[size]

Rutten is returning, as initially believed, against Kimo in the WFA. The fight will take place in July in Los Angeles at the Forum.

Rutten hasn't fought since 1999 when he squared off against Kevin Randleman at UFC 20: Battle for the Gold. Rutten won the UFC Heavyweight Title when he defeated Randleman by judges' decision after 21 minutes of fighting.

Prior to that, Rutten defeated Tsuyoshi "T.K." Kosaka by knockout at UFC 18. If you look at Rutten's record, you'll see that he hasn't lost in his last 20 fights.

Bas won 19 of those fights, with one fight going to a draw against Osami Shibuya. Rutten's last loss came at the hands of Ken Shamrock in the Pancrase organization back in 1995 by submission due to a kneebar. Rutten has an overall record of 27-4-1 in his MMA career.

Rutten's scheduled opponent, Kimo, hasn't fought in almost a year. In his last fight, Kimo lost in Pride Bushido 8 last July to Ikuhisa Minowa by submission in the first round.

In his two fights prior to facing Minowa, Kimo defeated Marcus Royster in the Rumble on the Rock promotion, and lost to Ken Shamrock at UFC 48: Payback.

Kimo lost in Pride Bushido to Ikuhisa Minowa by submission in the first round. Kimo beat Marcus Royster in Rumble on the Rock, before losing to Ken Shamrock at UFC 48's Payback card. Kimo's MMA record is 9-5-1.

An already stacked WFA card just got that much better with the return of "El Guapo." Here's how the card shakes down.

Quinton Jackson (24-6-0) vs Matt Lindland (18-3-0)

Ricco Rodriguez (22-6-0) vs Ron Waterman (13-3-2)

Lyoto Machida (7-0-0) vs Vernon White (24-27-2)

Ivan Salaverry (11-4-0) vs Art Santore (14-4-0)

Kimo Leopoldo (9-5-1) vs Bas Rutten (27-4-1)

Rob McCullough (11-3-0) vs Opponent TBD

Jason Miller (14-4-0) vs. Opponent TBD

This will be interesting to see. While I do not doubt that he will dispose of Kimo, I wonder if he will push for more matches due to some of his injuries he had towards the end of his career.

[tattoopierced1]

is this the same Kimo from UFC.. if so, then Bas will destroy him.

[size]

Originally Posted by tattoopierced1

is this the same Kimo from UFC.. if so, then Bas will destroy him.

Same Kimo. Yes, Bas will dismantle him.

[Alexander]

Source? If true, I'm about to go f#ckin nuts. Screw Kimo, but if Bas sticks around after that I'd love to see him face some top 205ers. Hell Bas could probably make 185 if he wanted.

[size]

Originally Posted by Alexander

Source?

Bas. He mentioned that he was 80-90% sure he would fight again in an interview with MMAWeekly. This was about 2 weeks ago then this card was released.

[size]

Quote from Bas:

“The day of the production shoot, I was pretty sure I wanted to return to fight for the WFA, but I had yet to make a final decision,” said Rutten. “Kimo’s comments and behavior certainly made that decision an easy one, providing me a whole new level of motivation.”

Here is the WFA website:
www.wfa.tv

[Alexander]

Thanks bro, I'm now definitely ordering the PPV.

[rampage jackson]

Bas over Kimo early
Rico all the **** over Waterman
Rampage over Linland by decision...

[Alexander]

I think Waterman is gonna beat Ricco.

[ripped218]

Originally Posted by Alexander

I think Waterman is gonna beat Ricco.

Waterman already beat Ricco before.

[Snipervirus]

Ken Shamrock beat Bas twice. I doubt that Ken is going to bother fighting him again, and if he does, I think Bas would loose, since the age isnt a limiting factor for Ken in this case.

[size]

Originally Posted by Snipervirus

Ken Shamrock beat Bas twice. I doubt that Ken is going to bother fighting him again, and if he does, I think Bas would loose, since the age isnt a limiting factor for Ken in this case.

Bas lost to Shamrock via submissions. Bas started in MMA strictly as a kickboxer, his ground work was quite poor. Consequently, he was easier to submit. As his career went forward, Bas became a much better fighter with a more complete game. IN fact, I believe his last loss was to Ken.
Aside, Bas beat Frank Shamrock who is better than Ken.

[Grassroots082]

Originally Posted by size

Bas lost to Shamrock via submissions. Bas started in MMA strictly as a kickboxer, his gorund work was quite poor. Consequebtly, he was easier to submit. As his career went forward, Bas became a much better fighter with a more complete game. IN fact, I believe his last loss was to Ken.
Aside, Bas beat Frank Shamrock who is better than Ken.

I concur Size.

[size]

Originally Posted by Grassroots082

I concur Size.

Thanks.

Some more popped into my head, originally Bas did not even know how to defend a shoot/takedown. Like many kickboxers, then never needed to sprawl so they would try to kick or knee the opponent on the shoot and this usually fails.

[SHSUStudent]

Originally Posted by size

Bas lost to Shamrock via submissions. Bas started in MMA strictly as a kickboxer, his ground work was quite poor. Consequently, he was easier to submit. As his career went forward, Bas became a much better fighter with a more complete game. IN fact, I believe his last loss was to Ken.
Aside, Bas beat Frank Shamrock who is better than Ken.

Couldn't agree more; Bas would walk through Ken nowadays. And Frank was/is a far superior fighter to Ken.

On another note... Have you guys seen how huge Ricco is now? Check out the WFA website for the pics.

I'm pretty pumped about the WFA, time for the UFC to lose it's monopoly over MMA in the States.

[size]

Just a note, Lindland will be fighting at 205 against Jackson. So Lindland makes a big weight jump for this one. To me, this is pretty amazing considering he won his Olympic medal while wrestling at 167.

[mp5man1]

Originally Posted by ripped218

Waterman already beat Ricco before.

I saw the fight in Lemoore, Ca. I thought Ricco shold have done a little better. Waterman is a big strong guy who takes guys down and pounds on them. Ricco went for submissions but Waterman always got out of um.

[rampage jackson]

I retract the ricco over waterman statement...ricco is FAT now!!!