UFC Hall of Famer Bas Rutten details what he believes made Pancrase "so good"

Bas Rutten recently opened up about his tenure in Pancrase and detailed what he believes made them stand out and produce world-class fighters.

'El Guapo' began his MMA career with the Japanese-based promotion and competed there for the majority of his career from 1993-1998 before departing to the UFC for the remainder of his career. The promotion was known for its unique ruleset that included palm strikes as opposed to closed fists, rope breaks and no elbows or stomps.

During his appearance on MMA legend Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson's Jaxxon Podcast, the UFC Hall of Famer brought up that the restarts following the rope breaks were an underrated rule. He mentioned that the rule resulted in bouts being extended and believes that it helped improve the quality of the promotion. He said:

"I truly believe that [rope breaks] was the reason Pancrase was so good ... If I come to you and I get you in a submission, you grab the rope, we restart again, now you fight your second fight ... So you have way more ring time and I think because we have way more ring time and every time we start back on the feet, that made us much more comfortable in the fight."

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Pancrase served a purpose as it helped fighters like Rutten become more well-rounded with strikes and submissions rather than being one-dimensional.

When did Bas Rutten win the UFC heavyweight championship?

Despite a very brief tenure with the promotion, Bas Rutten still managed to win the UFC heavyweight championship and was later inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The Dutchman made his octagon debut at UFC 18, where he earned a TKO win over Tsuyoshi Kosaka, which earned him an opportunity to challenge for the vacant heavyweight championship. 'El Guapo' took advantage of the opportunity as he earned a split decision win over Kevin Randleman to win the vacant title.

With the heavyweight championship win, Rutten joined the list of past Pancrase champions including Ken and Frank Shamrock, and Guy Mezger as fighters from the Japanese-based promotion that went on to win either a UFC tournament or championship.

Tweet regarding Bas Rutten's UFC heavyweight championship win [Image courtesy: @MMAHistoryToday - X]