At Pancrase 1996 Anniversary Show, Masakatsu challenged King of Pancrase Bas Rutten in what is considered to be one of the greatest fights in Pancrase history. Funaki came close to finishing the match earlier with an ankle lock, but Rutten miraculously escaped and continued to fight. Funaki made a wide usage of the knee-on-stomach and mount positions to initiate leglock attacks, but the Dutchman countered every time and eventually pushed Masakatsu away from him, after which Funaki threw an illegal kick to Rutten, who was on his knees. Rutten proceeded to knock Funaki down with a palm strike, and then completely broke his nose with a second palm strike. Stunned, Funaki tried to stand up with Rutten, only for Bas to capitalize with his famed striking game. Rutten knocked him down twice with palms and knees, and then landed a lengthy, unanswered string of strikes, until a knee to the face finally downed Funaki.