Bas Rutten says “Take care of your knees or else! Bada din-ka din-ka dink!”
Photo of badass Bas courtesy of SportRoids
Actually he didn’t really say that. But seeing as my knee is in recovery I thought I’d share Bas’ situation. From his interview at mmafanhouse:
You’re actually younger than Randy Couture. Is there any chance that you could fight again?
No, there’s not. My knees are a mess. I have no cartilage in both my kneecaps. Zero. Bone on bone. It’s really bad. There’s nothing they can do, except surgeries, until that stem cell stuff. People think a knee replacement, but you can’t do a knee replacement. You can have the best surgeons on the planet, which I already went to, and they say, “Bas, it’s a really bad problem.” …I can’t do any ground work anymore. If I bike, I have to have a bike with a high seat. I can’t run at all. If I jog half a mile, I can’t walk for five days. It’s so bad sometimes when I walk down my driveway I walk backwards.
Do you think that 10, 20, 30 years from now, we’re going to see a lot of former MMA fighters with serious, long-term injuries?
No. Everybody is training smarter. I have so much explosive power that what happened with me is my training scraped my kneecaps up. People like Randy Couture are training smarter. If you train smart, you’re OK. I was a maniac. I went balls-out every training.
Yikes! I really like Bas and actually learned some of his leg locks, but to read that he can’t do ground work anymore is a shocker. It also made realize how fragile our knees are and that we should take great care of them, and, of course, train smarter.
Murasaki BJJ 
Oh, if we could only go back to the days we got injured and change things…
Great shame about Bas, i just got some knee pads and asides from having to wash them every session they are a great addition to my bjj kit. If you don’t wash them they stink to high heaven.
@caleb
I would have done a stand up pass instead. Sigh.
@artofjits
Ooo! Knee pads! Definitely getting me some of those.
I don’t want my knees to be like that!
Knee supports/pads are a must. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, some of the best advice someone gave me about taking care of yourself whilst grappling is:
“Wear knee supports before you actually need them.”
They do need washing a lot though, as John said or they do stink – mine of vinegar for some reason.
Stay safe,
Adam Adshead
I have started getting knee problems that will not go away, so am taking one class “off” to rest them, and just ordered some knee pads, so thank you for mentioning that this is not an uncommon problem. It helps those of us newbies who are wondering what bjj-inherent problems we can avoid with good sense early measures like these.
I have seen Bas Rutten’s “How to Kick” videos. I wonder how much the way he kicked affected his knees? His standing leg in the front kick goes on a weird angle. And the rotation power does go to the leg of the standing knee. Does his “more power” mean “bad knees” in the future? Any thoughts?
I like Bas, I am a fan, watched his fights years ago. I do think he is a bit full of BS! I watch inside mma and when any fighter talks about an injury he goes on about his knees! Listen when any fighter talks about their shoulder surgery shut up and listen Bas, seriously you take over the conversation and talk about your knees and don’t let the mma guest talk. Listen Bas i have had over 15 surgeries including 2 hip replacements and 3 wrist surgeries and yes 1 shoulder surgery. I can honestly say the shoulder is by far the worst to recovery from. I have spent much time with people who have had hips, knees and shoulders done and the shoulder is the worst. Knees are second, and no I haven’t had knees done but have listened to many other that have. Your pain before surgery is very painful, mine were before surgery but better after. Shoulder is the worst at first and far more painful than before . One of my hip surgeries the idiot surgeon broke the femor bone twice so i have cerclige wire in and around my leg. Why such a long letter is so Bas pls let the mma guess explain about his/her recovery, Yes the beginning of recovery is far more painful than before surgery. hips and knees take about 6 months to feel really good and shoulder is twice that length at 1 year. So Bas LISTEN!!!!
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