MMAnytt växlade några ord med Bas Rutten inför UFC: Sweden och den holländske kampsportsikonen säger att det är häftigt att UFC väljer att komma till Europa och Sverige men att det kommer dröja innan hans hemland kommer få så fint besök.
– Not any time soon, the government is not the smartest government, they still think that MMA is dangerous. I don’t say it’s not, but I say , that is you allow Boxing, then you have to allow MMA since we all by know that it is much safer. they ”see a cage” and think animals, criminals and dumb street fighters competing. It is very annoying, but it is what it is. They made this big deal out of those kids who were ”cage fighting” in the UK, säger Rutten och skrattar. You saw it, they were grappling without striking, without chokes and heel hooks. Just because they did it in a cage, they called it cage fighting. It’s actually scary, because if they don’t do their homework on that, who says they do it with all the other things they handle in the government?
Rutten som varit i Sverige har mycket bra att säga om svenskarna även om han också har mindre trevliga erfarenheter av vårt land.
– Omar [Bouiche] is the best coach in Sweden for sure. But I believe in the world he would be easy in the top 10 of best coaches as well. He is very detailed with everything he does and has very good striking, submissions, and even wrestling which is a part I never excelled in, but he excels in all three. So it’s gonna be great for him to have his guys in the UFC.
Rutten har ett tips vad Omar och hans fajters ska hitta på efter galan.
– Hopefully they go with a group to the Spy Bar?, säger Rutten och skrattar igen. No, just kidding. Serious though, I think that Sweden is going to love the UFC, they are a well oiled machine and put on unbelievable shows, and you are gonna see that. It’s gonna explode, more MMA gyms will come!
Gällande framtiden för sporten i Europa så har Rutten goda förhoppningar om att den kommer fortsätta att växa och spridas.
– On TV for sure and hopefully there will come another MMA organization in Europe like Golden Glory and get big. A huge European MMA organization would be very cool, make great fighters and who knows, compete with the UFC later? But then they have to take a good look at the way the UFC puts on shows, because you know as well as I do, they are really good with what they do.
