Tank Abbott Fans, get in here!

[pankrat]

I've seen all of those fights multiple times and I disagree with you on a couple counts.

First, he did not give Frye, Oleg, or Rizzo all they could handle. He landed a take down, shitty GnP, and a couple glancing shots against Rizzo. Rizzo flatlined him. Guys like Randy, Barnett, etc gave Pedro all he could handle; Tank got beat up and KO'd. Against Taktarov, Tank slopped his way through about 15 minutes of top time and clinch work before getting choked. In this particular instance, yeah, he gave Oleg a long fight, but Oleg was never in any real danger of being finished. Much like Rizzo, Taktarov couldn't wear a punch at all so the superficial facial damage was far worse than it would have been for someone with more durable skin but there was never any doubt who was gonna win this. Well, Oleg was on the Oxygen pretty hard as soon as this fight finished and he got the easiest route to the final via thrown fight, so sure we'll say Tank gave him all he could handle on this one. For the record, I don't consider Oleg to be all that good, but we'll move on. With Frye, he dropped him with a jab right out the gate and landed some pretty decent shots to bust ol' Donny wide open before... falling over from a shove and getting choked out within seconds of it hitting the mat. The entire fight lasted a minute and a half! Tank had his moments there but his one-dimensional style was exposed posthaste and he was sent packing quick. If you want to see what giving Frye all he could handle actually looks like watch his fights with Shammy and Goodridge.

In all these cases, the common element is that Tank lost decisively. He always lost when matched up with good fighters. Always. Hell, he even lost to mediocre fighters, especially on his return from pro 'rasslin. Wins are what really define a fighter's place in the MMA pantheon and Tank has a whopping ZERO wins against top opposition. If laying a whooping on Varelans, Jennum and grinding Yoji freakin' Anjo to a decision impresses you fair enough, but Tank was never anything more than a cartoon character to me.

Against Rizzo, Tank tags the striking specialist in the feet and doesnt allow him to impose his rythm, then takes the fight to the ground with a well executed takedown. Rizzo got back to his feet via standup referee after 7+ minuts of fighting, not by his own. Tank's lack of endurance was clearly what allowed Rizzo to take over, not any other skill.

Against Oleg, I dont think I need to argue why Tank gave him all he could handle. I'd say Oleg was a very good fighter...but a MW.

Againt Frye at his absolute peak, Tank put him in rubber legs several times and got the better of every exchanche. It was a slip what left Tank in a bad position, not any strike or takedown by Frye, who then capitalized very well on Tank's lack of ground skills. I think Frye himself regarded Tank as the toughest opponent going into the Ultimate Ultimate, and I doubt he had a different impression afterwards.

The fact the likes of Couture or Barnett performed better than Tank doesnt tell that much, they are all-time greats and the step below all-time great is not all-time scrub which is what you are making Tank look like.

TS is obiously doing a hyperbole and whoever doesnt acknowledge an evolution in the sport, even at HW, since Tank days is either blind or doesnt have a clue but Tank was definitely a solid opponent, without a doubt by 90s standards, and specially when he had his conditioning on point, or kinda.

 

[Achilles00]

Tank was a tough dude, had a brawler's mentality, and had some decent but limited skills. He was fun to watch but the sport passed him by pretty fast.

 

[Amerikuracana]

That bench is really impressive. Anything over 500 raw like that is legit. 600 and up is top level. I was up around 400 at one point weighing 250 with 22inch arms. I can’t imagine 600.

 

[weaselkenievil]

Watching Tank in early MMA events were part of what made me a lifelong fan. Some fat bar brawler knocking people out was great to watch. And what made me a real fan is watching Tank vs Rizzo, watching a real fighter use technique to beat the brawler. I was hooked after that.

 

[Doug Money]

Bork was a bloated WWE phony, Tank would slap Rogan for looking at him wrong.

Tank inspired fear even in tje booth. U can tell the other commentators where uncomfortable everytime Tank was in there lol

 

[kalabula]

No matter how you look at it, Tank Abbott is an absolute LEGEND.

Tank had it all(except maybe elite cardio) back in the day:

Elite Power
Wrestling
Granite Chin
Aggressive Style
Submission Defense
Bada*s Persona

The man does not get enough credit as a legend but Tank Abbot was literally a killer.


Watching the Greg Hardys and Derrick Lewis’s these days lets you know that HW has not evolved at all and possibly devolved.



Tank is a man to be appreciated by all the NON-sissy fans that are all too uncommon these days.

Power and chin. I’ll give you that.

 

[Billthebutcher]

i like tank, he was a great bar brawler. but he had no cardio, no strategy, and we didn't see him come back from real adversity in a fight.

 

[Volador]

Tank without the fence grabbing rule = unstoppable.

 

[hognubbins]

He killed One Matua in front of everybody didn’t he?

And I'm sure Steve Nelmark died too.

 

[hognubbins]

He had some great quotes back in the day

“I fought tougher cops at the bar” after making Steve Jenum tap, to grinding him into the cage while smiling at the camera

“I just wanted to tickle his brain a little bit” after a brutal KO of Matua

Jeff Blatnikk on a quote from tank “He is the barmans fighter, he wants those guys to have someone to cheer”

“I felt like I just got molested buy Freddy Mercury” after his fight with Dan Severn

And the list goes on, no doubt his record was far from the best but he did fight a lot of the top guys back then, I always looked forward to watching him fight, much respect

It’s been forever since I watched the ultimate tank DVD but I think I recall him saying he fought for free at some of the earlier fights back then, what a legend

His commentating was hilarious too, but they'd cut him off just as he was getting good/drunk.

 

[hognubbins]

Umm....20 year old JACKED OUT 225 lbs with 3% body fat beach boy.

Don't forget the lightning fast heavy hands.

 

[hognubbins]

Tank inspired fear even in tje booth. U can tell the other commentators where uncomfortable everytime Tank was in there lol

Tank was awesome commentating. I wish he could have been full time.

 

[Fioretti]

He was always entertaining. I never missed a Tank fight back in the day. Hespect.

 

[TSK]

He was more folk hero than legend. He lost to pretty much everyone he fought who was skilled. Entertaining as hell though and a pioneer.

 

[Benoitthegr8]

Maybe some of the older members remember back in the day there was an account IIRC the username was @thunderbolt88, his very first post was a thread making a very positive review of Tank Abbott’s newly released self written book entitled:

“Bar Brawler” Befor There Were Rules


As you can imagine the thread quickly turned into a 10 page shit show of people bashing the book, I actually purchased and attempted to read the book, I made it about 30 pages through before giving up...LoL, it was a very poorly spent $12.

It quickly became evident that @thunderbolt88 was in fact Tank himself, he was simply trying to plug his own book, for a while he was engaged in dialogue with nearly everyone who posted anything negatively in regards to his book, but he couldn’t keep up with mass trashing of his book. He was valiantly white knighting his own literary genius and kept the thread going a while, it kinda took on a life of its own. Eventually, he decided drinking and Sherdogging was a good idea, it was that obvious in the turn of his tone... His posts became increasingly belligerent and he began threatening the other members, he eventually was banned... I’m guessing the thread still exists and will look for it, it was hilariously entertaining and totally obvious who was pushing the review.

I do miss the good old days of Sherdog when fighters would periodically post here, even under troll accounts like Tank Abbott and Mike Dolce, get banned and we’d collectively laugh at them...

 

[CTE_Fan]

Watching Tank in early MMA events were part of what made me a lifelong fan. Some fat bar brawler knocking people out was great to watch. And what made me a real fan is watching Tank vs Rizzo, watching a real fighter use technique to beat the brawler. I was hooked after that.

that was a good fight. there were a lot of back and forth moments.

 

[BluntForceTrama]

If it wasn't over in the first 2 minutes it was over for Tank

 

[LilNicky95]

that was a good fight. there were a lot of back and forth moments.

Rizzo was legit AF....another under appreciated Legend.

 

[Deleted member 449757]

 

[pankrat]

Maybe some of the older members remember back in the day there was an account IIRC the username was @thunderbolt88, his very first post was a thread making a very positive review of Tank Abbott’s newly released self written book entitled:

“Bar Brawler” Befor There Were Rules
View attachment 822407

As you can imagine the thread quickly turned into a 10 page shit show of people bashing the book, I actually purchased and attempted to read the book, I made it about 30 pages through before giving up...LoL, it was a very poorly spent $12.

It quickly became evident that @thunderbolt88 was in fact Tank himself, he was simply trying to plug his own book, for a while he was engaged in dialogue with nearly everyone who posted anything negatively in regards to his book, but he couldn’t keep up with mass trashing of his book. He was valiantly white knighting his own literary genius and kept the thread going a while, it kinda took on a life of its own. Eventually, he decided drinking and Sherdogging was a good idea, it was that obvious in the turn of his tone... His posts became increasingly belligerent and he began threatening the other members, he eventually was banned... I’m guessing the thread still exists and will look for it, it was hilariously entertaining and totally obvious who was pushing the review.

I do miss the good old days of Sherdog when fighters would periodically post here, even under troll accounts like Tank Abbott and Mike Dolce, get banned and we’d collectively laugh at them...

Hope you find that thread