If Bas Rutten fought in PRIDE, how far could he go?

[Yrat]

He was rumoured to fight Rickson Gracie back in 1998 but he did not took the fight, but if we say that he was free from injury would he become the GOAT during that time in LHW?

Lets say he fought Saku,Akira,Dan,Wand,Lil Nog and a rematch against Randleman, would he beat all of them?

 

[ThunderL1ps]

It is hard to get a read on Bas' true MMA accomplishments, as many of those Pancrase fights were not on the level. It doesn't matter if Bas knew or not, he was put into a favorable position to pull off those 20 or 21 in a row that he won.

Transitioning to PRIDE where the fighters fought less often, with very different rules it is hard to say.

PRIDE may have given him harder matchups to try to bury the Pancrase guy type situation? They tried to do it with Tamura when he came over and Yuki Kondo. He was pretty beat up with his knees as you stated. I don't see how he wouldn't have a problem beating someone like Shoji and maybe even Sakuraba pre-PRIDE 13.

Bas verses Wanderlei back then would have been a really fun fight.

 

[Conor McTap]

not that id want to fight any ufc or mma fighter but bas would be the 1 guy on earth im saying sorry and walking away from no matter what. he is and was a scary muthfucker

 

[andyjeezy]

Bas barely got passed Randleman and TK in the UFC he would of had trouble with the likes of Vovchanchin, Coleman and Sakuraba

 

[Thesnake101]

I think he would have done well, but guys like Coleman, Rampage, Nogueira, Arona and even Igor would have given him trouble. His striking and his ground game weren't bad at all, but his lack of TDD might have been his doom.

 

[Asurah]

Bas would have probably struggled without Pancrase's rope breaks which saved him countless times. He probably would have done well in the first few years of PRIDE but once the RINGS Heavyweights came over his time as a top fighter would have likely ended (if he had even stayed healthy to that point).

 

[DuppyMekka]

He would have been ok...

 

[K4BOSH]

If he foughtin PRIDE rather than going to the UFC, he'd prolly fight guys like Takada, Kimo, Saku, Severn, Belfort, and Marco Ruas. Id say he woulda fare pretty well...and if he wasnt so hurt and extended his career there maybe he woulda ended his career around 2003-4 during the MW GP fighting against guys like Rampage, Wandy and Shogun.

 

[Necrocrawler]

If he would stayed healthy. He probably would end up fighting in the UFC. Dude was their HW champion and was planning to drop down to LHW for the belt.
They would probably stick with him.
Still, that time, things were different. Lots of fighters leaving for Pride (after some time, to Affliction), so maybe he would leave also.

 

[JacJeanFinger]

His invincible image was created upon corpses of Japanese Middle Weight contenders who were not really world class but Punkrass. He knew he wouldn't be a force among big boys and PRIDE wasn't for him.

 

[faustian]

Always thought a fight with Wand would've been interesting. Normally I'd see Wand brutalizing him but I could see Bas changing the fight with a straight up the middle. I'd say Wand wins 7-8/10 times

I think Saku would've been a nightmare matchup for Bas

 

[kakutogi boom bap]

If my aunt had balls she's be my uncle steve...

I don't know, but I feel cheated not getting to see the fights he was suppose to have with Wandy, Rickson and Randy well they weren't booked, but fights he was looking for. I also would have loved to see him fight Igor back then too.

 

[MiroHa]

Imagine if Bas fought in the 2000 OWGP

 

[K4BOSH]

Imagine if Bas fought in the 2000 OWGP

He woulda beat the lower half of the bracket and a tougher time in the upper half. Idk how he woulda handled Igor's grit and power, or Saku's creative mind.

 

[JohnMandick]

BAS was so injured by the time he fought Randleman. Some crazy inflammation problem. Healthy and prime (after learning the ground game) he would be an all time best.

 

[ga_ninja]

Bas was great but when Pride was in its prime I dont think he would crack top 10 imo. However it would be fun to watch.

 

[Fullmount Triangle]

Imagine if Bas fought in the 2000 OWGP

He'd lose to Sakuraba, Guy Mezger, Igor Vovchanchyn, Mark Coleman and Fujita. Kerr might do alright as well, but idk how long his gas would have held out.

Even Shoji would have been a pretty decent fight for Rutten.