Ramon Dekkers seminar at Bas Rutten's Elite MMA scheduled for June 17th

Muay Thai legend Ramon Dekkers will be conducting a seminar at Bat Rutten’s Elite MMA in West Lake Village, CA. The seminar will be taking place on June 17th and will serve as a good opportunity for Muay Thai enthusiast of all skill levels to learn from the 8x world champion.

For those not familiar with Dekkers he is a Dutch fighter known as “The Diamond” or “The Turbine from Hell” for his aggressive and exciting fight style. He was one of the most famous foreign fighters in Thailand during the 1990s. He was also the first foreigner to be bestowed the "Muay Thai Fighter of the Year" award.

Muay Thai Authority was able to catch up with Bas Rutten and he answered a few questions regarding Ramon Dekkers and the upcoming seminar at Elite MMA.

MTA: Bas, out everyone you could have had host a seminar at your gym, why Ramon Dekkers?

Bas Rutten: First of all, Ramon Dekkers was the reason I joined the gym Maeng Ho, where he trained, and I am talking about the time when I was still Thai boxing, so when I was like 24 years old. Ramon had "split" somebodies liver in training, and just to see him fight, was a crazy thing to see. The first time I saw him fight, he was like 17 years old, had a mullet, very skinny kid, he was fighting this guy like 25 years old. I told my friend, "he's gonna get his ass kicked", and my buddy just said "Watch this", and BLAM! a freaking low kick exploded and from here on it went all down hill for the 25 year old. I always wanted to fight like that, no jabs or weak set ups (hey, it works for some people, just not for me) but everything is thrown to stop your opponent, and I liked that because I always have been explosive myself and knew that would fit my style better.

Then recently we were very fortunate to get his younger brother Carlo as our head striking coach in our gym, when I heard that Ramon was coming to visit him, I knew we HAD to use this moment to make some people happy. If he wouldn't have been a friend of mine and would have taught a seminar somewhere else, I would have attended that seminar for sure.

MTA: Ramon Dekkers is a legend in the Muay Thai. He is one of the first foreigners to leave his mark in Thailand. What do you feel that makes Ramon such a special and unique fighter?

Bas Rutten: He is the first foreigner who received the "Fighter of the year award" in Thailand. He just fights, I know his trainer Cor Hemmers, for a long time now, and he always told me that he would never complain, not even in a fight, he would say "I think I threw my left shoulder out", and Cor would push it back, and he would continue to fight again. Or when he broke his foot or hand in a fight, he would say that at the end of the fight, never in between rounds, just never complained.

I know for a fact that he had many times fought with a broken foot or hand, some times even both, and when he would lose, he NEVER would mention this in an interview, never an excuse, I just respect that a lot, says something about his character.

Then the way he executes everything is just a beauty to watch, his calmness, reflexes, everything is in sink. I always have said, that when he would fight NOT injured, there was nobody who could beat him. While he won't say it, I will, and that is that the fights he lost, 90% of those were because he would have a broken hand or foot going into the fight, as I mentioned before, or BOTH.

They would set him up in Thailand, telling him he would fight a certain opponent, but then when he would be in he ring, another fighter would come up, things like that, and again, he never complained, haha, freaking beautiful!

MTA: What is your favorite Ramon Dekkers moment?

Bas Rutten: When he was the first person in history to KO Coban, the place in Thailand goes dead quiet, and then you see Rob Kaman, Cor Hemmers and a few other Dutch guys jump in the ring and wave a Dutch flag, and the place is quiet, it's the funniest ever, a LOT of people lost a lot of money that night, thought Coban was gonna beat him.

MTA: What can the attendees expect at Ramon Dekkers' seminar?

Bas Rutten: Ramon will teach all the combinations that he used to beat the best fighters in the world with. The set ups to great "liver shots", distance, great counters, and how to throw it with power. The great thing also is that he has been involved with MMA for a while now, and has been teaching all the top guys from Holland from Golden Glory, meaning, he knows "the distance" for people who fight MMA, and Thai boxing is different, and can give you the differences.

For those interested in attending the Ramon Dekkers seminar at Bas Rutten’s Elite MMA make sure to reserve your spot today as space is limited. For information call 805-496-4472 or send an email to Anthony@EliteMMAGym.com.