Bas Rutten

Bas Rutten: “Imagine what Raymond Daniels is going to come up with [in the Karate Combat pit]

With Karate Combat returning to it’s wonderful glory this weekend, and with the lack of UFC, there’s bound to be even more eyes on the wacky, zainy event coming up. And with all it’s special effects, post production, and more, there is quality fights underneath. The glitz and glamor are one thing but Karate Combat brings the fight to the fans. Today, MMA and karate legend Bas Rutten sat down to talk about the upcoming Karate Combat 35.

Bas Rutten and Karate Combat: A Match Made in Heaven

The main event is a superfight at a catchweight between champions Adam Rocha and Joshua Quayhagen. But for Rutten, the most exciting fight on the card will be the Karate Combat debut of Raymond Daniels. The high flying fighter is set to fight Franklin Mina and with the pit, fans are expecting it to be a fantastic display of striking prowess.

“Of course the main event, Joshua Quayhagen is going to be a great fight. There’s going to be a bunch of new guys on the card, of course I know Quayhagen, I know Rocha. That’s going to be a crazy fight. But Raymond Daniels, man… I’ve been a big fan of his for a long time. He’s so crazy.”

Rutten continues to speak about Daniels and how he mixes his striking. And we’ve seen out of this world techniques from Daniels. The 720 knockout in Bellator comes to mind first. Bas Rutten goes on to compare Daniels and the way he mixes technique to Sakuraba from times long ago.

“You always fight in certain ‘styles’ in mixed martial arts. You always ask, ‘What does Kung Fu do against in mixed martial arts?’ Well, you never know. If you fight only Kung Fu guys, but if you throw him in MMA then you’re going to see how effective is because that’s fighting. And Raymond Daniels, every time he does something new or different and something that you’ve never seen in training before, if your opponent does that to you, he’s going to be effective with it. It’s simply you can’t tell it’s coming. Raymond is one of those guys. He’s like a Sakuraba. He does all these crazy things.”

The evolution of Karate Combat

Karate Combat is breeding a new form of striking athlete. With the unique arena the fight in, the pit is becoming a weapon for karateka that fight for the promotion. Rutten says that with the popularity that Karate Combat is seeing, there are evolutions in the use of the pit and some have even installed a pit corner in their own gym.

“I think it’s the way that they fortified the grey angle walls. People are allowed to use it. For example, Josh Quayhagen already has two corners in his gym right now because they’re practicing that. In the beginning you see people who don’t know what to do.” Continuing on the corner, Rutten says, “You’ve already seen the guy lift somebody up and he runs off the wall so he gets more height and drops him down. The Showtime kick. Imagine what Raymond Daniels is going to come up with. Think about it!”

Going into this event, Karate Combat is going under a bit of a rule change. Newly added for Karate Combat 35 is knees to the mix. Previously restricted, knees are now going to be a part of the Karate Combat game. Bas Rutten cannot be happier about the change to the rules!

“I’m so happy about that. When I came in, it was only long hooks, there was no uppercuts allowed. You gotta do uppercuts. Lowkicks, they want to stay away from that. But I got a feeling that with the knees they will sneak that in there. But on the other side, I step back and I’m kind of getting used to it. Now it’s calf kicks. You have to watch out with calf kicks because if you have different stances you’re going to kick shin bones.”

So why tune in? Bas Rutten points out one thing first: it’s free. If you cannot be excited about that, then it’s the production. It’s the fighters. It’s everything that Karate Combat brings to the table that makes it unique and a blast to watch. It’s something you don’t want to miss.

“They should tune in first of all because it’s free. Second of all it’s all the good things we just talked about with the wall and where we are. Every time we’re in a different place. We’ve been in the past, we’ve been to the future. We’ve been to space. We do all these crazy things. Right now, at Universal studios, the room that you see is all projected on screens. It looks like you’re in a complete different world. Then you see guys like Quayhagen, Rocha, and Raymond Daniels. The whole card is crazy.”

So tune in this weekend at Karate Combat 35 on YouTube. It’s going to be a blast. The main event is crazy. Raymond Daniels is there as is Teeik Silva.It’s everyone on board that’s done a fantastic job in the past and a fantastic job now. It’s something you don’t want to miss. It’s karate. Full contact. Don’t miss it.

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Blaine Henry
Your friendly neighborhood fight fan. I watch way too many fights and my wife lets me know it.