UFC 6: The Legend of Tank Abbott Is Born
by Luke Thomas on Apr 8, 2009 10:39 AM EDT
in MMA History
28 comments
Dave Meltzer continues his UFC retrospective as we approach UFC 100, this time focusing in on UFC 6. Meltzer explains the significance:
The show took place July 14, 1995, in Casper, Wyo., and featured Ken Shamrock’s win over Dan Severn with a guillotine in 2:15 to become the UFC Superfight champion. That championship was renamed the heavyweight championship in 1997, and is the same championship currently held by Brock Lesnar.
Shamrock became the first man in UFC competition to stop Severn’s takedowns, and then when Severn came forward, he left his neck open for the guillotine, the first time that strategy had been used against a high-level wrestler.
Abbott, who had some boxing experience and wrestled in college (facts kept secret from the public at the time), was marketed as a street fighter – actually the term created by the UFC’s Art Davie was “pit fighter” – who was there to punch out all the martial arts types who had dominated the shows up to that point.
With his buzz-shaved head and beer belly, Abbott had a unique look. And by becoming the first fighter allowed to wear what today are known as MMA gloves, he changed the game, because with bare knuckles, you could only throw so many punches before damaging your hands, but the open gloves protected the knuckles.
The legend of Abbott was created when he faced a man billed as a 400-pound Samoan bone-breaker named John Matua, whose was neither 400 pounds nor a bone-breaker, but was probably well north of 300. He knocked Matua out in 18 seconds, and the visual of Matua going into convulsions on the ground, as Abbott mocked him, created a bad boy image that made him UFC’s most talked about star for a couple of years. Matua remained out cold for about four minutes and a legend, of sorts, was made, as Abbott in an interview when showing a replay of his handiwork talked about how it made him sexually aroused.
Abbott later tapped out to a rear naked choke in the tournament finals, but both he and Oleg Taktarov, the man who beat him, collapsed after the tap. Taktarov was even given an oxygen mask. Even with a loss, the brawling power, evil demeanor and roughneck appearance of Abbott paved the way for his career for years to come. And this quote is what Andrew Sullivan might nominate for his Von Hoffman Award Nominee:
Campbell McLaren, who ran UFC, had a memorable quote at the postmatch party about Abbott’s gloves.
“That will be the last time,” he said, “anyone in UFC will ever be allowed to wear gloves.”
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Tank’s wrestling is something that gets seriously overlooked. He was able in his better days to fend off takedowns quite well…etc. People think of him as a “slug and nothing else” guy…but that wasn’t always the case.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/
by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 8, 2009 10:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones
by jemaleddin on Apr 8, 2009 11:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Thanks Jemaleddin,
I completely forgot about that fight.
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
by dnevil001 on Apr 8, 2009 11:17 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
And the nostalgia keeps on coming...
I remember seeing that fight for the first time in Highschool and I remember thinking how much of a bad ass Tank was. It was really the first time I can recall seeing someone lie there like that, convulsing with their body going rigid. Scary shit, but at the time I loved it.
by pud333 on Apr 8, 2009 11:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Tank was awesome the guy was the original test for what style’s work and which ones don’t
by drano on Apr 8, 2009 11:36 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Tank was cool as hell in his time. I still get a kick out of people who don’t know much about MMA thinking that Tank was and is the best ever…and would demolish anyone fighting today. Unfortunately I work with a bunch of those people and cannont have any type of converstaion with them regarding MMA because he always gets brought up.
Nice article though!
by soadtrails on Apr 8, 2009 12:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I think the ‘Friends’ episode mythologized Tank to a large extent.
by subo on Apr 8, 2009 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I use to think that Tank Abbott vs. Oleg Taktarov was the greatest fight ever. Then I didn’t see it for about 3 years, and when I watched it again, I was shocked how sloppy and horrible it was!!
by AlwaysRelaxing on Apr 8, 2009 12:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Ah..Tank memories
I remember when it was Tank and Don “The Predator” in the finals of one of the earlier tournaments. Tanks had him in trouble early, and the prospect of a Tank win troubled me for some reason. Thankfully his aggresiveness worked against him and Frye prevailed, a better representative and champion for the UFC and MMA, at least in those earlier days
by missmanners on Apr 8, 2009 12:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
perfect example
what the hell does the taktorov text have to do with anything? if you’re going to take pieces of the article and then have quotes that are equally confusing then at least make sure they have some sort of flow so people can follow wtf is going on. you go from talking SOLELY about matua to then saying he “later taped” out. in no way was the taktorov fight even talked about on the BE side but somehow worked its way onto the main page, at the top. its just confusing and I wonder if anyone proof reads before moving stuff to the main page?
by stearnum on Apr 8, 2009 1:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, there’s something missing in the post. The narrative doesn’t flow.
by pud333 on Apr 8, 2009 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree
It totally ruined my day. I had to stop and think for like 4 seconds who this “Taktorov” guy was.
by Farthammer on Apr 8, 2009 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Oleg Taktorov
One of the earlier Russian fighters in the UFC, he was a UFC HW champ for a lil bit if I’m not mistaken…
Surely you know him from his stellar role in “Rollerball” w/ Chris Klein, LL Cool J, Jean Reno, and Rebecca Romain… uhhh… she isn’t married to Uncle Jesse anymore so I don’t know what the rest of her name is.
by Gunslinger20 on Apr 8, 2009 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Oleg was in 15 Minutes w/De Niro also
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
by dnevil001 on Apr 8, 2009 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
No need to be snarky. I know who he is, I just said the narrative didn’t flow.
by pud333 on Apr 8, 2009 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well...
let’s see. as the quote says the Matua fight created the abbott legend (and happened at UFC 6) the Taktarov fight happened THE SAME SHOW. Abbott…after knocking out Matua…went on to get submitted by Taktarov.
And this was not “moved to the front page” it was a post BY Luke.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/
by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 8, 2009 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
well then thats even worse if done by a founder.. you can’t mention taktarov halfway through the article without using his first name then. you only use that after fully introducing him. i understood eventually what was going on but have been trained from reading my whole life that something was missing because he came in halfway through and it made little to no sense.
by stearnum on Apr 8, 2009 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Two things
1. You started off your complaint by being a sanctimonious prick, so there’s no chance in Hell I’m going to listen to your criticism.
2. Try working on your punctuation and writing coherent sentences before you worry about what we are doing.
If you’ve got criticism, fine. Let’s hear it. In fact, I hear it every day. But I’m not listening to any reader, writer, staff member, family member or whoever that begins their complaint with a ridiculous attitude. You can take the shit elsewhere.
by Luke Thomas on Apr 8, 2009 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
If I’m honest Luke, I also though the paragraph needed a little rewording (your first reference to Taktarov was through the word ‘both’, which just read a little weird). It just seemed as though a sentence was missing off the top. Anyway, I know sod all about writing for a living, so I’ll just be quiet now.
by -Sam on Apr 8, 2009 2:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
"you can’t mention taktarov halfway through the article without using his first name"
Really? You need Taktarov’s first name? lol
If you are into MMA then you know Oleg Taktarov. You have way too much time on your hands if you spend this long complaining about something that stems from your lack of knowledge of MMA.
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
by dnevil001 on Apr 8, 2009 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He was confused and thought it was Joe Bob Taktarov
He fought on a small show for Strikeforce once. Fighter out of Alabama, I believe. ;)
"It's like a flying knuckle sandwich." --Rogan
"And many men have eaten it." -- Goldy
by thetakeover on Apr 9, 2009 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Jesus. Are you always spoon fed information?
by Luke Thomas on Apr 8, 2009 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don’t ask to be spoon fed information. But it would be nice for it to be in some sort of form that is easy to read. Isn’t that the point? I would hope that someone who runs a site and fucks up what they wrote wouldn’t get defensive with saying people shouldn’t be spoon fed. I believe its an indictment on your writing ability or more likely laziness in proof reading before posting it. Apologies for coming off like an asshole but as evidence in another thread I posted, I really like this site and how quickly I can get access to information through it. I can overlook most spelling errors and other things but when facts are incorrect (previous thread) or the article just flows horribly it is a pain in my side. To whatever idiot questioned my knowledge of mma, it had nothing to do with mma knowledge it had to do with flow of the article. Never at any point did I say I didn’t know who Oleg Taktarov was. Oh well, I know it appears as though I am some asshole nit picking for no reason (at least to Luke) but I actually just want the site to be better because I think its a very good place for MMA info.
p.s. I used punctuation this time.
by stearnum on Apr 8, 2009 2:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
My point was that basically everyone who comes to this site for MMA
knows the name Taktarov & mentioning his first name is not necessary. You keep saying that you like this site but you are acting like a douchebag. Read the articles if you want info & chill the fuck out on trying to be an English professor.
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
by dnevil001 on Apr 8, 2009 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Nevermind, its lost on you.. The last time I posted about an error the person posted who won the wrong round. I guess that is a larger error than what went on here but still I would think you would get the point. It takes a quick check of the post to make sure it works and is correct. I guess it’s being drug out and making me look like a “douchebag” but oh well. You seem to be stuck on the part where I mentioned Taktarov’s first name being left out. If you look at the article that isn’t the problem at all just a small little blip. The problem is that there was a part added without it having any known relation to the article other than both being from UFC 6. Bleh, I’m bored of whining.
by stearnum on Apr 8, 2009 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I understand your point man,
but quickly mentioning how someone got the person who won wrong & writing a fucking paragraph bitching about you did not understand are two different things. I am quite sure that Luke and the rest of the BE guys proofread their stuff before they post it, but sometimes comprehension is the problem. Brent explained why Taktarov was mentioned in this article. Like I said, you have way too much time on your hands.
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
by dnevil001 on Apr 8, 2009 2:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
At the time, I hated Tank Abbot
and now I think he is a joke…but that is basically because he has stayed around too long and is more than willing to be someone’s stepping stone (hi Kimbo).
But in retrospect, he gave early MMA something it really needed, a villain. It changed things to have someone to root against. It was an especially useful tool to have for the tournament format.
by Razreshat on Apr 8, 2009 2:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
the article/post did its job. i was amused/reminded of the way my buddies and I jumped on the couch when we saw the way Matua hit the deck after those Tank punches……and that interview where he said all TMA guys were nothing compared to his ability to hit people in the face. thanks for the memories, both to the writer, and Tank.
Gatti. Dekkers. Pele. Aoki. Kang. Vanderlei.
http://theworldsoldestsport.blogspot.com/
by theworldsoldestsport on Apr 8, 2009 5:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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