It's insane how "good" Tank Abbott was

[TR1]

Rousey armbars prime Tank in 15 seconds

Tank punches Ronda into the sun.

 

[The XL]

Tank Abbotts success goes to show how much the sport has evolved. If a prime Tank was put into the UFC HW division today he wouldn't make the top 10.

Tank wasn't even top 50 17 years ago. Got fucked up by Cabbage and choked out by Kimo of all people, lol

 

[ChuckGrassley]

He isn't that good

 

[BluntForceTrama]

This .gif never gets old. Prime Tank was 1 scary man

Pretty crazy how he's deflated into this testosteroneless bag of puss though

 

[Franklin U.]

Tank didn't have a real solid background, but gave a guy like Oleg Taktarov a beating who was a high level sambo/judo guy and also had a somewhat decent striking game.

I know, Tank definitely had a massive weight advantage, but it's still a high-level vs. "bum" match on paper. Also, before the match against Oleg he walked through the biggest guys in the tournament like it was nothing.

I mean, he wouldn't be a good fighter today, but it's still impressive how he ran through trained martial artists with his "barfighting" background. Some guys just have it I guess.

To be real, I would bet on prime Tank vs that De Castro guy lol

I know the tank ( like for real)- called him this morning ( yes, I have/ cell) and told him to go on sherdog this morning to read this. You know hes planning on going out tonight to " take in " the packer falcon game ........but not to watch game.

You're going to get this guy killed.
Just letting u know as I actually played a role in telling him.

 

[ramair455]

At what level tho? That shit doesn't compare to Oleg's accomplishments as a martial artist.

High enough level of American wrestling to give Oleg's Sambo big problems

 

[pankrat]

Given how awful the current HW landscape is, a guy with Tank's skillset and power(minus the old age and liver transplant) could easily kick the dog shit out of guys like Ben Sosoli, Tai Tuivasa, Jake Collier etc etc. That division hasn't evolved much and even the top guys now are mostly wrestle-boxers/sprawl n' brawlers like tank(and everyone outside of the top 15-20 has zero wrestling).

Tank Abbot at his absolute peak would stand a punchers chance against anyone you mentioned, a tiny one. He wasnt really good even by the standards of 1996

If HWs were so bad today you would not have strong 200+ lbers avoiding them through huge weightcuts

Tank Abbot was finished by WW/MW sized Oleg Taktarov and also lost to superheavyweight (uberfat) Scott Ferrozzo, who was miles away from UFC caliber

 

[pankrat]

High enough level of American wrestling to give Oleg's Sambo big problems

If you said Irish wrestling it could waste 60lbs of advantage losing to Sambo's wrestling and still be high level enough. Not for high level American wrestling, today or back then

 

[Max Power]

Prime Tank Abbott would steamroll nay version of Fedor.

 

[gono btw]

Tank wasn't even top 50 17 years ago. Got fucked up by Cabbage and choked out by Kimo of all people, lol

meh, Kimo was seriouz about his MMA career & skill set, he went to Goes & Moreira to become a better fighter.

Show...

Spoiler: Some...

Hes-Pekt!

 

[sb413197]

Sorry to say but I don't believe this anymore. I don't doubt he was strong, but no way is he benching 600 raw.

 

[White Whale]

His best win is Cabbage Correira, who previously beat him. Don't get me wrong, Tank was super entertaining and was one of the early stars of the UFC, but even nostalgia can't hide his dreadful record.

His record was better than Fedor’s.

 

[lweiberg]

His loss against Ferrozzo was especially bad

He avenged that loss.

 

[grimballer]

Believe it or not, he actually has a degree in history

he does kinda look like a history professor now

 

[Big Dawg]

Tank was actually one of the first mma fighters with a diverse set of skills. He was a wrestler in college and had boxing training.

Very true. Casuals don't know this.

 

[gspieler]

Dude had scary power. He was probably mma's first Nnagnou type of fighter(or Kimo perhaps).

 

[gspieler]

Very true. Casuals don't know this.

Did Tank ever use his wrestling though? I don't recall, myself. I remember him being introduced as a pit fighter, whatever that means.

 

[Big Dawg]

Did Tank ever use his wrestling though? I don't recall, myself. I remember him being introduced as a pit fighter, whatever that means.

Lol, he really never did. Tried to throw a guy over the cage once.

 

[sb413197]

he does kinda look like a history professor now

He gives off vibes of the bad old instructor in Cobra Kai

 

[Mbowes]

whiskey and crank gives super powers

Whiskey and crank turns David to tank