Bas Rutten's Big Books of Combat - July, 2005

These books, along with Mario Sperry's Vale Tudo tapes, were my introduction to MMA. I still love the books and I don't think they've been matched as a general resource.

Again, I've condensed both reviews into one.

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There's No More Comprehensive MMA Training Guide

In short, there isn't a more comprehensive set of books on Mixed Martial Arts training. Bas' credentials are impeccable and he's a charismatic guy. That charisma shows through in the books.

One can quickly see where Bas's game evolved from. He's a stand up and duke it out guy but he can handle himself on the ground. In both areas, there are different ways of playing the game and Bas has his own.

He believes in having great conditioning and rightly so. His technique is largely based on conditioning, as well. He covers stand up in the full-contact karate and kickboxing vein. His ground game is very much rooted in the Japanese submission wrestling style and he covers the "Ground 'n' Pound" in good detail.

I think there are better books on stand up, ground and conditioning, but none that can bring it all together.

OK, so the game's evolved since Bas competed. So what?! This is still the best book on the MMA game.