30 years ago yesterday: Pancrase 1, Sebastiaan "El Guapo/Bas" Rutten vs. Atsushi "Ryūshi" Yanagisawa

Two months before the birth of the Ultimate Fighting Championsip, this openweight interdisciplinary supercard in Chiba (the brainchild of puroresu legend and legit tough sonofabitch Minoru "Murder Grandpa/Kaze Ni Nare" Suzuki) heralded the start of what we today call "Mixed Martial Arts".

The whole card can be viewed on a lunchbreak, with all five fights combined totaling roughly 15 minutes of action. It is worth watching as a piece of combat sports history, and each match-up is entertaining in its own way, but Bas' bang-a-da-danga-dang style stands out.

The mad Dutchman in his prime was a force, and could probably be transplanted into the modern scene and find success. The poor opponent, a 21 year old Japanese fellow kickboxing practitioner, had no earthly idea what he was in for. Bas was just a brutally efficient striker, and we've not seen too many of the like.

If you've never looked at it, it's literally under a minute; you have no excuse.

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Here is the full Pancrase: We Are Hybrid Wrestlers show, including ring walks and everything it's about a half hour commitment:

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