Bas Rutten Undergoes Successful Neck Surgery, but Still Dealing with Health Issues

This past January former UFC heavyweight champion Bas “El Guapo” Rutten underwent neck surgery to fix nerve issues that were causing weakness in his arm.

While the procedure to fuse three discs together went off without a hitch, Rutten recently told MMAWeekly.com that he is still experiencing problems with weakness and muscle deformation.

“I’ve been saying before the surgery that I thought it was my neck, but I also thought there was a blockage between my neck and my shoulder blade,” said Rutten. “They denied it, but if I do 50 push-ups, I will lose all my power 10 minutes later. In my eyes, there was inflammation, muscles blow up and stops the nerve.

“Finally after eight months I had someone listening to me and he tells me is what they call ‘brachial plexus.’ I’m going to find out soon if that is the case, and if it is the case, hopefully surgery to fix it. If not surgery, then rest, and that rest could literally mean seven years in some cases.”

Rutten continued, “It’s a really weird thing, I don’t know what it is, but hopefully they can figure it out and fix it. I guarantee you, once that blockage is free, everything will come back.

“My arm looks so silly right now with the muscles and it’s not a good thing.”

Shortly after making these statements, Rutten got word back on his condition.

“They couldn't find anything,” he said. “But when I would have been right from the beginning, then it's possible that you can't see it anymore. Brachial plexus shows only the first few months, he said. This is nine months ago.

“(Soon) I have another nerve test and that person apparently can pinpoint where the nerve stops, so hopefully we can find it out that way.”

Since Rutten had surgery, he’s been busy promoting his O2 Trainer as well as getting involved in the great American pastime.

“I did another movie, a family movie, where I was a baseball coach for a minor league team, so that was fun,” said the Dutch born Rutten.

“It was a totally new sport. I did not know the rules or anything. The closest I had come to it was when I interviewed (Detroit Tigers first baseman) Prince Fielder for a feature on Inside MMA. It was hard, but I did my homework and studied how coaches behaved and had to learn how to spit sunflower seeds and all that, it was hilarious.”

Speaking of Inside MMA, Rutten and his broadcast partner Kenny Rice continue to be the go-to televised source for the sport on AXS TV.

“We’ve got the highest ratings on the network, so we’re not going anywhere,” said Rutten. “We’re fortunate that we’re heading into Season 7 now and have done over 300 shows.

“We’re doing live shows now every Friday at 6 p.m. Pacific. We’re very blessed to have such great producers and everyone behind us.”

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