Bas Rutten on which MMA fighters could thrive in Triad Combat
Bas Rutten helms commentary duties as team MMA and team Boxing do battle. This transpires at the hybrid rules Triad Combat event which features a myriad of punching opportunities and active clinch positions.
Triad Combat goes down on Saturday, November 27th from Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The Triller Fight Club event also broadcasts live on pay-per-view.
I spoke with Rutten at the virtual media day ahead of Triad Combat. Excerpts from our interaction is below.
View this post on Instagram
Bas Rutten
Frank Mir commenting that this Triad Combat bout is among his biggest career paydays and Rutten’s thoughts on what Triller has done for the fighter pay landscape overall
“For me, it’s everything. Paying the fighters money that they deserve is so important. You keep everybody happy and they will show their appreciation once they’re fighting. I remember all the way back in Japan, I was fighting for 2000 bucks. You fight at a high level but for $2,000 dollars you got the trip, you’ve got to pay money for food. I mean, you don’t keep a lot of money. But slowly but surely once you keep winning, there’s no other way to get more money than simply winning. Because they’re going to be dependent on you.”
Bas Rutten continued, “So that’s the trick in fighting I always say. So to have a fighter like Frank Mir to come after so many years of competing. Still being in the game and still doing really well to get bigger paydays. Bigger paydays than he ever had I mean, that is the best thing. That makes me feel good, warm and fuzzy on the inside. On top of that, everybody’s going to be happy. I mean, it looks good for the people who are watching because they know they’re really taking care of the fighters. So, great fighting.”
Triad Combat
Which MMA fighters past or present could gel well into a Triad Combat ruleset
“Anthony Pettis, he’s a guy who always comes up with these crazy things. You saw him walk off the cage, the birth of the Showtime kick. But also the knockout over Wonderboy. I mean pushing off and everybody throws a straight punch. And what did he do? He pushed off and he made it a hook. We are all creatures of habits. We’re used to doing things certain. It’s for you and this is what I tell my students all the time, you break that habit. Make it different because if you’re different, you’re going to be successful. Sure it’s like, if you roll with a fifth-degree black belt in jiu-jitsu and you use a setup that he’s never seen before.”
Bas Rutten continued, “You’re going to catch him in it, that’s how it works. But you probably will catch him once and that will never happen again with that guy because now he’s good. But in a fight, you only need one time and you can beat him. That’s why guys like Anthony Pettis will be really good at it. I think the more gritty guys that are constantly coming forward, Justin Gaethje… Michael Chandler, Chandler oh my god. But I mean guys like that who always come forward and always throw power. I think they will do really well in a setting like this.”
