Former UFC Champion Bas Rutten Says Brock Lesnar Getting a UFC Title Shot Is “Not Honest” and Undeserved

UFC Legend Bas Rutten appeared on Submission Radio this week to discuss a variety of UFC related topics, including Brock Lesnar vs Daniel Cormier, and you can check out the entire appearance in the video player above. Below are some interview highlights:

With McGregor returning at UFC 229, Rutten laid out his prediction:

“I don’t know what Conor’s been doing in the meanwhile, but still, if you fight a guy whose father is one of the most famous trainers that’s out there and who started probably when he was three years old wrestling, you know, you can’t learn that in a year, even if you train every day. Yeah, you can stop some takedowns, but once the fight is there and punches have been thrown and little movement and little feints, it’s very hard to stop a takedown. So for Conor to take this fight, you know, for me, I think he has a puncher’s chance. Now, the good thing for Conor is the he has incredible timing and incredible accuracy. So, if he can land a punch, although Khabib has never been knocked out, but still, he’s never been hit by McGregor. McGregor can hit really hard as we know, because everybody he hits he destroys.”

“I would (favor Khabib) if he doesn’t get hit. To tell you the truth, I’m a huge Conor fan, although I’m a huge Aldo fan. I thought he was gonna have a lot of trouble with Aldo. Aldo, man, is an animal, I’ve always said it. I always said he reminds me of Ramon Dekkers. The way he fights, everything is power. No jabs, no nothing. And then to just dismantle him, and saying that before in the interview in the dressing room, ‘don’t worry, guys, it’s gonna be a short fight. I’m gonna knock him out within 30 seconds, within a minute,’ he said, and then he did it. You see, so if he can land a punch and if there’s a lot of pressure on Nurmagomedov. I mean, he cannot lose this fight, everybody’s gonna be on top of him. He’s gonna make a killing in money as well. You know, everybody wants to fight Conor because of the PPV deal, so that’s a good thing for him as well. I don’t know if it puts pressure on him. I don’t think so. I think these guys from Dagestan, they just go, it’s their job. They either go (into) book keeping or they go fight. For them it’s pretty much the same. So yeah, once it goes to the ground, I see trouble there for Conor. But if he can connect, you know, if there’s a stand up, it’s all about the connection, and if he connects that could be a knockout coming from him.”

As for Brock Lesnar, Bas admits that it’s not fair seeing him get a title shot:

“Yeah, it’s not honest. I wouldn’t say he deserves it, but it is what it is. It’s a fight that everybody wants to see and I think he’s gonna face a guy who’s gonna beat him. I truly believe that DC’s gonna beat him. The guy’s so tough. The only knockout loss was a high kick. We know that Brock is not gonna throw a high kick knockout and he doesn’t have the tools to set him up with striking that Jon Jones had – who by the way tested positive for that fight, that’s why they overturned the whole thing. But still, he doesn’t have those striking qualities.”

“I think once you get clipped for something, for PEDs, it’s one of those things that you think, if a guy gets caught is it really the first time? Right? I mean, look at him, how big he is. So, it’s probably not… you know, you’re thinking about that and that might tarnish it. But for a guy to come in and only have a few fights and fighting for the title and then winning a title, I mean, people have to respect that. And he didn’t test positive for that fight, so he’s a truly impressive guy, he really is. But, I see a big guy like that, once they start shying away from punches, you know, it doesn’t look good as well. I think if he would spend more time on Mixed Martial Arts for two years, really get the striking under control so he doesn’t shy away from punches anymore and actually goes in for an attack and not push but start punching with that strength that he has and explosive power – because he does have it, it’s not like he’s got the slow twitch fibers, he’s got the fast twitch fibers, so he’s an explosive guy who can do it – but he just has to learn it, and I think once he would do that, yeah, then he could really be a force to reckon with. But I don’t know, with everything around it, still to pull off a heavyweight champion in the world in the UFC, I think it’s pretty impressive, especially after such a short amount of fights.”

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