Tank Abbott

David Lee "Tank" Abbott (born April 26, 1965) is an American retired mixed martial arts fighter, professional wrestler, and author.

He currently hosts his own podcast series titled "The Proving Ground with Tank Abbott."

Upon this description, the management compared him to the character "Tank Murdock" from the 1978 Clint Eastwood movie Every Which Way But Loose, which encouraged them to give David the nickname of "Tank Abbott" and bill him as a "pit fighter" with over 200 street fights.

According to Abbott, this wasn't the first time he applied to the UFC.

Inspired by Kimo Leopoldo's participation in UFC 3, he had tried to enter the promotion as soon as September 1994, but the UFC management only allowed him to fight from UFC 6 onwards, after Royce Gracie had ceased fighting in UFC.

Art Davie would later confirm the Gracie family used its input in the management to limit fighters with amateur wrestling backgrounds, like Abbott himself, from entering the first events.

Abbott made his debut at UFC 6 in July 1995 as scheduled.

He actively cultivated the tough character he had been given, firstly by giving a rude interview in which he derided martial arts and then by knocking out the Hawaiian Kapu Kuialua fighter John Matua, who weighed 400 lb, in the first 18 seconds of his opening fight.

Abbott further solidified his reputation by mocking Matua's convulsions after the KO while the ring doctors rushed the cage.

Abbott advanced to the next round and was pitted against a similarly heavier adversary, Paul Varelans.

After returning to the cage in midst of strong cheers, Abbott knocked out Varelans by ground and pound and knee strikes, all while mockingly smiling at his opponent laying beneath him.

His post-fight interview also contained the notorious "sexually aroused" comment.

At the finals of the tournament, Abbott faced the Russian Oleg Taktarov in a fight that the announcers touted as a "skill vs. power" bout.

Just as described, the match saw Abbott blocking Taktarov's artful grappling attempts and damaging him in turn with hard punches and uppercuts.

With both men becoming increasingly tired due to their previous fights and the high altitude of the location, the action moved to Taktarov's guard, where Abbott avoided multiple submission attempts and punished him further.

The fight was restarted standing, which would give Abbott the advantage, but by this point he was exhausted enough for a slightly better conditioned Taktarov to pull him down and lock a rear naked choke, thus winning the fight at the 17 minutes mark.

Both men collapsed in exhaustion after the fight, and Taktarov had to be carried out of the cage.

Although Abbott had failed at winning the tournament, referee John McCarthy considered him the next big star of the promotion after Royce Gracie.

Abbott returned the same year as part of the Ultimate Ultimate event, which saw runners-up and champions from the previous UFC tournaments gathered together.

He first fought UFC 3 winner and ninjutsu practitioner Steve Jennum, whom he outweighed by 80lbs.

Although Jennum proved capable of avoiding Tank's strikes, Abbott submitted him with an improvised neck crank.

However, his next opponent was Dan Severn, UFC 5 champion and a much more decorated freestyle wrestler than Abbott.

Tank initiated the action strong, but he was overpowered and eventually kept on all fours while Severn rained elbows and knees on him.

After fifteen minutes of absorbing strikes, Abbott managed to free himself, but Severn kept dominance until the end of the fight, which gained him the judges's unanimous decision.

Abbott's next UFC appearance would be in September 1996, at UFC 11.

Accompanied by a young Tito Ortiz and dragging a knee injury without its adequate surgery, Tank entered the cage to fight professional boxer Sam Adkins, an affair he ended quickly in the first round by forearm choke against the cage wall.

This tournament venture was cut short, however, by Scott Ferrozzo, a contender from Don Frye's entourage who was billed as a "pitfighter" like Abbott himself.

Abbott is perhaps best known for being an icon in the early stages of mixed martial arts and the UFC, but has also competed in the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Strikeforce, EliteXC, and Cage Rage, challenging for the UFC heavyweight Championship once in 1997 His fighting style, which he developed brawling in the bars and streets of Huntington Beach, California, was described by his future manager Dave Thomas as "Pit Fighting".

He also authored a novel titled Bar Brawler.

Abbott was born and raised in Huntington Beach, California.

Abbott began practicing amateur wrestling when he was nine years old, and continued through high school where he also played football.

He then continued wrestling in college, where he was a NJCAA All-American.

He then attended California State University, Long Beach where he graduated with a degree in history.

During this time he was trained in boxing by Noe Cruz who also trained world champion boxer Carlos Palomino at the Westminster Boxing Gym.

However, Abbott was mainly known for the many street fights that he had engaged in, rarely losing.

While working at a liquor store to help pay for his college tuition, Abbott encountered a "smart-ass" customer.

Abbott beat the customer severely, and the customer, who turned out to be the son of a detective, pressed charges for assault.

Abbott was sentenced to six months in jail, the judge saying "Mr. Abbott, you are a maniac. I'm surprised you haven't killed somebody."

Abbott started his career in mixed martial arts when he applied to the UFC for its event UFC 6 in Casper, Wyoming.

He was introduced to the UFC management by his future manager Dave Thomas, who credited him as a veteran street fighter who lifted 600lbs in bench press and had knocked out four men in his last brawl.