Bas “El Guapo” Rutten will be inducted to the 2015 UFC Hall of Fame. Bloody Elbow revealed that UFC President Dana White surprised Rutten during “Inside MMA” on AXS TV on May 22, 2015, where Rutten was a co-host. White was a special guest on the show and shared his special message to El Guapo.

The video segment showed White telling Rutten about the UFC International Fight Week and that he will be joining the Pioneers Wing of the Hall of Fame. White told Rutten, “We have International Fight Week in Las Vegas in July. And on July 11, at the UFC Fan Expo, you will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.”

Rutten issued a statement provided by AXS TV, “I never expected to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. I won the UFC heavyweight title, but injuries cut my UFC run short. Most of my big wins were in Japan. I saw the new UFC Hall of Fame format and I thought maybe I could get in eventually as a Contributor because of my years of commentating. But I’m so honored that the UFC recognized what I did as a fighter.”

Rutten, 50 years old, came from Holland and built his fighting reputation in Japan. He fought some of the best fighters of the era like Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. He was called the “King of Pancrase”, for fighting under the Pancrase banner during his time in Japan, MMA Fighting stated.

MMA Fighting wrote that Rutten debuted in the UFC in 1998, winning against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka via TKO. He won over Kevin Randleman at UFC 20 via split decision to win the UFC heavyweight title. His time in the UFC was short-lived, consisting only of two matches, since he was plagued with multiple injuries. His final bout was against Ruben Villareal in 2006, where he won via TKO. He retired with a 28-4-1 record, remaining undefeated in his last 22 fights.

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