Bas Rutten, a champion UFC fighter, has described his journey to the Catholic faith in a video posted on YouTube.
Rutten, who grew up in the Netherlands but now lives in the United States, was a champion mixed martial artist in the 1990s who went on to become heavyweight champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2015.
In a video made by Anthem Philly, a project of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, he describes being bullied in childhood because of his extreme eczema. Other children called him a leper, he said. The itching was fierce – he would alleviate it by repeatedly punching a tile he kept by his bed. He was expelled from several schools.
