. My manager had my. My luggage was scary. I didn't want to fight, but I had to fight. So I'm fighting. He gets me an arm bar. I just want to tap. I want to get out of there. Yeah. But then the audience started chanting for him, and my ego took over. I get out of the arm bar. But I didn't have a lot. I was really tired, and I'm standing in the clinch and suddenly I realize, whoop. And I see him breathe. And on the third inhale, I knee him and he went down like I shot him with a freaking shotgun.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

Because you could do five. That's what I tell people all the time. 5,000 sit ups a day. If you breathe in when you're getting hit or kicked, that's it. Yeah. Because you're not flexing.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

So go straight through. And then I stopped being like, oh, whoa, that was badass. But wait, how can I put this in fighting, like do it all the time on purpose.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Bas Rutten]

And I found sort of spots that you can literally do that because people are breathing out when they strike and breathing in when they pull back. Okay, well, with hands, it's going to be very hard to time because hands are fast. Right. But that's literally why. The reason you do that's that reason. Because if I punch, I'm exposed and the sound makes me flex. So you're ready for the impact. Wow. But then you breathe in after that, especially with big strikes. I go, yeah. Okay. Hand's going to be hard. Wait a minute. What about kicks? Because if they kick, they exhale and when they inhale while they pull back. Well, so now my stance is. I have a very wide stance. I don't like the blade. It shuts down the whole left of my body. If I stand like this, like a Mike Tyson would fight Pereira kind of fights like that, you know, small fights tend very square. Yes. You know, Patarga. But don't worry, you fight better defenses for that. But now you got almost equal power in left and right. So now when they give me a right kick, I can block. And while he pulls back, while he's breathing in, I go with the straight to the solar plexus. And if you really aim for the solar plexus, that punch this power, you'll drop. Damn. That's how effective that is. So, yeah, people should do a lot. And then you have it again with. With. With kicks. Right. A Charlie horse. Right. We all did that as kids. Hurts while imagining a shin bone. Full power. Okay, but why can't they take those kicks? Because they're flexing at the moment of impact. Well, how can I make him not flex? Okay. Then I found out. Well, not me. We started doing this in Holland. When you push somebody, he's weightless. So if I push you, I simultaneously kick. Now I kick your muscle while it's relaxed. That, I mean, instead of dropping 10 low kicks, you maybe need one or two.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

That's the difference. So it's again, like my last fight with the guy for 265 pounds, there's one moment that I kick him with my shin and there was no time. There was pure luck. So while I'm moving backwards, I gave him a low kick and I literally felt my shin bone touch his thigh bone. So I knew his muscle was relaxed. It was immediately I go, click. It felt and I go, I won was the first thing I thought. And I started limping immediately. I gave him one more lock. Again, the fight was over. But that was because this muscle was relaxed and I literally felt every muscle in between the bones separate. So it was bone on board. Yeah. And it was not even a heart kick, but it's sort of relaxed muscle and that's why it works so well.

[Podcast Host]

I never realized how much the timing of the hit matters.

[Bas Rutten]

It's everything.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

Everything.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. You don't hear this. This is really interesting stuff.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah. Moving away, moving out of a punch, taking the steam out of it, you know, or being ready for impact is the one that you don't see coming. That's most of the time the one that's going to knock you out. Right. So it's all about the distraction. And I was very creative with that in striking. So I just applied that creativity to the grappling.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Bas Rutten]

And then it worked with the grappling. I tell this funny story because for people bow hunters, I have a compound bow. Somebody gave it to me, a good friend of mine, Scott. But there's a 55 pound pull. And my arm, as you can see here, this old muscle is gone. I had four neck surgeries, so the nerve stopped working. So this arm is not strong enough.

[Podcast Host]

Holy.

[Bas Rutten]

Literally, I went yesterday from 15 pounds to 17 and a half. And that was like gigantic day for me. That's. I started with two pounds 14 years ago. So I only went to now 17 and a half pounds. That's how weak it is. But anyway, I'm standing at the place there. They just put new wires on the, on the bow. So he says, okay, let me shoot. So I grab it. I go. He says, yeah, there's only £55. I go, no, but I. So I showed him my arm. He goes, my God, you can't shoot. And I go, I can, give me a second. And he goes, what do you mean? I said, give me a second. I can come up with something. But that's from the submission, I'm telling you. So I don't know if you know how a compound bow works. You got a little wrap around Your arm, there's a little trigger on there. You connect that to the string and then you pull it open that so you don't have to pull with your fingers. You just pull with your wrist that thing open. Well, the end result needs to be that I'm like this. So I said, okay, wait a minute. So I attach it to the string, I grabbed the back of my head with this hand and I push the bow away. Same result. So now I can shoot. So this guy's freaking out. He goes like, dude, can I film this? I mean, there's a lot of people who have that problem. I go, sure. That nobody ever came up with it. I guess no submission fighters are bowhunting. Well, Joe is bowhunting, but he doesn't have that problem. Right? The problem in his arm. But I guarantee you every submission fighter will probably do the same thing right away because, you know, it doesn't matter if I can stretch my arm out like this, I can't push it up. I can also lower my body. Same result. My arm will be stretched, you see, so once you start thinking like that, and that's what I just applied to that bow. That's why it works. That's why I miss freaking crown fighting so much. Because I can't take the risk. I have four plates in my back. If I get a neck crank the wrong way, that's a big problem, you know. So, yeah, but I miss it because like I said, it's, it's endless. And now we do commentary. With Karate Combat, we have also some submission fights and we have the best guys in the world, right? Like really the top guys. Now it's already so big that Abu Dhabi Combat Club that's yearly was the best. Michigan, they did it this year. The Pit from Karate Combat. They licensed our pit because all the fighters love it. They can't roll out of bounds anymore. They stay in the pit. Now they can use also these walls. It's got 45 degree angle walls. They can use them to their advantage. We saw a submission guy crawling up that with his feet standing on the top and he jumped forward to the flying triangle.

[Podcast Host]

Oh my God.

[Bas Rutten]

And he got him in an armor.

[Podcast Host]

That's crazy.

[Bas Rutten]

Look, that clip up flying ar Karate Combat, it will pop up right away. I go, dude, See, that's what I like.

[Podcast Host]

That's nuts. Your commissioner also choked someone out, right?

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

That's how I found out about you guys.

[Bas Rutten]

He needed it. Yeah. Poor guy, man, he always gets a bad rep. He is, you will see, the nicest person There is like, I'm really have a really good time with him. His morals, everything is really good. But what he also has is the gracious club, you know, the go Chad in Miami and there's a whole bunch of fighters there. But what people don't know, that's why I'm saying it. This guy feeds him three meals a day. They sleep to the gym. Some sleep out of the case. Like he takes care of everything for these fighters, you know, to become big. He's very, very emotional as well. I mean, literally crying when the fighter loses or he hears of the fighter lost while he was there. You see him joke up. He is so invested in his fighters, you know, I wish that more people would understand what he really is doing because he's an awesome dude.

[Podcast Host]

That's cool.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You said you had four neck surgeries?

[Bas Rutten]

Four neck surges. And the last one, I got my finger back. I couldn't pull the trigger. So I was learning, relearning everything with my left.

[Podcast Host]

So you were paralyzed.

[Bas Rutten]

Pretty much. You know, it was so weak. And you get, you know, when like I said, I did 91 on pull ups and going from that to suddenly grab a bottle and I do this, I go, what could have the squeeze power to grab the bottle?

[Podcast Host]

Damn.

[Bas Rutten]

I couldn't throw an uppercut with a 14 ounce glove because it's too heavy to push up.

[Podcast Host]

That's crazy.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah. People have no idea. You know, they go, how is it possible your nerves stopped working? Yeah, but your nerves are for pain. No, that's the same. Your back breaks if the nerve stops sending freaking signals to the legs. That's paralyzed. Yeah. So, yeah, that was annoying. But once I got my hand back, I go, all right. God, I've stopped complaining now. Thank you. Because that was a big thing for me to get my hand back.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Bas Rutten]

Still snapping. I have to think about.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, I have to really focus on that.

[Podcast Host]

Did you get stem cells?

[Bas Rutten]

I did everything. I went around the freaking globe, you know, ways to. Well, right here those guys are. They're freaking amazing. That was the craziest story ever. So Joe hooked me up with these people. I had this blood test done. Was not a good blood test. I mean, this was high. This was. I just slow. It was. So they gave you. Put you on a routine and. And I could. I couldn't get a life insurance because of prior things that happened to my pain pills and everything. I just went through this whole recruitment roller coaster. Couldn't get a freaking insurance. So I went over there, did the blood Test. A lot of things were wrong. He says, okay, they make vitamins precisely for you. So whatever your body needs, they make those, put them in capsules. That's boss. Vitamins. You start taking those four months later. I got life insurance. I got every. Every like three months later, I think everything was perfect.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap.

[Bas Rutten]

I mean, in three months, they completely changed my.

[Podcast Host]

I need to do that.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, no, they're really good. If you're here, you should waste.

[Podcast Host]

I've heard ways to waste to.

[Bas Rutten]

Well, yeah, yeah. They're very good at what they're doing and they figure it out because the blood test with them, it's expensive. Oh, yeah. You have pages and pages. They look at everything.

[Podcast Host]

Damn.

[Bas Rutten]

But they'll find it.

[Podcast Host]

That's cool, man. Yeah. Blood tests. I highly recommend people get those. I get one a year.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, it's very important. They automatically do it every six months. We do it there.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I had vitamin C deficiency. My testosterone was low. I had to fix all that. Yeah. You know, that really affects you.

[Bas Rutten]

It affects on everything. I have a buddy of mine who works out two, three times a day, super hard. An all oil, old oil guy. And then he did a special stroll, 130.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap.

[Bas Rutten]

And the doctor, well, I give you a better story in a few seconds. But anyway, I said, dude, you're going to feel so crazy because once I give that shot, you're going to feel. Because once I took the first one, I go, okay, this is. Now I know why everybody. So I had a pain pill addiction, right. That happened after my last fight because I thought all the injuries were gone. I didn't fight for seven years. So then they asked me if I could fight one more fight. They offered me $225,000, which for me at the time was the highest pay I ever had. Wow. It's way more. But at the time it was good. It was in that 2006. So I started training to the fight, but I didn't just started coming back. All the injuries started coming back. So eventually I started taking PayPal also for it. I won the fight. Everything was okay. But after the fight, I knew I could never fight anymore. And now the pain pill started and it went harder. And thankfully, very soon I figured out, okay, this is going to go wrong because my doctor said, your liver is freaking insane. It finds ways to break it down really fast. And that's. It's probably because I've been so medicated when I was a kid. It's always been working hard with my eczema and my Asthma and all that stuff. So I had to take more and more and more. I go, I got to stop this. You know, once you go to OxyContin because they think the Tylenol is too hard on your stomach, that's when you go down, stop. So what they do, I need to stop. Suboxone. Suboxone is like methadone that they use for. For. For. What is it? What is heroin to come off of that. And this for pain pills, which is kind of synthetic heroin. Right. It's essentially the same. They take the Suboxone now, Suboxone, you don't have to take more. So you keep taking it. And they don't tell you to get off of it. They should have told me that, but they didn't. So for three and a half years, I'm doing that crap. And everybody who's listening, if you do Suboxone and you feel like crap, please do this. My body just got out of it as well. He says, new life. So I went over there to two doctors, did a blood test, and the one guy, he looks at me and he looks at the doctor and goes, what? And he shoves it over and they go, how do you get out of bed? I go, it's hard. I said, but I drink a bunch of coffee, and then I come out. He says, boss, your Testosterone level is 5. I go, 500. 500. He goes, 5. A woman is 70 or 80. We've never seen anything like this. 5. That was it.

[Podcast Host]

That's insane.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah. Over crazy people. When. You know when you say with fighting a man. Fighting in women's sports. At my gym, I was still beating up all the professional fighters at 42 years of age with a testosterone level of 5.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, my God.

[Bas Rutten]

So how is that possible? Right? So, yeah, that was crazy. And then, like I said, then I got the first shot, it was like, wow, like you're 21 again, insanity.

[Podcast Host]

I think, to me, that just proves your mental game is so amazing it overpowered your physical game, you know?

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah. I think that all started when I was a kid. Right. I mean, every five weeks, I was a week in bed with an asthma attack. Not able to eat even, because I couldn't breathe. So go to the restroom. Well, that was one floor. That was a hour and a half organization to make that happen. And I think if you do that a lot, right, you have to go through it, whatever happens. I think that's. That was really good for me for my programming for later in life. Yeah. Because it's really easy for me. To push very hard in fighting and training anything. I just. Because I did it, I had to, I was forced to do it. Now it's my own choice. Why not? Can I do it? You see, Always talk to yourself and how you can increase it. So what you can do.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, because a lot of people training really hard. But for you, that was probably easy.

[Bas Rutten]

It was easy. But again, you know, with my asthma, for instance, I was afraid to get tired. Yeah. Because of the asthma. I knew that was in my head, so I had to flip it around and I just brainwashed myself. I literally started screaming that I love getting. Every time when I was tired. I want more, be more tired. I want to be more tired. Oh, I love this. I love this. I just kept doing for weeks and suddenly three, four weeks in, I had to. Now I needed it. So then training became berserk for me. I had to actually start slowing down because otherwise you overtrain, you know, but it worked, you know, it takes some time. And I said, listen, if I can do it with my ADD mind, I mean, everybody should be able to do this. It's just doing it. But you have to do it. And don't expect the result in a week or two weeks. Just freaking keep doing it. And you'll be amazed how your body reacts to your mind. And then certainly you enjoy it. Now that's a big, big breather for you. Because a lot of fighters don't like to go really tired. Well, now I want to get really tired. That's a good problem to have.

[Podcast Host]

Did you get the asthma under control?

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, you know, that's the thing. I carried an inhaler with me till 2012, and that's actually so everywhere I go, if I want to work out, I work out for 30 seconds. My lungs close. A lot of people have this exercise induced Aspen, or when you sneeze very violently, your lungs close, you have to spray them open. So always carry an inhaler. Then I started working on a thing that was original, named Routinizer. It's now the O2 trainers, this peritonial muscle training device that I finally made. And I start training with the prototype. Three and a half weeks in, my asthma was gone. Wow. I'm freaking out. I go, it's gotta be this freaking thing. So I said it to my buddy in Holland who has asthma, and I didn't say. I said, just use it. I want to see something, I want to figure it out. I said, but every day, calls me eight days later, goes, dude, my asthma is gone. I Go. No freaking way. Okay. See, that's what I mean. He's selling him in Europe right now. But that's when it I started. Oh, okay. I got to really make this thing. And I didn't invent it. It's called an inspiratory muscle trainer. You know, which has been around for. I mean, there's over 2,000 published medical journals about inspiratory muscle training. Every endurance athlete on the. In the Olympics used doing inspiratory muscle training. Because what people don't realize how breathing, how important that is for you, you have no idea. And then if you also know that 95% of us breathe wrong. So. Meaning if I take tell you to take a deep breath, take a deep breath. You see, you raise your shoulders. That's 100% wrong. 36 of these breaths is the same as one diaphragmatic breath. Same amount. Think about that. Even if you don't go for the lowest number. So but we, what happens is we all breathe perfect till about five, five and a half years of age. And that's when we go to school, start sitting down. That's where you go to the doctor puts a stenoscope here, take a listening to your lungs. Your lungs are not here. Your lungs are freaking here. You know, they drop all the way down. You know, she said, oh, this is where my lungs are. And then she start breathing through your belly. But if I breathe through my belly, maybe, you know, that girl that really likes me thinks I'm fat, You know, so kids start adapting their breathing and it all becomes bad.

[Podcast Host]

And it's literally.

[Bas Rutten]

You can google this. How many. What percentage of the population breathing correct is 95%. So once you start with an inspiratory muscle training, you cannot pull that air in through a. To a tiny resistance hole. I'll go in really fast. So then you have an understanding how it works. You know what? Since I brought it, I'll let you see. This will change your life shortly.

[Podcast Host]

I don't start using that because I play basketball.

[Bas Rutten]

It's five days a week. Okay, I gotta, I gotta use force now. I don't like the sticker. Oh, good. So it's very simple device. This side closes, there's a flap on it. So if I inhale, this side closes forces to breathe into this size. Okay. This comes with all different sizes, holes. So everybody wants to go to a really hot setting. Don't do that. Make a good setting. So anyway, if you breathe through your chest and you go to the tiny holes like I'm at number two, that's two millimeter. I cannot pull the air in by raising my chest. I'm going to be forced to do it with my core. Once you start changing that, you're changing your breathing dramatically. But not only that, because I always break it down in steps. Like for instance, how does your stamina increase?

[Podcast Host]

Cardio. Right?

[Bas Rutten]

Cardio. But why? Because if you think about it, you go, okay, I do a lot of cardio. But so why is it increasing? You know, I work really hard. Is the body getting used to it? Well, what it is is that if you work out a muscle over and over again, it becomes more efficient at its job. So now what happens when you're gassing? That's what I was mixing up. Gassing, metamorphlex, that's what they call it. If I imagine running a hill, I always use the same example because it's a very basic understanding. And suddenly feels like you've been hit and you start getting real, real problems. That's your second. Wind hits it. The metamorphics, doesn't it? Gassing happens. What is gassing? Gassing is literally your body redirecting blood, oxygenated blood from whatever you are using at that moment. And it sends it to the number one priority in your body, which is your breathing muscles. You have 11 pounds of breathing muscles because if you don't breathe, you die. So that's why it takes away. So if you work it out with your hands, it takes all the blood flow away. Blood stealing, that's literally the medical term that you can find in papers. So I go, okay, wait a minute. But you just said if I work out those muscles, they become more efficient. Okay, why don't I work out those 11 parts of breathing muscles so they become more efficient at the job. Doesn't have to steal, fight the blood anymore from all the other things that I'm using during the fight. Oh, that would be smart. Yeah. That's why I said just every Olympian does that. They're just doing it. And what it does, it increases your breathing. Like breathing. People have no idea how breathing works. So, you know, your back, your lungs are just two backs. Yeah, there's no muscle in the lungs. The way for your lungs to open up is literally to expand your chest. That's. Chest expansion creates a vacuum between your body and lungs. And that vacuum, that opens up your lungs. So this is a mind blower. So your chest doesn't expand because you put air in it. Your chest expands and that is how you pull the air in.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

It's Bizarre. And the chest expansion is done by your diaphragm. That's the biggest mover for air. And then your intercostals, the muscle between your ribs. So the diaphragm is like a thin dome shaped muscle tendon, like a ball cap almost. It is attached to the bottom of your rib cage here. And what it does, it drops down every time. And from that angle nothing happens. But from this angle you see what it does in the body, it expands in the body. So as soon as it drops down, it expands that whole chest. Therefore you get the maximum chest expansion. And that's how you fill up your lungs with air. And once you start breathing diaphragmatically and give it six weeks, people, oh my God, everybody says I've been doing for a week, it doesn't work. They, they try to retrain their whole breathing that they did for their entire life in five days. Don't do that. Two, six weeks. It's four minutes a day. There's not even, not even. You have to schedule something for it. If you work out normally do it just before you work out and that's it. And then watch Dramatically increase everything and increase life because we all know the more air, the better you feel.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah, I know how bad mouth breathing is for you. Right.

[Bas Rutten]

Also that, yeah, I know that's on top of the already chest breathing. They do the mouth breathing.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, the sleep tape is really popular now. People sleep with the tape on their mouth.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, I'm a little worried about that one. But a lot of people do that. Yeah, no, I would do a chin strap or something, you know, so that it keeps close so you don't open up and then you don't start storing. But also auto traders go to the website, autotrail.com click on science. You have all drop down menu with published medical journals and you. I mean balance, balance, cystic fibrosis, asthma, copd. The things it does getting you more calm. It's just a list that keeps on coming. And you go like I had no idea when I came up with this thing that it was going to do all that.

[Podcast Host]

But yeah, yeah, we'll put the link in the video.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, you like it. And I brought to. So you just start doing looks. I look at people, they said this is it. I go, yes, you can throw it against. Well, you never have to buy a new one because you can drive the car over and it will still be working. I know what it looks like, but trust me, it dramatically enhances everything.

[Podcast Host]

Love it. I can't wait to try it. You still getting. Getting in bar fights, man?

[Bas Rutten]

No, I tried to avoid those. Yeah. No, the last one I had was. No, no, it was not a fight. You realized. I think I wanted it too much almost. Guys speeding in our street and.

[Podcast Host]

Did he know who you are?

[Bas Rutten]

No. No, no, no. And he's getting very rude. I just asked because three dogs died, you know, last year because of speeding. I just tone down. You want to dance, old man? And I go, yes, please. And he looks at me with a puzzled look on his face, like, why is this guy laughing? And he drives off and he says, oh, you got no balls. I go, says the one who's driving away. So now he stops, he gets out of his car, and he comes to me. But I start laughing while I'm walking towards him. And then my daughter, because this happens in front of my house. She's £100. She comes out mad and sees to the guy. She's probably get the effing your room. You go. And he's like looking and go, this family is the same. And I go, honey. He goes, yeah, you're gonna beat him up. You can't do that.

[Podcast Host]

She saved that guy's life.

[Bas Rutten]

Honestly, it was funny.

[Podcast Host]

So she was doing that guy a favorite.

[Bas Rutten]

Yes, she really was. And now with it, because he said he lives in neighborhood, but of course, the word gets out, you know, pretty fast in a town like that. So he probably knows now. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You said you used to struggle with anger, right?

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, it's. It's, you know, if you've been bullied your entire life, you know, and constantly, words like. But I made a sort of short list. Only four or five guys on it that really bullied me, and I needed to get back. And because by anger, I had to do it. And one was literally with his hands, he said, boss, I don't even remember what I said. I go. I do. Bonk. Knocks him out. Thinking back on that, I was. I should have said, you know what? Right. But the anger that you build up overall, like sticks and tongues will break your bars, but words never hurt. Whatever that saying is. That's the dumbest thing. It's the other way around. I think words are way more aggressive for kids to hear constantly that you're down or, you know, go to your leper or this. You know, it's a. Hey, watch out. Your hands don't fall off. Years don't fall off. You know, if you keep hearing that, you build your blood anger.

[Podcast Host]

No 100%.

[Bas Rutten]

But if you can focus that into something that you really want to do.

[Podcast Host]

Because look at all the mental health issues now. It's because of cyberbullying and social media.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So words definitely affect people way more.

[Bas Rutten]

But. And also think about the person you need to be. Think about the loser that has to make a fake account. And look at yourself at night when you're brushing your teeth and go, what do you see? I don't understand people. I go, oh, yeah, I'm a badass. I had a fake account. And that's the only way I can attack people because I'm too afraid to do this. If I really go, what are you trying to accomplish? I thought it makes you so weak. And then the hurt it does to other people. I mean, there's two. One gets hurt, the other one's just an idiot. Just somebody who's very insecure and doesn't have any.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, it's a lose, lose situation, right?

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

No one's winning out of that.

[Bas Rutten]

Nope. It's really sad. And then, you know, you see kids like that suddenly do something really crazy.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Bas Rutten]

You know, that's when school shootings and stuff like that. That is years of bullying. I was. There's a moment I was at the playground, I think I was 11 years old, and I think I saw stars and movie with me and the trees, all that. This kid started with me messing about trees, and I grabbed a branch and I want to swing and stomp him in the chest, but the branch broke. I fall on the ground and all these kids are laughing at me. These are the bullies. And I'm running home. We lived quarter mile and I kitchen knife and start running back.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap.

[Bas Rutten]

And my mother, thankfully, she saw me sprint to the front window. She started going after me and she got the knife away from me. Until this day, I think I would have stopped. I was so insane. It was completely different.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

So of course I condone it 100%, but I can understand it if it's been going on for a long freaking time, you know, watch out. And I always tell the bullies when I do these talks at schools, I go, watch out, guys. There's other guys like me. They will start fighting and they make a list of you and they will come, you know, so. And that's it. This cause and effect, it's very simple. That's what you get something you need to be punished. And that always works. Somehow sending me in a corner think about what they were doing. It's not going to really work. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

It's hard to have Personal growth. When you're a bully, I see these bullies, they just stay in the same town they were born in, you know.

[Bas Rutten]

Yep.

[Podcast Host]

Like they never leave.

[Bas Rutten]

That's the biggest comeback. That's what I always said, you know, all the ones that I have from all. And well, yeah, they're all still there, right? Nothing. They're nothing. Never increased their job. Never. It's almost like there's no willpower to become something better. That's why I go after other people. I don't know how a mind like that works, but. Because I was bullied very against it, of course. I was the fitness guru and the bully anti building expert for Cartoon Network for a long time. I did it as well because it's. Yeah, it's. It's very close to me.

[Podcast Host]

Crazy part is they're getting bullied too, by their parents usually.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So that's vicious. Vicious cycle, you know.

[Bas Rutten]

Yep, that's exactly how it goes. And some of them, they can break from it. We're very close with family. We have the same situation like that, you know, and it go like, wow. But one says, nah, that's not for me. And she's thriving. And the other one, they stayed in that, you know, it's kind of the parents fault. Yeah. And that's a shame. We were talking about it yesterday. My daughter, I mean, you know, this was a friend of mine, he said was married, didn't have sex for five years or something. I go, dude, but it's never going to change, you know, I got a divorce. I said, well, no, I said within four years. Why do you see yourself? Because. Oh, then I'm divorced. I said, do it tomorrow. So what do you mean? I said, because you're, you're lying to yourself, you're lying to your wife for kids. It's not good. I mean, she's drinking, call the police, hitting the kids, I'm going to kill you. Like, I mean, insanity at home, you know. I said, what's going to happen? The kids going to see you guys constantly do this? They going to find the same kind of partners. Right, because that's the problem, you know, it's going to be okay for somebody. No, there needs to be respect for both sides. And he's still with her. And that was 25 years ago. So you still. That's what I. 30 years. You got one freak. Imagine that. I go, I'm out. I mean, you know, 30 years. Yeah, it's a shame.

[Podcast Host]

There's a lot of sexless marriages right now.

[Bas Rutten]

Yeah, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

There's a lot. It's really interesting.

[Bas Rutten]

It's really, it's a really weird time. Like when I say I'm 33 years with my wife, so. And they got my house. It's just, you know, you go through the rocks up and down and there's always like that. But then you start figuring each other out and talking. Try not to raise your voice, you know, leave the emotions out. Says, yeah, okay, let's stop now you want to go five minutes again because we can't do this because then it starts escalating.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[Bas Rutten]

Or once you just talk, I think that's everything. And now after such a while.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Bas Rutten]

Our kids don't even hear us having words or, you know, that never, it's never so everything is good. And again, I want to always say whatever I do, you can, everybody can do it. Yeah, you just put a little bit of effort. But people, they want things too easy nowadays.

[Podcast Host]

They want it quick. Right.

[Bas Rutten]

Comfort.

[Podcast Host]

I think because of social media, they want everything instant.

[Bas Rutten]

That that's the biggest problem we have right now. You know, what was it? 93%. The 17 year old, average 18 year old right now spends 93% of his free time online.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

There's this great video where a guy put dots on the screen and then he says these are your months of living if you're going to turn 90 years old. So that's high age. Okay. These are the months you have and everybody looks and he goes that's not a lot if you think about this your entire life. She says, well, too bad for you. One thing that's going to be taken off right away, sleeping and then food and this and that and this. And then Suddenly there's like 300 of these little balloons, like 300 months out of a year. And then he says an average 18 year old spends 93% online from his free free time. If he is 90 years old, he look backs on his life. You go like what did I waste? You know, pick 30 minutes. People want to learn a new language. Imagine you pick 30 minutes a day for Spanish. Let's say you don't know Spanish afternoon. I think when it's six points you speak it. 30 minutes a day is a lot. If you really focus, that's just 30 minutes. But if you're eight hours scrolling, learning nothing, I mean there's nothing that you do if I always say if it doesn't make you mentally stronger or smarter, don't do it. Why would you need to do it before every action you make? You can think that and that's that. I'll put a timer on it. I can understand it because I'm slipping over. It's funny, you know, it goes really fast. But if you find out that those guys who came up with the headless scrolling, they hate themselves. They thought they're the devil because they are away with from the company. It's a stolen focus from yo and Hari in that book. Read that book. It's like. And these people, they think that Satan.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Bas Rutten]

That's how bad it was. Their kids are not allowed to be on the phone. They all have to be in sports. I mean, they know exactly what it's doing to us.

[Podcast Host]

Totally crap.

[Bas Rutten]

Completely messes us up.

[Podcast Host]

That's nuts.

[Bas Rutten]

Yep.

[Podcast Host]

Fast worker people find you and keep up with what you got going on, man.

[Bas Rutten]

You know, I'm the worst social media guy. I post here and you know, I do this. I think it's so weird, you know, to so promoting products and funny things. I put on Boss Wood and MMA on Twitter and on or accident on Instagram and then Facebook. So YouTube have fun videos. That's official Basruten. And then Facebook is just basically. But like I said, I'm not if you DM me or whatever. I. I probably don't react because I'm never there because it's so much. I go. Once I dive into that thing, I'm gonna be crazy busy. I like my free time. I rather learn something. There we go. You see?

[Podcast Host]

So I'm the same way. Well, we'll link the product as well in the video.

[Bas Rutten]

Perfect.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Thanks for coming on, man. Thanks for watching guys. We'll see you next time. Thanks for watching all the way to the end, guys. Please hit like and subscribe. It helps us grow the show and helps us get bigger guests. Thank you so much.