Bas Rutten is a big fan of fighters who switch stances effectively.

Rutten, who is an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Hall of Famer, knows a thing or two about the kicking game in mixed martial arts. “El Guapo” was known for his devastating liver kicks when he was fighting the best in Japan and the United States. It should come as no surprise that some of Rutten’s favorite modern MMA fighters are well-versed when it comes to kicks.

Bas Rutten Praises Three Fighters In Current Era

Rutten recently spoke to Okwerdz inside his own Elite MMA gym. “El Guapo” heaped praise on Israel Adesanya, Michael Page, and T.J. Dillashaw:

“There’s so many good fighters and I didn’t see the fight but everybody tells me the guy who just fought Anderson Silva [Israel Adesanya], he will be the next [breakout star]. I mean he’s unbelievable. Michael ‘Venom’ Page, guys like that. That accuracy and the way they fight, I love guys like that who fight different than other people. T.J. Dillashaw, guys like that just who are able to knock you out in southpaw stance or in orthodox stance. I love that kind of stuff. Actually, one of my students Ryan Lilley he just fought his first fight in Bellator and he used T.J.’s trick. I always tell him, I say if you kick high look low like you’re gonna kick him low. And the very first kick he’s moving around, he’s baiting the guy, he’s looking down, he sees his reaction and suddenly he looks down and he dips his head like T.J. always does. So it looks like you’re gonna kick him with a low kick or a middle kick, but he kicked him full in the head. So he threw one strike and won the fight, that was awesome.”

Adesanya is set to collide with Kelvin Gastelum for the interim UFC middleweight title on April 13 for UFC 236. Page will meet Douglas Lima in the second round of the Bellator Welterweight World Grand Prix on April 27. Dillashaw is a former two-time UFC bantamweight champion, but he relinquished his gold due to a failed drug test.