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Interview w/ UFC Legend Tank Abbott (part 2)
Reported By: Boxing Insider - 11.14.2003 11:41 PM
The following is part 2 of a 3 part interview boxinginsider.com conducted with UFC Legend Tank Abbott
Tank Abbott Interview: Interview w/ UFC Legend Part 1 |Part 2 | Part 3
Boxinginsider.com: OK. We're going to go on with a couple of drinking questions. How many beers have you had tonight?
Tank Abbott: I haven't even had... I don't drink beer, number one.
Boxinginsider.com: No? What do you drink?
Tank Abbott: I [drink beer] when I'm hard up and there's nothing else to drink -- if I'm trying to stay sober for some reason. But I just sat down to -- let's see -- about a third of my first cup of vodka with a splash of cranberry in it. And that is Saturday night at 7:50 my time, [my] first drink of the week.
Photo: UFC.tv
Boxinginsider.com: Can you tell us a good Tank Abbott drinking story?
Tank Abbott: Once again, man -- it's like the WCW stories – there are so many, I can't even remember.
Boxinginsider.com: We want to hear your favorite story of you just beating the shit out of somebody at a bar.
Tank Abbott: Oh... Where do I start? Some guy that I beat up in a bar, drunk. How about this? I'll tell you about a guy that looked like me. This guy ... who will remain nameless - tried to include me in a lawsuit.... He was saying all this stuff, so I said, "Go ahead and punch me". He punched me in the face and I got him in a guillotine and I choked him out. I put him in a phone booth and I left. He called the police and said I did this [stuff] to him. Of course I didn't, and everybody in the bar said, "Are you crazy? This guy's a storyteller." At that point in time, I was kind of mad since he called the police on me.
I then saw him, oh, three or four years later, and he was pounding on a bar door that was closed. I was the only one in there having a cocktail with the bartender. He came in [and] I said, "You've got to let this guy into the bar."
[The bartender] opened up the bar and let him in. I escorted him to a booth in the back where all the lights were out and his lights got turned out. (Laughs) He got stretched out rather well. He went to the police and told them the same story again, and I said, "This is the second time this guy's tried to do this to me." But that was the last one that came to mind because I don't really fight any more.
Boxinginsider.com: Do people at bars, when they see you, try to start trouble with you because you're Tank Abbott?
Tank Abbott: I would say, not really -- for the most part, no. But by the same token, once in a while there's a drunken guy, [but] usually they wise up by the time they want to pull the trigger. It's dumb. They think better of it.
Boxinginsider.com: You have a three-fight deal with the UFC. If you lose this next fight, do you think they will renew your contract?
Tank Abbott: I really don't know what's going to go on. I didn't even think I'd be fighting in the UFC again. I never thought I'd be professional wrestling... You never know where you're going to end up. I don't know. You never know.
Boxinginsider.com: Well, let me ask you about your fight. How's your training going for the fight?
Tank Abbott: My training's going pretty well actually. I was 238 [lbs] last Friday -- and I'm decently strong. I'm putting in my time and actually -- for the first time in a long, long time -- I can't wait to get up and train.
Boxinginsider.com: Can you take us through a Tank Abbott training routine?
Tank Abbott: I do all the basics. I've wrestled since I was nine years old. I get up, and I wrestle. I go to the boxing gym. I lift weights. I run. I do submission! Everybody thinks submission is some kind of magical thing and you know why? It's because usually it's little shrimps that are like four foot nine, five foot two -- and the only way they can be tough is through knowledge. There's really no way to validate themselves. So they think if they know something that somebody doesn't, they can beat them up. But they obviously haven't been in a bar fight because you try to do submission in a bar fight, usually you get hurt really bad. Lying on your back in a bar isn't where you want to be.
Boxinginsider.com: What are your comments for the Mixed Martial Arts fans that weren't happy that you came back?
Tank Abbott: I love the idea. The only reason why you would hate me is because you wish you were me. You're a little Mixed Martial Art guy -- say you're a little five foot two midget, and you've been studying jiu-jitsu your whole life, the only reason why you would hate me is because -- no matter how long you were in the dojo, I guess they call it -- you could never kick my ass.
You know, it's a kind of a funny phenomenon. Ever since they started with weight classes and everything ... all of a sudden the little guys, the little Chihuahuas, are barking louder and louder like they're tough guys. But back in the day when there were no weight classes, I never saw any of these little shrimps around. (Laughs) I've never seen you. I can't put a face to you, but I have a feeling you're a small guy that practices jiu-jitsu. And you hate me, because you can't hit me.
Boxinginsider.com: Well, I don't hate you, personally.
Tank Abbott: All right. But I'm just telling you that that's why these people hate me. But you want to know what? There's no gray or white. It's black or white. You either hate me or you like me. There's no in-between. That's because I'm honest and that's who I am. I'll tell you the way it is -- or the way I think it is. If you don't like it, what are you going to do? If you don't like me, guess what? I probably don't even know who you are. So don't think because you hate me...that I'm laying up in my bed thinking about you. Because I don't give a rat's ass about you. In fact, why don't you buy another ticket for the next show?
Boxinginsider.com: What is your game plan for the "Cabbage" fight? How do you see this fight unfolding?
Tank Abbott: My game plan is just to be me. And if I come in 100% on my training, the whole nine yards, I'll be ready. I'm pretty sure -- when I'm on my game -- there is not anybody that I can't beat. It's just like boxing; when the top five guys are on their game, anybody can win that night … I'm definitely in the upper echelon when I'm on my game. I'm definitely going to be on my game for this next fight.
There are a lot of factors going into it -- physical, mental, the whole nine yards. I've definitely got all my ducks lined up in a row for this fight. I haven't looked forward to a fight in a long time. Let's put it that way.
Boxinginsider.com: Ken Shamrock expressed an interest in fighting you. Is there any chance of the two of you fighting at some point, finally? And why haven't you guys fought?
Tank Abbott: I don't know if it just never came to fruition. But, if you really think about it, me and Ken are complete opposites. He doesn't like me and I don't like him. I mean, he shaves his legs and he thinks he's all muscle-man and all that kind of stuff. And, once again, he goes, "I know submission."
I know how to kick your ass. I know how to put a fist in your face, I don't shave my legs, I party and I have a good time. I'll have a greater time kicking your ass and I'll party afterwards and...
Boxinginsider.com: So how would a Ken Shamrock vs. Tank Abbott match unfold? In your opinion?
Tank Abbott: Oh, sheesh. He's probably going to come out, try to take me down. He's going to find out that's not possible, and I'm going to knock the snot out of him. He's never been hit by someone like me. Never. Tito couldn't bust eggs.
Boxinginsider.com:I'm going to ask you now about some legacies. I'll start with Ken. What is Ken's legacy within Mixed Martial Arts and the UFC?
Tank Abbott: He's got some kind of legacy going on. You can't take that away from the man. That doesn't mean I like him or dislike him because I don't like him. The bottom line is: he's got a legacy going. He's proved that he's a tough guy. But, you know, he's just everything I'm not.
Boxinginsider.com: Royce Gracie?
Tank Abbott: Royce Gracie did a nice little gimmick with his Jiu-Jitsu at the beginning. But now he’d get squashed like a bug if he fought anybody his own way. Not his own way, but, you know, in the old UFC. That's why everybody prides themselves on all the little Chihuahuas barking a lot about how great Jiu-Jitsu is? Not one of them could hold a candle to f***ing Royce Gracie's jock in toughness. And that's why -- Royce Gracie was a tough man! That's why he did what he did with his Jiu-Jitsu.... All these little pussies that think they f***ing want a magic pill, and they're going to do Jiu-Jitsu? They're not even one quarter as tough as Royce was. The reason why Royce was successful is because Royce was tough.
Boxinginsider.com: What is Tank Abbott's legacy?
Tank Abbott: That's not for me to decide, man. My role is to get up and have as much fun every day as I possibly can. So far, I'm doing a pretty good job at it.
Stay tuned for part 3 of our interview with UFC Legend Tank Abbott
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