LastExit34

From MMAweekly.com

Pride: What were you saying when you were hitting the sand bag earlier? It sounded like you were saying, “kill” each time you hit it.

Tank Abbott: (laughing) No, you misheard me. My breathing probably just sounded like that to you.

Pride: What was your strategy?

Abbot: Not to get arm barred. That’s a joke but I would have been okay no matter what. I’m confident standing and on the ground.

Pride: Okay, I see. (laughing) Getting right to the point, have you seen any PRIDE fights?

Abbot: Of course. I think that PRIDE is a great place where the world’s best fighters fight. I think it’s the closest to real fighting among all the organizations. The rules are strict in other places, right? And there are a lot of weight classes. Some of (the weight classes) look like they are adjusted just to create stars. PRIDE’s not like that. That’s why I wanted to fight.

Pride: How do you feel about fighting in PRIDE, considering that you’ve been a UFC fighter until now?

Abbot: I’m really looking forward to it because PRIDE is a new place to fight for me. I fought in UFC-J in Japan once before. You can expect a lot from me because I was waiting after that for a long time for the next chance.

Pride: Mark Coleman, a legendary fighter who also came from the UFC, hasn’t done well in PRIDE recently. It seems like the current situation, not limited to Coleman, is that the American fighters aren’t winning.

Abbot: Honestly, whether the Americans are winning or losing doesn’t have anything to do with me. If I’m in shape, I’m confident I can beat any top fighter in the world. I’m going to be in top shape when I climb into the PRIDE ring. That’s all I think about.

Pride: Even so, Kevin Randleman, Josh Barnett and the current Champion, Chuck Liddell, all originally UFC fighters, haven’t been able to win in PRIDE recently. What do you think the problem is?

Abbot: Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe it’s just a simple lack of preparation.

Pride: Do you think there is any difference, in terms of the level of fighting, between the UFC and PRIDE?

Abbot: I don’t know for certain. In PRIDE, though, there are a lot of opportunities to fight opponents that have as much skill as yourself, or maybe even more. That’s probably the difference.

Pride: I see. You are often called a “brawler.” Tell us something about your experience as a brawler.”

Abbot: I’ve been fighting all my life. As far as I can remember, I started my life as a brawler when I was around 9 years old. My life as a brawler will last at least another 30 years. I’ve been boxing for 20 years. When I get bored of the gym though, it’s fun to go to a bar and beat someone that has an attitude. So, when I’m in a bad mood, sometimes I go to the bar to find that kind of guy. (laughing)

Pride: What?!

Abbot: I’ve kicked a lot of guys’ asses. It doesn’t have to be a bar. Whether it’s on the side of the road or a gas station, I don’t care where we are. Fighting is fun. (smiling)

Pride: If you like fighting so much, why did you leave the UFC for a time and start pro-wrestling (WCW)?

Abbot: I love fighting. I thought that my time for making a living in martial arts, including the UFC, was over at one point. It wasn’t broadcast on TV and the money wasn’t good. I can’t make a living that way. That’s when I was approached by WCW. Over time, though, WCW probably realized that they couldn’t use all of my craziness. I wasn’t satisfied with in the UFC because of my roots as a fighter and that’s why I chose PRIDE this time.

Pride: How do you plan on fighting in PRIDE?

Abbot: I think of myself as a wrestler that has two powerful arms. I don’t like getting hit, of course, but I’m not scared of getting hit and I’m going to keep pounding with these two powerful arms. I think they are my best weapons.

Pride: So, you attach a lot of importance to your punches.

Abbot: Of course. I’ve been training at this Mexican-style gym for a long time because hitting hard will be the focus of my fight. That’s the only thing I concentrate on when I’m training.

Pride: Exactly what kind of training are you doing now?

Abbot: Boxing, grappling, cardio and weight training. I spend about the same amount of time on each of them.

Pride: You’re going to fight Hidehiko Yoshida on August 28th. Honestly, what did you think when you heard his name?

Abbot: When I heard Yoshida’s name? I was excited, of course. Then, I remembered his fight with Royce Gracie. I think he’s a tough guy. I don’t like fighting easy opponents in the first place. Tough opponents are the best.

Pride: What do you have to watch out for with Yoshida?

Abbot: I’ll be watching out for everything. He’s good on the ground and grabbing. He’s got a lot of strong techniques for using his judo gi to bring the fight to the ground.

Pride: Are you doing any specific training for Yoshida?

Abbot: I get asked that a lot. If I prepare myself, I don’t think there’s any need to train for a specific opponent. I’d say that is my specific training. (laughing). This isn’t a joke. If I in shape, there’s nobody in this world that can beat me. If my mind and my body are prepared, there is nothing to fear.

Pride: How do you think the fight will play out?

Abbot: No idea. (laughing) I honestly don’t know. I’ve never tried to imagine how a fight would go.

Pride: Really?

Abbot: Of course! Who do you think I am?! I can’t even imagine it. The real question is whether Yoshida can keep up with me. That’s what I’m looking forward to the most.

Pride: You want to KO him with punches though, right?

Abbot: I don’t know. There are a lot of patterns in a fight. It may be a fight that ends with a KO or it may primarily be a grappling match. I may even submit him. (laughing) That’s why I can’t imagine what will happen.

Pride: PRIDE is broadcast all over the world, including the US. What do you want to show everyone that will be sitting in front of their televisions?

Abbot: That’s simple. The guys that watch my fight want to see my type of win. They want to see me beat my opponent down.

Pride: Is there anything that you want to say to Yoshida?

Abbot: Yoshida! Do you know what’s going to happen to you? I am going to beat you down! That’s all.

Pride: Is there anyone that you want to fight in PRIDE after Yoshida?

Abbot: Not really? Why? Because I will fight anybody. I didn’t think I’d be fighting at this age either but I’m addicted to fighting. (laughing)

credit: http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/...=460&zoneid=13

SmashingMachine

That was interesting. So, maybe Tank will show up in shape for once. He seems extremely confident. Probably will work against him. I still think Yoshida will take it to him. Tank would be fun to watch if he had or has gotten some skills.

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Brandon_Dicken

No theres a pic of him on MMAweekly he doesn't look in shape to me same old Tank I think Yoshidas gonna win if not then you'll see Tank again on the next PPV I guarrantee it they did the same thing to Baroni they jsut kept him around so he can lose he showed them though. If Yoshida does lose I can see them ut Nakumura in there next because he's Yoshidas student and that would be a good revenge match. 500 on Yoshida though he should win though

Master Jones

I've always been a fan of Tank. I hope he can pull it off. As long as beer isn't his main work out routine. He should do alright, with the exseption of his cardio,witch I don't think will be very good. It really never has been all that good.

titoortiz1

it'll b an nteresting fight that's for sure.. awesome nterview..

SmashingMachine

I can't understand why you wouldn't get yourself into shape to fight the best fighters in the world? Does he really think he's that great, that he can just climb down off of his barstool and fight a guy like Yoshida? You would think, if you were going to get on the big stage, you'd want yourself to look good, and be in shape. Who knows, maybe he'll come out with "six-pack abs." But, it will probably be more like "two and a half case abs."

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angryjonny

Abbott was real confident against Mir as well. Yoshida's ground skills are far superior to Mir's and Frank breezed through Abbott without breaking a sweat.

LastExit34

What makes you say that Yoshida's ground skills are far superior to Mir's?

angryjonny

Well an Olympic gold medal in Judo could be grounds for my comment as well as many more world championships. Yoshida would bring much more to the mat than Mir could. I do think Mir is great. Yoshida is better. No doubt in my mind.

LastExit34

I guess it all depends on what you're calling "ground skills."

angryjonny

I'm talking straight grappling. Mir couldn't hang with Yoshida. The edge I see Mir having would actually be striking. Though Yoshida can take a punch very well.

LastExit34

I would give Yoshida the edge in takedown ability, but if you're talking about submission skills, I'll take Mir all day long.

angryjonny

Well, agree to disagree. I think Yoshida would have gone to win the 2000 Olypics as well if he had not suffered a broken arm. Also I know a lot of people weren't critical towards his fight with Gracie at Shockwave 2002 but if the referee wouldn't have stopped that match he could have killed him, and I mean literally, because Gracie wasn't getting out of that choke and it is very dangerous to begin with, credit to Gracie for not tapping but he lost. And Gracie is one of the best grapplers in the world. Also with being a world class Judo expert Yoshida has phenominal ground control, and would choke Mir out guranteed.

LastExit34

I suggest that you go back and watch that fight again. Yoshida had no type of choke on Gracie in that fight. If you watch the replay Gracie had his chin and mouth outside of Yoshida's arm. The only thing that Yoshida was killing was time, which he is quite good at. The fact that you said he would choke out Mir guaranteed just makes me laugh hysterically.

angryjonny

Maybe I should watch it again. I only watched it once. If I was wrong, I apologize. Even so Yoshida has improved so much since just that time back at Shockwave. Still Yoshida would beat Mir. Not easily but I know he would. You do know that chokes and joint locks are part of Judo right? I just find it funny that you think Mir has the upper hand on submissions. Plus you have to have ground control to submit and he could not control Yoshida. I'm glad that you laugh histerically when I say Yoshida would choke Mir out. I'm not real sure how to respond to that comment because I was expecting a little more to your rebuttal. I guess I will take comfort in the fact that you are laughing. It's good for you, and good for your abdominal muscles as well.

SmashingMachine

Yoshida's good, but I don't know if he's that good. Frank Mir's one of the top fighters in the world right now. I think if Yoshida becomes more three dimensional, in terms of his skills, he could beat Frank Mir, but not right now.

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angryjonny

That is what Yoshida is doing every fight. He becomes more rounded and seems to bring something that he didn't have in the fight before. I am not saying that Mir isn't one of the top fighters, due to his injury I wouldn't say "now" but he was and after rehab he will be on top again. I'm just saying I honestly think Yoshida can beat him. Another thing Mir needs is some real competition. The only guy in UFC that even compares to him is Arlovski and we haven't seen enough of Arlovski on the ground besides the Sylvia match. It seems that some people just don't give enough respect to Judo.

GutterMouthed1

I am still very skeptical of Tank even though he sounds like he plans on being in shape for this one. I don't think someone with zero abilty when it comes to the ground fight and submission can really compete with guys who have been doing these things their whole life. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

angryjonny

I reread some of the stuff I posted here and realized that I said some ridiculous things. I was being as other forums would call me a "nut hugger" for my man Yoshida. I apologize to Exit and everyone else for making such a dumb debate and saying these silly things. I have more respect for Mir than what I was expressing in this thread. I did rewatch the Yoshida and Royce fight and Royce was clearly beating him. Yoshida is still the man though!

SeikanJudanski

That was a nonsense decision by the ref to stop that fight, seemed to me Royce was laying there relaxing, while Yoshida was thinking he was choking him. That was really a bad call on the ref, similar to the Sakuraba - Royler Gracie fight, I have to give it to Sak, he was winning the fight, but the ref shouldn´t have stopped it. Sak was not implying a Kimura on Royler, and Royler was not thinking about giving up. Rickson was furious after the fight, arguing with the Pride representatives.. I remember Bas saying, "now Rickson has to fight Sakuraba".. I wish he would have done so.

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