The Patrick Coffin Show podcast features weekly interviews with A-list influencers and outliers in the effort to recover the Judeo-Christian roots of the culture. Patrick is the Canadian-born former host of Catholic Answers Live, and he has raving fans around the world. He injects these fascinating interviews with his own distinctive blend of depth and levity. If you’re tired of politically correct mediaspeak, you want to see God back in the public square, and you’re not allergic to having a laugh, you will love this podcast.
Bas Rutten
Bas Rutten was basically the small skinny guy in the Charles Atlas comic book advertisement, “The insult that made a man out of Mac.” Rutten had two major health issues that made him target for bullies: eczema and asthma. Puffing around the schoolyard out of breath, he got called “leper” and other epithets kids love to be called, and taunted with violence.
This went on for 14 years, until, against his parents wishes, little Rutten took a martial arts class and decided to stop running from the chief bully and his posse. One hard punch to said bully’s fragile resulted in a free visit to the hospital. And it changed Bas Rutten’s life forever, leading him to a career about which few athletes can boast. Bas Rutten eventually became UFC World Champion and was inducted into the MMA (mixed martial arts) Hall of Fame.
World Champion Fighter
He’s also a deeply devoted Catholic convert and family man. In this episode you will learn How a sickly young Dutch boy went from bully fodder to world champion fighter.
How the rules for MMA matches maximize the safety of the competitors.
Anecdotes galore about motivation, conviction, and the stamina it takes to be the best of the best in the world.
His advice for parents with kids who are being bullied.
His terrifying encounters with the ghost of a dead woman and how his bold confrontation with her resolved the trouble.
Why Bas Rutten prays all his prayers in Latin, the mother tongue of the Church
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Theology and Sanity by Frank Sheed Going Deeper by Leo Severino
Born Only Once by Conrad Baars, MD
Bas Rutten’s website.
Question of the week: What spiritual lessons can be gleaned from the life of an MMA fighter (even if the sport is not your cuppa)?
2 thoughts on “Faith Worth Fighting For—Bas Rutten”
Please forward to Bas:
Bas, I would like to talk to you about your faith. It’s very important. Please send me an email: future_past@mail.com
– Soul
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