David (Tank) Abbott at age 30

Even though he lost, Tank looked really scary against Don Frye.

You can tell Frye was trying to be very careful yet he was dropped with a jab if I remember correctly. The way Tank rushed in on a fallen Frye was like a monster chasing after someone in a horror film. I am not going to say Don had fear in his eyes but it was definitely a look of concern. You could tell he was taking Tank very serious because he knew Tank was a killer back then. He was lucky to take Tank's back and choke him out



Streetfighting!!!


Pit Fighting!!! Lol
 
The UFC was so bad then.
Prime Tank vs Prime Roy Nelson.... Nelson would have killed him via not gassing after 30s.

Yeah you can tell by his record. 6 ko wins from 25 fights and 1 win in a fight that went over 3 minutes.
I hate watching UFCs from that era again now. At the time I thought it was great but now it's barely recognisable as the same sport and I guess with the rule changes it isn't.

What the fuck are you talking about?

Roy Nelson has won 4 fucking decisions in his career, and all of those fights were ugly as all hell. Especially in his UFC days. Nelson reliably gassed anytime he went past the first round.

I mean Jesus. His other wins in the UFC were KOs. And of those 7, 6 were in the first round.

Nelson is clearly a better fighter and I'd pick him to beat Tank, but Nelson is hardly a good example of what you're implying. And because he is a brawler who uses his face as his main form of defense, a guy like Tank has a better shot than you might think. Anyone who is just going to let a prime Tank punch them as hard as he can in their face is literally giving Tank his best chance at winning.
 
bookcover.jpg


Ben Fowlkes and Chad Dundas did an hour long podcast on Tank's book. It featured readings and analysis. It is hilarious.

You can listen to it here:

http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/7/1/a/71a...07278076&hwt=c5fee6ab21d53ace74b359ff6f54249f
 
Old Tank haha his highlight where some of the first mma i saw when I was a kid
 
Tank was a fun big man brawler but Nothing was better than watching a young, baby face Vitor Belfort beat the tar outta him.
 
The UFC was so bad then.
Prime Tank vs Prime Roy Nelson.... Nelson would have killed him via not gassing after 30s.

I don't know Tank is bigger faster hit harder and stronger, I'd back him to KO Nelson if he stood with him

Look tank has definitely declined but his hair game has gotten better and better. View attachment 282767 no one can compete with tanks hair game nowadays.

A mix of Santa and Danzig
 
Tank Abbott came onto the MMA scene at UFC 6 in Caspar,Wyoming in 1995 like a monstrous whirlwind of unmitigated violence not seen in previous UFC's. Here in this video, albeit short, he makes his UFC debut against a very large individual in John Matua. The weigh in's for this match had Matua at a 120 pound advantage Matua weighting in at 400 and Abbott at 280. Tank would go on and advance in the UFC 6 tournament to the finals and lose to Oleg Taktarov where both men had to be assisted out of the octagon from exhaustion. Tank would go on and have many more memorable highlight reel knockouts but would lose many more as the years went on. Tank Abbott was a fan favorite however and was always met with raucous applause. Tank Abbot was a very good wrestler but his matches never lasted long, he holds the MMA record for fighting in 24 straight fights where the ending came in the first round. At the end of his career Tank Abbott would have a losing record of 10-15, however he has remains in MMA history as one of the most feared punchers to ever compete. Note, UFC 6 served as Michael Buffer's first announcing gig in the UFC. It was also the first UFC super-fight champion in Ken Shamrock. UFC 6 had no judges, no rounds but there was a 20 minutes quarterfinal limit, the finals had a 30 minute time limit.


Dude was huge. Naturally 265 at 6 ft tall.
 
meh, he only made it because the sport was in it's infancy, he'd be a gatekeeper at best today.
still you need to go through that stage for the sport to grow
 
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