Sleep Innovation and MMA Insights

UFC Hall of Famer Bas Rutten on Fundamentals of Real Self-Defense, Savage Fight Stories, How He’s Handled Bullies, Breathing Techniques for Increasing Stamina and Endurance,The Art of Personal Reinvention, and Cultivating the Practice of Prayer | Brought to you by Maui Nui Venison wildly delicious venison, LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 800M+ users, and Eight Sleep’s Pod Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating.

Sebastiaan "Bas" Rutten (@BasRuttenMMA) is a Dutch-American actor, former mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and professional wrestler. He was a UFC Heavyweight Champion and a three-time King of Pancrase world champion, finishing his career on a 22-fight unbeaten streak with a strike accuracy of 70.6%, the highest ever recorded by FightMetric. 

Rutten was co-host of Inside MMA on AXS TV from 2007 to 2016, and he has been a color commentator in several MMA organizations, including Pride Fighting Championships. He has appeared in numerous television shows, movies, and video games as an actor and continues to be involved in MMA through his coaching and publishing of instructional materials. Bas became a naturalized American citizen in the late 1990s, and in 2015 he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Please enjoy!

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[08:20] My first exposure to the unbridled might of Bas Rutten.

[10:03] Why is there such a strong martial arts tradition in the Netherlands?

[12:28] Breathlessness, Bruce Lee, bullies, and birds: a glimpse into Bas’s childhood.

[20:10] Why Bas walked out on a culinary career path and gave up modeling.

[23:28] How Pancrase entered the picture.

[33:08] Pancrase rules.

[35:47] Why Ken Shamrock is known as Wayne Shamrock in Japan.

[36:11] On fighting Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki.

[41:43] Underrated Japanese fighters.

[44:03] Remembering Pride, UFC’s Japanese predecessor.

[48:52] Pranks.

[54:17] Absolute monsters.

[57:44] Self-defense for beginners and bouncers.

[1:15:33] Why even professional fighters shouldn’t start street fights.

[1:17:15] Grand Theft Auto IV.

[1:19:28] Now a devout Catholic, Bas explains how the rosary is like meditation.

[1:32:06] Who picks fights with Bas Rutten these days?

[1:34:19] That time Bas got into a bar fight with five bouncers in Sweden.

[1:41:00] Re-learning how to breathe with the O2 Trainer.

[2:09:12] Parting thoughts.

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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.

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