JRE MMA Show #158 with Tank Abbott

Joe Rogan 0:00 (drumming music plays) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

Narrator 0:04 The Joe Rogan Experience.

Joe Rogan 0:06 Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music plays) Yeah. All right. What's happening, baby? Good to see you.

David “Tank” Abbott 0:14 Oh, likewise. It's been a long road for both of us.

Joe Rogan 0:18 It has been a long road, man.

David “Tank” Abbott 0:19 Yes.

Joe Rogan 0:20 I- I think I first met you in 1997.

David “Tank” Abbott 0:23 Hmm, I don't know the dates, but-

Joe Rogan 0:26 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 0:27 ... I- I remember meeting you officially, or in my memory, in New Orleans or somewhere around there, um, when I was sitting, like, in an auditorium and you came in and sat down next to me. And at that time, uh, people used to bother me all the time.

Joe Rogan 0:46 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 0:47 And so I was getting some fresh air and, uh, away from everyone, and, uh, you came up and sat down and I was, in my head I was like, "Oh no, I just want some peace."

Joe Rogan 1:00 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:00 And, uh, you rolled up and you were totally cool and I was like, "Oh that guy's cool." And we had a good session rapping.

Joe Rogan 1:08 Yeah, I remember first meeting y- y- you know, when you talk about like the early days of the UFC, like you- you are one of the real original legends of MMA.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:20 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:20 I mean, you were one of the very first guys, and you were one of the very first guys... First of all, you're one of the very first guys, if not the first, to wear gloves.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:30 Hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:30 Which I always thought was very smart. I know Vitor I think was one of the first?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:35 No.

Joe Rogan 1:35 Who was the very first? Was it you?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:37 I don't know, but the- the people out there in, uh, the, uh, internet world say this Melton Bowen guy. He was a striker/boxer kinda guy in the early UFCs. I did not get the idea from him at all. And who was the other guy with the one glove, boxing glove?

Joe Rogan 1:56 Oh yeah, he just died recently. Damn it.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:59 I forgot his name. Goddamn it.

David “Tank” Abbott 2:01 It was back in the days with, uh, Fred Edish.

Joe Rogan 2:03 Art Jimmerson, Art Jimmerson.

David “Tank” Abbott 2:05 Yes.

Joe Rogan 2:05 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 2:06 And, and-

Joe Rogan 2:06 Fred Edish, that's right.

David “Tank” Abbott 2:08 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 2:08 Fred Edish.

David “Tank” Abbott 2:09 With, and Harold Howard and all those guys kicking.

Joe Rogan 2:12 Yes.

David “Tank” Abbott 2:12 And, um, at the time I had just gotten outta jail for, uh, beating up a cop's son, and they kinda... He used his position to, um, his dad, uh, make things go the way for the prosecution even though he deserved to get beat up and I obliged him. But, uh, I was going back and forth from a halfway house to work from the guy that got me into the show, and, uh, we stopped off at a, um, like a Dick's Sporting Goods store, big box sporting goods store like that. I don't think it was Dick's, but it was something like that, and they were bag gloves and I- I put 'em on and I go, "These would be perfect." But they had a post in 'em so you couldn't really wrestle with 'em, and I was like, "Hmm, I could take the post out." I ended up cutting it off and it was just a clear plastic thick tube that you could hold onto, so I got rid of that and I go, "These are perfect." And, uh, I think they were Harbinger gloves and, uh, I knew 'cause I'd been in hundreds of street fights, altercations, that's where I come from, a- although I've wrestled since I was eight years old, but, uh, I used to beat people up on the street that (laughs) -

Joe Rogan 3:43 That deserved it.

David “Tank” Abbott 3:44 Yeah, absolutely.

Joe Rogan 3:45 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 3:45 There's not one guy out there that di- didn't want do the same thing to me. I was just better at it. Um, so I knew my hands would get hurt and, uh, I'm like, "You can't fight three times in one night without your hands getting busted up." So I cut those out and I go, "These are perfect. I can wrestle in 'em." As I said, I'd wrestled my whole life and, uh, they were perfect.

Joe Rogan 4:15 Did you have hand wraps on?

David “Tank” Abbott 4:17 No, no hand wraps.

Joe Rogan 4:18 Just the gloves?

David “Tank” Abbott 4:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:19 Yeah. Do you w- wrap your wrists or anything?

David “Tank” Abbott 4:21 No.

Joe Rogan 4:21 Nothing?

David “Tank” Abbott 4:22 Mm-mm.

Joe Rogan 4:22 And what was the law back then? What were the- the rules rather? What were the rules in for... What- w- what- you were allowed to wear wrestling shoes.

David “Tank” Abbott 4:28 Right.

Joe Rogan 4:28 You were allowed to hit the nuts back then.

David “Tank” Abbott 4:29 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:30 In your- your first fights, you were allowed to pull hair, hit the nuts.

David “Tank” Abbott 4:33 You could do anything.

Joe Rogan 4:34 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 4:35 There- there wasn't, there... 'Til I came along. And, uh...

Joe Rogan 4:40 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 4:40 Anyways, uh, they, um, you just couldn't- I can't even tell you what you couldn't do, but, um, that- you couldn't bite and you couldn't eye gouge.

Joe Rogan 4:51 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 4:51 Those were the only two rules.

Joe Rogan 4:52 And I think fish hooking, right?

David “Tank” Abbott 4:54 No, that was me.

Joe Rogan 4:55 Oh really? You started f- (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 4:57 Yeah. (laughs) . I introduced, uh, them to fish hooking.

Joe Rogan 5:02 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 5:02 And, um, so at the fighters meeting, they have these meetings with all the fighters and they all sit in there and I guess think they're badass, but I guess they are in their own world, but... So they're all sitting around and, uh, big John McCartney was up there explaining the rules and I think he was having trouble since there wasn't any. Um, so at the end of that I asked him, I said... I had the gloves with me and I- I- I say, "Can I wear these?" And, uh, in his big bellowing goofy voice he goes, "Oh if you wanna wear 'em, go ahead." Thinking I was some kind of fool when in fact, uh, I was thinking everybody else were fools that- that- they've never really been in a fight and your hands gets busted up, so.

Joe Rogan 5:57 Yeah, I thought the fir- very fir- first time I saw you wearing 'em, I'm like, "That guy's smart." That, and look- and when you knocked out, was it John Tuah?

David “Tank” Abbott 6:03 Matua, yeah.

Joe Rogan 6:04 Matua, John Matua. When you knocked him out I was like, "See, like this... You can still generate insane power-

David “Tank” Abbott 6:10 Yes.

Joe Rogan 6:10 ... but you don't hurt your hands."

David “Tank” Abbott 6:11 Absolutely. And, uh, I didn't hurt my hands, although...... at the end of that fight, I, I ... Not that fight, but he fought three times in one night and I think I, I busted up my hand. It didn't break it, but it busted up where I had to go to the hospital and get it x-rayed and, uh, I got to go. I didn't wanna go 'cause I was a kid and, like, no one sends me to the hospital even-

Joe Rogan 6:40 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 6:40 ... even myself, you know? I was just, my busted up hands, "No, I'll be all right." But my father talked me into going, so I went there and there all of my opponents were all stretched out and, uh-

Joe Rogan 6:55 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 6:55 ... I'm saying, "Oh, well. How you doing? I'm just passing through." So they x-rayed it and said I was all right and went back to the cocktail party and had some fun.

Joe Rogan 7:04 (laughs) Did you have any, like, injuries during your career?

David “Tank” Abbott 7:09 Oh, sure. I mean, when ... I fought when I needed knee surgery against Foroso. Um, I couldn't run, I couldn't do anything, and, uh, I ended up, uh, taking the fight. I told him that I didn't wanna fight. And then, um, back in those days they had ways of stacking the cards against you, and, uh, so the owner of the show at that time says, "Hey, show up. You got a small g-" or, "You have a boxer your first fight, so that's not gonna be a big deal." And he goes, "Then you got a little guy, like a 200 pound guy that was from Shamrock's camp." Um, what is it, Bolander?

Joe Rogan 7:55 Jerry Bolander.

David “Tank” Abbott 7:56 Yeah, yeah. "And you can fight him and he's nothing 'cause he's like, uh, you know, 200 pounds. You can throw him around like a rag doll." And I'm like, "Okay." You know, he's talking me into it, realizing he's just trying to sell his show and get it over. And I'm like, "Yeah, yeah." Well, I'm never one to say no to a fight and, um, so I said, "Okay, you talked me into it. I'll show up." But I couldn't, I couldn't run, I couldn't do anything and, like, jog. One time around the track, a 400, I c- I couldn't do it. So I go and take, uh, the boxer, make short work of him and ... 'Cause boxing is good if you're gonna box and stand up in a ring, but you're not gonna go anywhere in a fight w- just with boxing as a skill. It might help you, uh, throw a punch and that kinda thing, but if your main plan of attack is boxing, you're gonna get taken down. And you can't box from your back. Um, so, anyways, back to the show. I take short work of him and I'm like, all right, so I got this little 90 pounder, 190 pounder, and, um, make short work of him. And I think I was supposed to fight Mark Coleman at that time and I was like, "Oh, well, we'll just, we'll just see who's tougher and not get taken down and we'll just, uh, throw, uh, punches." And he's not really, uh, at that time, uh, very skilled on his feet, so I had, uh, at least a fighter's chance at the whole deal. And so, you know, you had these, like, dressing rooms that are screened off and there's a, an opponent. Or not an opponent, um, alternate. Big guy going crazy, m- making all this noise. He sounded like a, an elephant, uh, running around in a cage. "Gah! Gah!" And ...

Joe Rogan 10:11 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 10:12 I'm going, "What the hell is that guy doing?" I go, "He's not even fighting. He's just a, an alternate." Well, it turns out it comes for us to go in with Bolander, and what happens? Oh, he pulls out. Why'd he pull out? Oh, he just, oh, he couldn't make it. And I'm like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa," and I just fell off the turnip truck. And, uh, next thing I know I'm fighting this 300 pound plus guy who's all jacked up on god knows what.

Joe Rogan 10:47 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 10:47 And, uh, going, "Ah!" Crazy on-

Joe Rogan 10:50 Who was it?

David “Tank” Abbott 10:51 Foroso.

Joe Rogan 10:52 Oh.

David “Tank” Abbott 10:53 So I went out there and this is at the advent of, of, uh, referees. And I, I don't care about winning or losing, never have. I'm always down for the fight and, uh, the battle of fighting, and, um, getting bloody, sweaty, getting punched and punching people, man. That's what it's all about for me. And, um, so I'm like, "Oh, well, I'll get in there," and we banged it out and they had three refs and they gave him the fight. I've had people said, "If you really watch it, you won that fight." Don't care. They, they suckered me in with a little guy and then they throw in 100, 350 pound dude. Ended up r- kinda ruining the show, uh, 'cause Coleman didn't have anybody to fight, so he went out with Randleman and did like a wrestling expedition, exhibition, and, uh-... it was like, "Why did you do that? You didn't have to pull Shamrock's guy out." It was behind the scenes kinda things that-

Joe Rogan 12:06 Hm.

David “Tank” Abbott 12:07 ... that were all prevalent at that point in time.

Joe Rogan 12:10 Yeah, there was a lot of shenanigans in the early, early days.

David “Tank” Abbott 12:13 Oh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 12:13 But it was so loosely constructed. You know, people have to realize, like, if you're looking at the UFC now, you're looking at, you know, WME-owned UFC, gigantic money, huge fucking special effects, lots of screens-

David “Tank” Abbott 12:29 Absolutely.

Joe Rogan 12:29 ... everything looks amazing, the sound's amazing.

David “Tank” Abbott 12:31 Professional wrestling.

Joe Rogan 12:32 Back then, I mean, UFC 12 was the first one that I did, which was Scott Furozo's, uh, debut.

David “Tank” Abbott 12:38 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 12:38 And we did it in Dothan, Alabama.

David “Tank” Abbott 12:40 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 12:40 And it was like a high school auditorium or something. It wasn't a very big place.

David “Tank” Abbott 12:45 I remember the name Dothan, uh.

Joe Rogan 12:47 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 12:49 Was that...

Joe Rogan 12:50 That was when, uh-

David “Tank” Abbott 12:51 They did an interview with me, and it was supposed to be at a different show somewhere, and they got, they got canceled, so they put it up in Dothan.

Joe Rogan 13:02 It was supposed to be in Buffalo, but it got banned from New York.

David “Tank” Abbott 13:05 Right, s-

Joe Rogan 13:05 So last minute we had to all fly to Alabama.

David “Tank” Abbott 13:07 Right. So-

Joe Rogan 13:08 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 13:08 ... I was, I was actually on the plane going to Dothan, and, or not Dothan, but to-

Joe Rogan 13:13 Buffalo.

David “Tank” Abbott 13:13 Right. And they, they said, "Hey, there's been a change of plans, you gotta go to Dothan." So I went to Dothan, and I was sitting in the, like, two-story hotel, not really a hotel, but one, like a motel-type thing. And I looked out across the parking lot, and there was a bar there. Said, "Oh, what the hell, why not?" So I ended up walking across the street, and I was drinking at the bar with this crazy old country admit guy, old school duties, like a peanut farmer or something like that. And we got blasted.

Joe Rogan 13:49 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 13:50 And he goes, "Come on, I'll take you to the arena." And, uh, I'm like, "Okay." So we get in this old pickup truck, and he turns the key, and it sounds like a dragster. And I got, uh, hillbilly hay man or whatever driving this thing. (laughs) And we drive to the arena, and I'm like, "No, no, no, I'm supposed to do an interview." He ends up parking on the island, a grassy island. He drove up the curb.

Joe Rogan 14:19 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 14:19 I stumbled in there, and, and David Isaac is like, "Oh my god, what's gonna happen next?"

Joe Rogan 14:27 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 14:27 They got banned, and then I showed up out of my mind.

Joe Rogan 14:31 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 14:32 And I don't... I think there might be a clip of me all drunk saying stuff. I don't, I don't know, though.

Joe Rogan 14:37 There's a bunch of those clips, I'm sure. (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 14:39 Yeah, oh, absolutely.

Joe Rogan 14:41 How old were you with your f- with your first UFC fight?

David “Tank” Abbott 14:44 Uh, 30 years old.

Joe Rogan 14:45 And did you have, uh, any competitive fights other than wrestling matches? Did you do any amateur fights or anything?

David “Tank” Abbott 14:52 Well, um-

Joe Rogan 14:53 It kind of wasn't around back then, right?

David “Tank” Abbott 14:55 I, I... No, yeah, there was no real fighting. Uh, you only did it in the street. And, um, back in those days, um, I had wrestled, and then on my, uh, 19th birthday, um, I was hoping to go on. I had one year of wrestling in junior college, and, um, a dumb drunk friend of mine drove into a light pole on my birthday. That's why my teeth got all knocked out. And, um, it also put a gash right underneath my knee, and mangled my knee, on my left knee. And, um, so my wrestling, I came back, like, halfway, uh, maybe a third of the way into the season, and I just could... I, I didn't have enough time to get whatever. It's, it's all written, meaning spiritually. And so, I didn't perform the way I wanted to perform my sophomore year. I, I did not continue, no one was interested in me. I... So the whole time, as a young man, I wanted to box. And my mother said, "Absolutely not. Not the CTE, and everybody boxes is stupid, and you're not going to do that." And I'm like, "Oh, man." So I didn't have anything to do. I was 18 years old, and I said, "You know what? I wanna box." And the same guy that... It was back when Mike Tyson was on fire, and he was the baddest man on the planet. And I was a young man, I go, "Not my planet." And, uh, so, you know, he would obviously kill me in boxing, but I... There's not a boxing ring on every corner. And so I was all fired up with that. So same guy that I worked for at the, uh, uh, clothing company, where they cut and sew type thing, it was for medical, uh, clothing. He lived up, uh, San Luis Obispo way, and he started boxing. And we were at a, you know, just like what you would think, going into a boxing gym and learning how to box. And I go, "Man, I wanna box." And he said, "Well, come on up, and then you'll... I'll introduce you to my trainer, and maybe, you know..." A- anyways, that got the ball started rolling, basically. So went up to San Luis Obispo, and there's a boxing gym just outside of there. Atascadero or something like that. And, uh, so I went to the gym, and it's like you see these reels where these guys all... They'll... You learn a skill, like boxing, and then you... Somebody that comes in that's a complete novice has no clue...... of what's going on and they, they take advantage of these people. "Oh, you think you're tough? You wanna box? Well, if you don't know how to box..." So that was the vibe when I went into the boxing gym. And I go, "Hey, yeah, I wanna box. Yeah, sure. I'll do this." And he goes, "Are you sure?" I'm like, "Yeah." So they go, "Well, you wanna spar?" And they're all snickering. "You wanna spar?" And I'm like, "Yeah, isn't that what we're in here for? Isn't that what you do?"

Joe Rogan 18:36 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 18:38 And they're like, "Oh, no, you gotta, you have to learn." And I'm like, "Okay." So they go ... They're like all kind of like chuckling, going, "Oh ho, he wants to spar." And, um, so they went and got a mouthpiece from a local, like, uh, what do you call those stores? Um, sporting goods store. And, uh, he comes back and they were trying to melt it in coffee-

Joe Rogan 19:06 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 19:06 ... and all that kinda stuff. And so, um, this guy's, uh, got a name, very big name, uh, from the '70s in boxing. And I, I don't need to talk about, his family has a big name. And, uh-

Joe Rogan 19:23 You can't say his name?

David “Tank” Abbott 19:24 N- I don't-

Joe Rogan 19:24 Okay.

David “Tank” Abbott 19:25 There's no point in it.

Joe Rogan 19:26 Okay.

David “Tank” Abbott 19:26 Yeah, it's ... I- I could, but, oh, I was training with this guy and he did this guy. I have it on videotape and all that kinda stuff, so it's not like I'm making up stories. I, I'm ... The antithesis of trying to get myself over, I try to just go, "No, no, no." You know. So I get in there and I go ... And they're all like, "Oh, this is gonna be great." And this guy is a heavyweight, and he had like eight professional fights. And I believe they thought they were gonna use his name and push him and get him some money somehow. And so I'm like, "Okay." And I go ... Like, they ... I've put boxing gloves on and hit the bag and played around and sparred with people. But I'm like, "Okay, this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna do it."

Joe Rogan 20:19 (laughs) Let's see.

David “Tank” Abbott 20:20 Yeah, and I, I knocked the living snot out of him. I just-

Joe Rogan 20:24 Really?

David “Tank” Abbott 20:25 Yeah. I just said, "Fuck it." I don't know, can you cuss on this or whatever?

Joe Rogan 20:29 Yeah, you can cuss.

David “Tank” Abbott 20:30 Yeah. But I said, "Okay." I wasn't sparring, like skillfully boxing. I was like, "Let's go." And we win.

Joe Rogan 20:42 And you had already had a bunch of street fights?

David “Tank” Abbott 20:44 Yes.

Joe Rogan 20:44 And you knew how to hit things?

David “Tank” Abbott 20:46 Yes.

Joe Rogan 20:46 And power is something you either have or you don't have.

David “Tank” Abbott 20:48 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 20:48 And you've always had crazy power.

David “Tank” Abbott 20:51 Yes. That's-

Joe Rogan 20:51 So if someone underestimates you and someone thinks, "Well, this guy," so they let their guard down, get a real- little relaxed, think they're just gonna tee off on you?

David “Tank” Abbott 20:59 Hm. No. He thought he was gonna hand it to me.

Joe Rogan 21:03 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 21:04 And I was like, "All right. You'll see what's gonna happen." And-

Joe Rogan 21:07 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 21:08 And I said, "This is gonna be a street fight." And I knocked the living daylights ... Like I said, I have it on videotape. And, um, that guy was filming it, uh, the guy from the clothing store. Anyways, he ... Or-

Joe Rogan 21:23 Sporting goods store?

David “Tank” Abbott 21:23 ... factory. Yeah. But, yeah. And so, he- he's in the back going, "Oh my God, oh my God." And I'm ... I- I enlightened him that, you know, I didn't need to know the skill of boxing to take out somebody that had eight professional fights in boxing. I, I pretty much handed it to him.

Joe Rogan 21:48 So what did you do? You didn't box with him? They just- you clinched, got close to him, and just started laying handers?

David “Tank” Abbott 21:52 No, it was on. I just started throwing. Boom, boom, boom, boom.

Joe Rogan 21:56 Really?

David “Tank” Abbott 21:56 Right down the middle, let's go. And, uh-

Joe Rogan 21:59 So did you always ... You just always had skill with your hands? Like, I mean, that's pretty impressive, for an eight-

David “Tank” Abbott 22:05 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 22:05 ... eight-fighting professional boxer.

David “Tank” Abbott 22:07 Yeah. I, I put my chin down. Uh, and I'm ... I don't tell stories. I, like I said, if you ... If you want to get a lie detector t- uh, and a certified guy, I will take any test.

Joe Rogan 22:18 Listen, you don't have to tell that to me.

David “Tank” Abbott 22:20 Um-

Joe Rogan 22:20 I know you of p- ... I've known you forever, so I'll just take it-

David “Tank” Abbott 22:22 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 22:22 ... to anybody else. Tank says it as it is, always. You always have.

David “Tank” Abbott 22:26 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 22:26 Even when you lost, you were like-

David “Tank” Abbott 22:28 Yeah, absolutely.

Joe Rogan 22:28 ... "That guy fucked me up. That guy kicked my ass."

David “Tank” Abbott 22:30 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 22:30 You said you got molested by, uh, the, the lead singer from, uh, Queen?

David “Tank” Abbott 22:34 Freddie Mercury.

Joe Rogan 22:35 (laughs) When Dan Saff- (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 22:37 He was slapping me.

Joe Rogan 22:39 When Dan Safford beat you.

David “Tank” Abbott 22:40 He was bitch slapping me.

Joe Rogan 22:42 You-

David “Tank” Abbott 22:42 The only-

Joe Rogan 22:43 You had the best attitude about both winning and losing.

David “Tank” Abbott 22:46 Right.

Joe Rogan 22:46 If you lost, you were very self-deprecating. You always had fun with things.

David “Tank” Abbott 22:50 Yes. It's not the end of the world.

Joe Rogan 22:52 You were a great guy to be around, man, because it was a goddamn party.

David “Tank” Abbott 22:56 Yes.

Joe Rogan 22:56 I ... Yeah, I mean, I don't know if you remember, but we got hammered a couple of times.

David “Tank” Abbott 22:59 Ah.

Joe Rogan 22:59 There was a few different times at different hotels-

David “Tank” Abbott 23:02 Yes.

Joe Rogan 23:03 ... where you and I got drunk. And you, you with your whole crew, they were all a bunch of psychos. It was just like being around, like, a lot of pit bulls.

David “Tank” Abbott 23:10 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 23:10 Like jacked up pit bulls, like ready to go.

David “Tank” Abbott 23:12 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 23:12 But it was fun, man. You always brought a party.

David “Tank” Abbott 23:16 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 23:16 You were having a good fucking time. You were having a good fucking time fighting, and you were having g- and you were-

David “Tank” Abbott 23:20 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 23:21 And that's what made you a legend a lot, because you were a f- ... You know, everybody thought that the skilled martial artist was always gonna beat the fighter, right? But there was a f- ... You were a skilled martial artist, but you were kind of more of a fighter, just a dude who fucks people up. And for you to s- just be going out there and knocking people out, you became the biggest star of the UFC-

David “Tank” Abbott 23:42 Yes.

Joe Rogan 23:42 ... even without winning it.

David “Tank” Abbott 23:44 Right.

Joe Rogan 23:44 You know? I mean, you beat a lot of good guys, but your power and your attitude, like when Mutua went out and he did the little fucking dance.

David “Tank” Abbott 23:51 Sure.

Joe Rogan 23:51 Like, everybody lo- ... 'Cause it was ... Everybody thought martial arts was supposed-

David “Tank” Abbott 23:55 Yes.

Joe Rogan 23:55 ... to be bow, and you know, sensei, and spirituality, and meditating in the river. And you were-

David “Tank” Abbott 24:02 Well-

Joe Rogan 24:02 ... out there getting wild.

David “Tank” Abbott 24:03 Mutua was, metaphorically, martial arts in my head. See-... all these people running around and, and... (sniffs) Martial arts is martial arts. Don't get me wrong. It works. It's a skill. But it... Fighting is, uh, I, I-

Joe Rogan 24:26 Chaos.

David “Tank” Abbott 24:26 Yeah. But I, I coined this phrase, I believe... Anyways, uh, uh, fighter's fortitude and that is where... Because fighting be- does not... Is not a skill that you learn and you become tough. Royce Gracie is not tough because he knows jujitsu. He's a tough man. And all these guys that fight in the UFC are tough men not, not because they know skill. You... L- like these people, "I see you. Gonna get an armbar." Who cares? Y- y- anybody that sings skill is not a fighter. Y- y- you're, you're a pussy, frankly. I mean, you sit around and go, "I can do this and I can do..." That doesn't matter. It's how tough you are, your fighter's fortitude. When, when someone's got a thumb in your eye socket or taken a big bite out of your back and how you react and what you do from that, that's what fighter's fortitude is. Not like, "Oh, well, uh, f- uh, he's got his thumb in my eye. Maybe I could armbar him or put him in a triangle." That doesn't save you. That's the... Fighting is emotional. It's not about skill. It's what is inside your head, the heart you have, and what you need to do to get things done to beat the opponent, hopefully, that's thinking the same thing you're thinking and that is, "I'm gonna get to this point where I can kill this person or let... or kill him." But basically, fighting is to a point where i- in, in the street anyways... And th- everybody that I beat up was trying to do the same thing to me in the street. They were trying to beat me up and get to the point where they can make the decision of killing me. And that's the whole point of a, a street fight. And it's not about, "Oh, I got better skill than you." That's the difference between a street fighter and somebody that goes to the gym and learns how to throw a correct punch or a, a submission hold that's gonna save your ass. You can learn those things. You can't be tough by learning those things. You can become tougher by learning those things. And, and if you're a tough guy and you learn skills, that makes you tougher. Like Royce Gracie, he's a tough man. But that guy's got skills up the yin yang in jujitsu. That makes him even tougher.

Joe Rogan 27:14 Yeah, but he has the mental fortitude-

David “Tank” Abbott 27:17 Yes.

Joe Rogan 27:17 ... to keep it together in the chaos.

David “Tank” Abbott 27:19 Fighter's-

Joe Rogan 27:19 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 27:19 Fighter's fortitude.

Joe Rogan 27:20 And some people, even very skillful people, for some reason, don't have that.

David “Tank” Abbott 27:24 Yes.

Joe Rogan 27:24 There's moments we've all seen where you get this guy who's like... Especially a lot of guys who are gym heroes. There's a bunch of guys-

David “Tank” Abbott 27:31 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 27:31 ... that in the gym, they look sensational. They look like, "This guy's gonna be a world champion. Keep an eye on him." You watch them sparring, you watch them hitting mitts and you're like, "Pshew, this guy's insane."

David “Tank” Abbott 27:39 Right.

Joe Rogan 27:39 And then they fall... They, they, they, m- maybe reach to 30% of their potential when they fight. You could see the panic in them and the things-

David “Tank” Abbott 27:46 'Cause it's... They don't have it in their head.

Joe Rogan 27:48 Y- yeah. They don't have something, the thing that some guys have, like a Max Holloway has, that he'll fight to the end. To the end.

David “Tank” Abbott 27:56 Fi- fighter's fortitude.

Joe Rogan 27:57 There's zero quit. The, the quit is not in there. You can go-

David “Tank” Abbott 28:00 Absolutely.

Joe Rogan 28:00 ... searching around for it forever. You're never gonna find it. And then there's some guys, they're, you... Even though they're really talented, you can get to a point where they'll break, and they'll just try to survive.

David “Tank” Abbott 28:09 Yes.

Joe Rogan 28:10 And there's a difference. And it's... The great ones, all, like Jon Jones, like so many of these guys, like, they find a way to win and they never give up. No matter-

David “Tank” Abbott 28:21 A-

Joe Rogan 28:21 ... how chaotic it gets, no matter how bad they're losing, they find a way.

David “Tank” Abbott 28:25 100%. That's-

Joe Rogan 28:26 Leon Edwards in the fifth round against, uh, K- K- Kamaru Usman, perfect example. He's getting just... He's getting taken down and manhandled, then he finally lands a head kick in the fifth round.

David “Tank” Abbott 28:36 There you go.

Joe Rogan 28:36 And he becomes a hero.

David “Tank” Abbott 28:38 And, and it's all fighter's fortitude.

Joe Rogan 28:39 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 28:40 It's about being a tough guy.

Joe Rogan 28:42 Yeah. You can see it in that fight. Have you seen that Usman/Leon Edwards fight?

David “Tank” Abbott 28:46 I haven't seen it.

Joe Rogan 28:46 It's fucking amazing-

David “Tank” Abbott 28:47 We'll have to check it out.

Joe Rogan 28:48 ... because his coach, his coach is sensational.

David “Tank” Abbott 28:50 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 28:50 And his coach is screaming, "He... Don't let him bully you, son!"

David “Tank” Abbott 28:54 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 28:54 You know they're from English... In England and the Rocky music is playing.

David “Tank” Abbott 28:57 Sure.

Joe Rogan 28:57 There's a clip of it online. You get goosebumps every time.

David “Tank” Abbott 29:00 Absolutely.

Joe Rogan 29:00 Every time I see it. Every time I see it, I get goosebumps. It's, like, that thing that is the difference between a fighter and just someone who's skilled. That was something that you, I think, introduced more than anybody in the early days of the, of the sport.

David “Tank” Abbott 29:14 Right.

Joe Rogan 29:14 This is it. You wanna see this? Because this is so fucking good, man. Play it again.

Narrator 29:18 Listen, stop feeling sorry for your fucking self! Come on then. What's wrong with you? You're too fucking bad? You got to pull this shit out of butter.

Joe Rogan 29:25 Play some more.

Narrator 29:26 Come on then, man. You got this, man. Come on. You got this. God damn it. That's ruining it.

Joe Rogan 29:31 What, the music?

Narrator 29:32 I can't even hear it.

Joe Rogan 29:34 Yeah. But it's part of the fun thing.

Narrator 29:35 Let's go. Do it, K. Come on.

Joe Rogan 29:36 Yeah.

Narrator 29:36 Get under him.

David “Tank” Abbott 29:37 It feels like-

Joe Rogan 29:38 That his fucking coach is sensational.

Narrator 29:42 And he hits different from Leon Edwards. That is not the cloth from which he is cut. It is a different cloth.

Joe Rogan 29:46 Oh, so they're doing it this way to avoid copyright strikes from the UFC.

David “Tank” Abbott 29:49 Sure.

Joe Rogan 29:49 They're just showing photographs of it. But it's d- the kind of person who never gives up. The p- and kind of person who finds a way-

David “Tank” Abbott 29:57 Well-

Joe Rogan 29:57 ... really knows how to actually f- just... It's not just skill. There's another element, and that's what you're talking about.

David “Tank” Abbott 30:02 If you, uh, put it to UFC 6, that was the, uh, awakening of the guillotine choke because the rest... You had...... jiu-jitsu, and then wrestlers came along and started, uh, handing it to the submission jiu-jitsu guys. And, um, then UFC 6 came along and they came up with the guillotine. Now, if you... They, uh... Oleg got the guillotine on me twice, and I fought myself out of it. I don't... I've never timed it or whatever, but it was a while. I was losing consciousness, I was seeing black. But I got... I pulled myself out. And the fact you brought up the, uh, fish hooks, when I finally... The first time, he got it and I pulled my head out and he was laying there, and I'm like, "What are you gonna do now?" And then I reached down and fish hooked him and started banging his head on the floor.

Joe Rogan 31:08 When you look-

David “Tank” Abbott 31:08 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 31:08 ... back at yourself then, does that even seem like you?

David “Tank” Abbott 31:12 Yeah. Why not?

Joe Rogan 31:13 (laughs) I mean, it just-

David “Tank” Abbott 31:14 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 31:15 I mean (laughs) , of course it is you.

David “Tank” Abbott 31:17 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 31:17 But, I mean, the, the young hulking you smashing guys.

Narrator 31:21 This was also just the one round, correct?

Joe Rogan 31:23 Yes.

David “Tank” Abbott 31:24 No, there-

Narrator 31:24 Like a 17-minute round?

David “Tank” Abbott 31:25 Yeah. Th- there's no rounds.

Joe Rogan 31:28 Was it, uh... Did they have a-

David “Tank” Abbott 31:29 Uh-

Joe Rogan 31:29 ... time limit on any of the fights?

David “Tank” Abbott 31:31 No. And, uh, I would have won that fight if Big John McCartney wouldn't have, uh, stuck his, uh, his melon in between us and break us up. You know, that's how... You were talking about how they, uh, fix the fights and everything, he, he broke this fight up. They sh- there were no rules, n- n- not supposed to, to do... Look, he's breaking us up. Why'd he do that?

Joe Rogan 31:58 Why did they do that?

David “Tank” Abbott 31:59 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 31:59 Were people booing?

David “Tank” Abbott 32:01 Yeah. That was all John McCart- McCartney. He... Why did he break us up?

Joe Rogan 32:08 I don't know. Like, what were the rules back then as far as like, like I-

David “Tank” Abbott 32:11 There were no rules. He... All... You... All they had to do is give him a track, uh, starting gun and he could stand there and go boom. And that, that's all he needed to do.

Joe Rogan 32:21 He just had to start the fight?

David “Tank” Abbott 32:23 He, he, he, he is a-

Joe Rogan 32:23 And so this, this restart was just completely because of him?

David “Tank” Abbott 32:28 Yes. Yes.

Joe Rogan 32:28 Because of Big John McCarthy?

David “Tank” Abbott 32:29 A- yes. He's, he's corrupt and he's a crook. His idea of what he thinks fighting is... And he's, uh, a full on Oleg, oh, submission guy 'cause he's all into technique or... I don't know this, he's never said it to me. But he's all into skill and everything else. He has no respect for a fighter's fortitude or anything like that.

Joe Rogan 32:53 You don't think he does?

David “Tank” Abbott 32:54 No.

Joe Rogan 32:55 I, I think he does.

David “Tank” Abbott 32:56 Well, I-

Joe Rogan 32:57 I mean, I think you have like a personal dispute with him, but I like Big John. And I, I've-

David “Tank” Abbott 33:01 Well, you might like him, but, uh, he, uh, leveraged his made-up, uh, persona of Big John to get me kicked out of the show, him and his wife. They got me literally kicked out of the show.

Joe Rogan 33:16 They kicked you out of the UFC?

David “Tank” Abbott 33:18 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 33:19 Really?

David “Tank” Abbott 33:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 33:20 What year was this?

David “Tank” Abbott 33:21 Uh, v- very early. Well, at-

Joe Rogan 33:24 Why would they wanna get you kicked out of the UFC?

David “Tank” Abbott 33:26 'Cause, because he does not like me. He's a cop, and he doesn't like the fact that I'm a, uh, probably in his eyes, a thug. But the point is he, he has a bee in his mind, he's never liked me. He... You know, he was a jiu-jitsu student, uh, before he started in the thing. They, they... For the Gracies, they didn't have a ref, so Art Davie goes, "Hey, what about that big guy, Big John?" And then Big John was a cop and everything, and he did, uh, background checks on me before I got into the UFC. Like, "Oh, yeah. No, this guy really... He's got a record. He's been... He's got..." I've been, uh, arraigned at least, at least seven times for beating people up.

Joe Rogan 34:17 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 34:17 And shit was hitting the fan. It was getting, it was getting bigger and more and more, "You're gonna get in troubles pretty soon." Thank God I had a great attorney and, um, he, he was a guy that could point out the truth and people would see that, and the DA would go, "Okay, community service." I'd go do, do that at the boxing gym.

Joe Rogan 34:42 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 34:43 (laughs) So, anyway, so John checked into it and he goes, "No, this guy really is a, a street fighting legend like Tank Murdock." And, um, obviously the guy's dad was a, was a cop, and that, uh, underlying it doesn't matter. But he did not like the fact that I came along after the Gracies 'cause he was like a stooge for Gracie jiu-jitsu and the whole nine yards. And when I came along, I kind of said, "No, no, no, no. I... Fighting is emotional and it's not a skill. It's not a skills match, it's, it's, it's what you have in your head." And he obviously doesn't have anything in his (laughs) . But, so, at Puerto Rico, um, I used to go around to dojos and go in there after... I'd cruise around drinking a 12-pack (laughs) -

Joe Rogan 35:45 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 35:46 ... in my van. And, and we'd pull up to dojos and walk in there and go, "Hey, does anybody want to fight?"

Joe Rogan 35:53 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 35:54 And nobody did. And so I lost my, uh, train of thought on that, but...

Joe Rogan 36:02 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 36:02 Oh, this is it. Okay, so when I was, I was working out with weights and I, and I didn't... I wasn't a strong day for me. So I got... You have to know when to say, "No, not lifting today." So I felt...... compunction and I needed to go do something, I said, "Let's go check this jujitsu place out." Um, it, they had flyers at the Westminster Boxing Gym where I was boxing after I left that Bakersfield thing. So we go in there, and all the other kung fu and Wing Chung's and all that stuff, no- no one ever wanted to fight me. And I go, "Let's go check out this jujitsu thing, see if it's real or not. And this guy's supposed to be a world champion," and all this. And, um, since, since it's out there, I'll say who it was, but it was Alain Goes. And, uh, so he's supposed to be some world champion this and that, and at this time we're totally green, didn't have any really respect for jujitsu or anything like that, and I was with Paul Herrera and Eddie Reese, who are very accomplished wrestlers. And I go, "Let's go check it out. I'm not lifting, let's go see what, if this stuff is for real." So we go into the jujitsu thing and it was a little bit of a drive. We get in there and I said, "Hey, we wanna roll around with you and see what, check this stuff out." You know, and they're Portuguese, "Oh, demonstration, demonstration!" And I'm like, "Oh, what the fuck is this?" Anyways, so one of the guys goes in the back, I guess they put cameras up in these little mirrored boxes, the one-way mirror things. And so Eddie gets up there and, um, he, he's a little guy, and so it didn't take him very long to tap him out with, like, an arm thing, uh, and then Paul, who's a, um, is a All American from Nebraska, wrestler, bigger guy, like 190-ish. He gets in there and I'm like going, "What the hell's going on?" 'Cause they're lasting and lasting, and he's on his back. And at that time I was like, "What the... What are you on your back for?" It's stupid.

Narrator 38:31 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 38:32 You know?

Narrator 38:33 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 38:33 You're totally ignorant of, of what was going on.

Narrator 38:36 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 38:37 And I'm like, "Holy fuck," he ended up tapping him out. And I'm like going, "Wow, he made short work of Eddie and he tapped out Paul." And I had a respect for Paul for his wrestling abilities and where he'd gone and trained and wrestled for. And I was like, "Holy smokes." Well, I'm, I'm rather large and very powerful and, uh, Alain Goes is not. And, um, so I go, "Okay." Oh, they, and yeah, they were starting on their, their knees and all that kinda stuff.

Narrator 39:11 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 39:11 And I'm like, "Whatever." So I get on him and I, I had a, uh, 'cause of medical, uh, place, the cut and sew place, I had a scrub on. So I'm-

Narrator 39:24 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 39:24 ... I'm on top of him and he grabs, like, a nurse's scrub, 'cause they don't rip or anything like that, and he, he does, like, an X on his thing and he starts choking me. And I look at him, and I just kind of roll my eyes like, "Really?" Like, I went like that, my fists on both sides of his face, you know? And he's like, "Oh, okay." And so we rolled around, rolled around, rolled around. And then he finally got to an arm lock. And like I said, I was, I was doing curls with, like, 120 pound dumbbells and stuff like that. And so I, I picked him up, basically he was, like, a foot off of the mat, and I raised my right hand up and made a fist like, "You want me to fall down on you?" His eyes got huge as, as, as, as the moon. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" And I'm like, "Okay." So I let him down and let it go, and he was like, "Uh," like, "I've had enough of this big guy here."

Narrator 40:24 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 40:24 And, um, so, uh, we left and, uh, whatever goes on in somebody's head, like, "Oh, who's that guy?" Almost like in a narcissistic way, "Oh, I ought to got him in, uh, arm lock. I would've..." I would've used him for, uh... it doesn't matter. Anyway-

Narrator 40:46 Piledrived him in

40:47 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 40:47 ... yeah, there would've been a whole bunch of-

Narrator 40:49 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 40:49 ... bad for him. So-

Narrator 40:50 Getting slammed.

David “Tank” Abbott 40:51 Yeah, so Puerto Rico, I don't know... Paul was fighting in that show, well, that show, um, with David versus Goliath there.

Narrator 41:05 Oh, that's right. That's right.

David “Tank” Abbott 41:06 Uh-huh.

Narrator 41:06 Did he fight Big Daddy?

David “Tank” Abbott 41:08 Yeah.

Narrator 41:08 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 41:09 And Big Daddy had a videotape of him so he knew exactly what to do with that high crotch.

Narrator 41:15 Mm.

David “Tank” Abbott 41:16 That was all staged. Not staged, but prepared.

Narrator 41:19 Prepared.

David “Tank” Abbott 41:19 Yeah.

Narrator 41:20 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 41:20 And so Alain Goes comes up afterwards, oh, we're... This is all the way full circle back to John. So Alain Goes comes up after, uh, Paul gets elbowed, w- why Big John didn't stop it, uh, who knows? I know, but anyways, so he starts mouthing off, I mean, he must've had too much alcohol or something, and I'm like, "Uh, uh, who do you think you're talking to?" And, you know, like, "Really? You were, you were gonna go there? Okay." So he had, like, him and all his friends were behind him so I popped him and was going after him, and me and Eddie were fighting the whole contingency of Brazilian fighters in the audience. And, um, then we go to the back and I, old school warrior, and like, no one sends you to the hospital, and I'm telling Paul...... hey, fuck that, you're not going to the hospital. Y- you don't do that. And he's like, "Huh?" And, uh, there was a Dr. Istragno and John McCartney and his, uh, wife Elaine, who is, uh, Karen, I think, her name should be Karen. And as he... Elaine McCartney. Anyways, uh, they come... She comes running up and starts pointing her finger in my face and saying all this. I was, "Get the hell out of here before I kill you." You know, just, uh, hyperbole, in the moment, charged type thing. They try to make a huge move out of that. And then-

Joe Rogan 43:06 Oh, so that's how you got kicked out?

David “Tank” Abbott 43:08 And then John's, like, telling Bob, "Oh, I'm gonna quit and Elaine's gonna quit, and if, if you don't kick him out... That's why I didn't go to the show." And mind you, I was the personality of that whole show at that time. And I think they went to Detroit or something like that after the words. And everybody's like, "Where's Tank at? What is this... Where's the show?" And they... Bob's like, "We gotta fix this." And so, um, somehow a letter came up of apology to, um, their leverage of they were gonna quit. I'm like, "Who cares if they quit? He's just a, uh, he's a referee. He pulls the trigger on a gun and, and then he affects fights, um, by breaking people up and, and giving people chances and everything else. He's a, he's a corrupt person. And, um, who cares?" And... But I guess, uh, Bob was leaning into the fact, like, oh, he's developed a personality for himself, so we... Anyways, we're gonna have this letter made and, uh, we'll send it to the McCartneys, and then they can be sued, and then I'll be allowed to come back. And that was all around the same time with the Barroso fight, with my knee messed up, and Bob being the, uh, slickster that he is, he said-

Joe Rogan 44:50 But don't you think it's also just possible that Jerry Bolender got hurt? 'Cause he fought too, right? He fought a fight first, right?

David “Tank” Abbott 44:56 It's possible, but I, I'm a kind of a cynic-

Joe Rogan 44:59 Little conspiracy theorist?

David “Tank” Abbott 45:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 45:01 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 45:01 A cynic.

Joe Rogan 45:02 I see where you would feel that way, and I think, um, in the early days... You know, one of the things that Dana White does a really good job about is, like, he kinda ha- he lets... He talks to everybody.

David “Tank” Abbott 45:13 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 45:13 Have conversations with people. Sit, sit people down, talk to them, explain this is great, this is not so great, you know, this is what we think we could do with you. Like, d- no, back then-

David “Tank” Abbott 45:24 No.

Joe Rogan 45:24 ... it was chaos.

David “Tank” Abbott 45:25 Yes, absolutely.

Joe Rogan 45:26 It was chaos. And a referee today, they're allowed to stand people up.

David “Tank” Abbott 45:30 Right.

Joe Rogan 45:31 But back then-

David “Tank” Abbott 45:31 No, no, no, no. Th-

Joe Rogan 45:32 ... that wasn't-

David “Tank” Abbott 45:32 I understand completely what you're saying.

Joe Rogan 45:35 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 45:35 But back in the da- those days, those, those guys set up a lot of stuff.

Joe Rogan 45:41 What'd they set up?

David “Tank” Abbott 45:43 All right, it won't come to me r- right off, but I, I will tell you.

Joe Rogan 45:46 Okay. The, da- what are you, d- well, n- I don't wanna put you on the spot.

David “Tank” Abbott 45:48 No.

Joe Rogan 45:48 So you think that they had, uh, people that they wanted to win, so they made things-

David “Tank” Abbott 45:54 Hm, absolutely.

Joe Rogan 45:54 ... work a, a particular way? Well-

David “Tank” Abbott 45:56 Like the, the Don Frye fight. Um, him fighting is n- uh, the, uh, people comment, "It's not his friend." Who... Mark Hall, that guy went out and did the job for Frye.

Joe Rogan 46:10 It looks like he did.

David “Tank” Abbott 46:11 He... Well, no, he didn't. I mean, come on.

Joe Rogan 46:12 Yeah, it looks like it when you watch the fight.

David “Tank” Abbott 46:14 Yeah, he did.

Joe Rogan 46:15 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 46:15 And they fought before, too.

Joe Rogan 46:16 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 46:17 He just went out there and fell down, and then why... You know, regardless of how easy th- my fight before is, mentally, it's a whole different ball of wax.

Joe Rogan 46:29 Yeah, it's, it's a different ball of wax if one guy goes through a war and one guy goes through a real easy fight.

David “Tank” Abbott 46:34 Yeah, e- emotionally, though.

Joe Rogan 46:35 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 46:35 In your head, like, "Oh-"

Joe Rogan 46:36 Sure.

David “Tank” Abbott 46:37 "... you, you gotta get all ramped up to go."

Joe Rogan 46:39 Yeah, especially if you had a real close fight and your legs got beat up. There's, there's a lot of things that can happen. One guy can knock a guy... H- the tournaments are so crazy-

David “Tank” Abbott 46:47 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 46:47 ... 'cause one guy... It's almost like it's better than not fighting, 'cause he lands one punch, knocks the guy out. Like, "Oh my God, I already won. I won a fight."

David “Tank” Abbott 46:54 Right.

Joe Rogan 46:54 "I know I'm performing well. I didn't get hurt at all, and now I'm loose."

David “Tank” Abbott 46:58 Right.

Joe Rogan 46:58 "My brain's loose." And then you could go through three rounds of hell with some fucking-

David “Tank” Abbott 47:02 Sure.

Joe Rogan 47:02 ... psychopath, where you're barely surviving, both of you, and you get to the final round. You're like... Or whatever it was. Back then, it was one round. But you, you get to the final end of it and you're like, "Oh, Jesus, now I gotta do this one more time-"

David “Tank” Abbott 47:14 Right.

Joe Rogan 47:14 "... with a guy who's fresh."

David “Tank” Abbott 47:16 Right.

Joe Rogan 47:17 Yeah, and if you can rig that, and if you can s- if you wanna ser-

David “Tank” Abbott 47:21 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:21 You can set a bracket up. I'm not as- accusing them of doing that, but you could do it.

David “Tank” Abbott 47:24 No, well, same, same, same thing with that Anthony Macias guy, uh, that fought Oleg before me. Oleg went out... Oleg went out and choked out his first opponent with a guillotine choke real fast, and then he fought, um, Anthony Macias that winks at him right before the fight.

Joe Rogan 47:46 They wink?

David “Tank” Abbott 47:47 Yeah, do you know what I'm talking about?

Joe Rogan 47:49 Yeah, like, "Hey."

David “Tank” Abbott 47:50 "Hey," yeah. "Hey."

Joe Rogan 47:50 Is it that obvious? (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 47:51 "Yeah, where do you want me to fall down?" And w- who... I fought the two biggest guys in... ever fought in the UFC, l- a 400-pound guy and a six-foot-five, whatever, 300 or what, 280, whatever size you wanna make. Real fights, not some guy that's g- out there laying down, going, "Okay."

Joe Rogan 48:13 Well, the early days it was so, it was so loose, and you never knew when it was gonna go away, because it was already getting suspended from cable. The cable-

David “Tank” Abbott 48:23 Right.

Joe Rogan 48:23 ... cable kicked it off. You could only get it off DirecTV back then.It was-

David “Tank” Abbott 48:26 Yeah, with John McC-, uh, not, what was it? McCain.

Joe Rogan 48:29 McCain. Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 48:29 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:29 Yeah, John McCain. And John McCain, uh, allegedly was, uh, doing something for Bud Light. So, he was working with Bud Light, and Bud Light wanted boxing.

David “Tank” Abbott 48:41 Right.

Joe Rogan 48:41 It's kind of, you know, the whole, the whole world was conspiring to keep MMA from flourishing back then.

David “Tank” Abbott 48:47 Absolutely.

Joe Rogan 48:48 I mean, it was a real big deal. They would disparage it ever since... (laughs) There's a funny fucking, there's a funny video of Bob Arum talking about it.

David “Tank” Abbott 48:54 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 48:54 They're rolling around on the ground like homosexuals. (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 48:58 I saw, I, I saw that, yes. I was laughing about that too.

Joe Rogan 49:03 It's amazing. It's amazing.

David “Tank” Abbott 49:04 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:04 'Cause he's such an old school guy.

David “Tank” Abbott 49:06 Right.

Joe Rogan 49:06 Him saying that, it's just, it's very funny.

David “Tank” Abbott 49:08 Immediately, I was like, "What's his angle? Why is he saying that?" He's just trying to say-

Joe Rogan 49:12 Boxing.

David “Tank” Abbott 49:12 Yeah. He's trying to say boxing.

Joe Rogan 49:14 He's, he's just silly. Because, uh, boxing's awesome. I love boxing. Doesn't mean-

David “Tank” Abbott 49:19 Oh, yeah. Me too.

Joe Rogan 49:19 ... it doesn't mean the UFC's not better, you know?

David “Tank” Abbott 49:21 Oh, no. It's a, it's a skill.

Joe Rogan 49:23 Yeah. Yeah, boxing is an amazing skill.

David “Tank” Abbott 49:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:25 It's an amazing skill. And it's a huge part of MMA. I mean, if you can't throw a punch, you really, you can't win.

David “Tank” Abbott 49:31 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:31 But, but it's a different thing. You guys are in, you're in, it's a game, a, it's a fighting game.

David “Tank” Abbott 49:37 Oh, sure.

Joe Rogan 49:37 Whereas MMA is a fight.

David “Tank” Abbott 49:39 Well-

Joe Rogan 49:39 And boxing can be a fight too, but it's so... The rules are so specific-

David “Tank” Abbott 49:42 Well, what-

Joe Rogan 49:43 ... and so limited.

David “Tank” Abbott 49:44 When I went out and boxed at the, uh, the Atascadero thing, I came back here. And, um, went to Westminster Boxing Club, I believe it is. Anyways, um, I had... I was fortunate to have, I walked in and Tyrell Biggs was boxing. And his trainer, Mack Kirhoffer, had... I walked up and I was a weight, heavyweight, and every, back in those days, like, "Oh." And, "I'll train you. I'll train you." And I'm like, "Okay." He didn't have time for me. So, I was like, "Okay," and I'm slowly learning boxing and his underling was on charge of me. And, um, I go, "When, when are we gonna fight?" And he's like, "Oh, you don't just fight. You gotta learn how to box." I'm like, "No, not me. I'm gonna, I'm gonna fight." (laughs) He goes, "Well, there's a show in six weeks in here." And I go, "That, perfect, I'll do that then." "You can't just do that." And I'm like, "No, I can do that." (laughs) And so, this is also on video. Um, I fought some guy that had been boxing for like three years. And I knocked the stuffing out of him, and his mouthpiece went flying out of his mouth. And at that time, the guy that ran the gym was named Noy Cruz. And he was the trainer for Carlos Palomino. Old school Mexican, uh, six-foot-two guy. But, uh, knew his boxing skills like no tomorrow. And he went up to Mack and he said, "Hey, that guy's got something you can't train." He goes, "You, you guys are gonna be in here forever, but I wanna train that guy." And Mack said, "Uh, I don't have time for him, I'm with Tyrell." He goes, "We'll, we'll split him, you know, whatever." So, from that point on, after that first fight, I started, uh, rolling with Noy. Not rolling, but boxing with him. And, uh, he's the one that got me sit down on my punches and all Mexican style, hard punches, inside to the body uppercuts, all that kind of stuff. Then I k- I used to... He used to swing those big old leather bags when they're hanging from chains. It was like an old warehouse, it had been there probably since the early '60s. He'd swing the bag and it'd come back and I would just turn through and the whole gym would shake and his eyes would get all big and go, "Aah." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 52:25 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 52:25 Noy was a great guy.

Joe Rogan 52:26 Do you ever wonder what would have happened if you went and pursued just professional boxing?

David “Tank” Abbott 52:31 Yes, yes.

Joe Rogan 52:32 Just a big, white heavyweight with knockout power like you?

David “Tank” Abbott 52:34 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 52:35 That could have been very marketable.

David “Tank” Abbott 52:37 That was the whole idea, and they were all into that. And I remember, 'cause I would show up to the, uh, boxing gym with black eyes and cuts on my face after every weekend, pretty much. And (laughs) in fact, uh, one, on my trilogy, uh, Street Warrior, that's what he used to call me. "Oh, the Street Warrior." And, um, he'd go, "Oh, what, what, what do you do now?" And I'd go, "Noy, if only, if only, you, you don't understand. If they only had a fighting show with real fighting, not this boxing stuff." And he would just look at me and shake... He has a big smile and he would just shake his head like, "You're crazy." And, um, it happened. It was awesome.

Joe Rogan 53:31 How did you find out about it?

David “Tank” Abbott 53:33 Um, well, I was driving... I, I used to work at a liquor store when I was going to college. And, uh, supplied my habit. But, um, so I, I was looking through the Playboys and I saw an advertisement for Ultimate Fighting. I don't know what... It was the one where the tooth fell out.

Joe Rogan 53:58 That was the first one.

David “Tank” Abbott 53:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 53:59 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 54:00 And so, I had, uh... You know, I was living with two other guys. Pirated cable, you know, you climbed up the telephone pole type thing.

Joe Rogan 54:12 Yeah. (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 54:12 And, uh, so I invited my dad over. And I said, "Hey, man, you gotta check this Ultimate Fighting." I, I go, "I don't know if it's real or not, I'm, I su- I suspect it's not." I go, "I think it's probably just a offshoot of professional wrestling."He said, "Oh, okay, I'll come over." So he came over and we're sitting there, you know, drinking beers, watching the t- tube, and he came out with a, with that grass skirt type thing, and I'm like, "Oh, see?" And then I don't know who, was it Gérard Piradot or whatever.

Joe Rogan 54:44 Yeah, Gérard Piradot.

David “Tank” Abbott 54:45 Yeah, and he, he kicked him in the face and his-

Joe Rogan 54:48 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 54:48 ... tooth went flying. I go, "Oh, yes! This is real!"

Joe Rogan 54:51 (laughs) It's real.

David “Tank” Abbott 54:53 I'm, "Yeah, I can't believe it, man. This is gonna be so awesome."

Joe Rogan 54:57 So how did you wa- f- contact them? Like how do you wind up getting in?

David “Tank” Abbott 55:00 When I was, I was in jail for beating up this...

Joe Rogan 55:04 Kopson.

David “Tank” Abbott 55:04 Right, and I was, got work release from that, from probation. I did like, like three weeks in jail in a honor farm, and then I went to like a probation apartment thing. I went to work and came back, and that's when my friends, my friend who worked for his dad at the medical clothing company goes, "Hey, you know that guy Kimo that works at the bar?" And I'm like, "Uh..." He goes, "You gotta know him. He wears like that jean thing and, and, uh," he, and I'm like, "Yeah." And he goes, "Do you know Adjosan?" Uh, I knew Josan from the boxing gym. He goes, "They fought in that show." And I'm like, "Well, yeah?" I go, "Why is that guy fighting in that show?" 'Cause he would always... I had quite the reputation back in those days. He would come find me in the line and go, "Mr. Abbott, sir, this way." And cut me in front of everybody and walk me in.

Joe Rogan 56:06 This is Josan?

David “Tank” Abbott 56:07 No, that was Kimo.

Joe Rogan 56:07 It was Kimo.

David “Tank” Abbott 56:09 And, uh, I was, "Hey, thanks, Kimo," you know, and that's as much as I knew of him. Like when he was telling me, "You know that guy?" And I'm like, "Hmm." Anyway, so it was Kimo, and he goes, "This guy, Kimo, he, if that guy's in it, you, why can't you be in it?" And I s- that's when I was saying, "Make it happen." And he started calling Art Davie on the phone.

Joe Rogan 56:32 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 56:32 And Art's like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." And then he goes, "No, you don't understand. This guy is the real deal from the streets, man. Everybody knows who he is." And, and he's like, "Yeah, yeah, we hear this story all the time." And he's all, "Not from, not from this guy." And then there was back in the day when he had like a table like this with the phone and a speakerphone on it. And so he goes, "Tell that guy," 'cause I was sitting in the back, he goes, "Tell him I got some guy that's like 6'8", 300 pounds that wants to fight him. And, uh, we'll see you next week at this time." And it was raining, so we ended up going to Art Davie's office in Torrance, right around the corner, I heard, from the Gracie Academy, I guess they call it. And so I, it was raining and I had like a, it was back in the days when they had brown paper bags for grocery bags. So I put my high top basketball shoes in there and like stretchy clothes that you would wear, and I had it all folded up and I walked in, s- sitting here like we are now, was talking, and he's like, "Okay." And this is before they came up with the tank idea. And I said, "Oh, no, I'm a wrestler." And so he goes, "Okay, well, we'll, we'll be getting back to you." And he goes, "Oh, by the way, uh, what, what, what's in that bag?" And I said, "Well, you said you had somebody that was like 6'8", 300 pounds that wanted to fight." And he goes, "What?" And I go, "Yeah, on the phone, you said that." And he goes, "You'd fight somebody?" And I goes, "Yeah, so I don't go to jail." And he goes, "You're cra- You're, uh, j- uh, what? You, you're just crazy, man." (laughs) And I'm like, "No," I was like, "I'm down for fighting any time you wanna do it." And then he's like, "Oh," he just shook his head, and we walked out. And, uh, like I said... See, I... Did we go over the point of going where I got kicked out before even I got in?

Joe Rogan 58:53 No, we didn't-

David “Tank” Abbott 58:54 No, I, uh-

Joe Rogan 58:54 ... talk about that.

David “Tank” Abbott 58:55 Oh. So-

Joe Rogan 58:56 So they found out about your record before you got in? Is that what it was?

David “Tank” Abbott 58:59 No, no, no.

Joe Rogan 59:00 No, no, no? You did something?

David “Tank” Abbott 59:01 Yes.

Joe Rogan 59:02 Okay.

David “Tank” Abbott 59:03 No, this is... I don't know. I've never talked about this publicly, I don't think. Uh, so this is why I told the central casting mafia wannabe guy that they kicked me out. This is why they kicked me out. So they gave me a one-sentence paper that says, "David Abbott's gonna be in the next show," whatever, and I didn't realize that it had to be six because the Gracie's owned, according to my calculations, the first five shows-

Joe Rogan 59:44 Mm.

David “Tank” Abbott 59:44 ... before Bob took over-

Joe Rogan 59:46 Bob Meyerowitz. Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 59:47 ... for six. And so, um... I lost my train of thought for a second. It'll come back. So he gave me-

Joe Rogan 59:58 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 59:58 ... a piece of paper and it says, "You're gonna be in the show, not five, but six." And I'm like, "Oh, man," and you know, you're a young man, and your patience is like, "Are you... I can't wait that long. I need, I need like tomorrow, you know?"

Joe Rogan 1:00:14 Right.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:00:15 And, uh, I was like, "Whatever." So I go, "Okay, just work with it. We'll, we'll, you can train." And so...... a r- a wrestler that, uh, was, you know, wrestling, everybody knows the world in college wrestling. And this guy worked for a, uh, a volleyball company, clothing company called Club Sportswear. And, um, they used to sponsor volleyball players. And so Eddie knew him. I think they used to live together or somebody lived with them that knew him. And he called up and said, "Hey, Dave's gonna be in that UFC show." And so he goes, "Okay." And he goes, "Well, um, do you guys want to sponsor him?" And I don't know anything about anything, sponsor, what that, whatever. And he goes, "Uh, let me ask my boss." And he goes, "Yeah, sure." You know, this was new. He goes, "Yeah, we'll give him some clothes to wear and all that kinda stuff." And he goes, "Well, he wanted a air line ticket to go back and watch the show." I think it was UFC 5 in Charlotte. And, uh, so they sends, he sends me a ticket, and I'm like, "Wow, this is..." you know, and I'm a kid. In my head I was a kid, but not chronologically. I was a forever college student. And so, uh, I'm flying there and I'm like going, "Man, this is so cool, these people that do this for me." And they gave me, like, bags full of clothes. I was like, "Wow, even socks and everything." Like, that was, like, crazy. (laughing) You know? That's-

Narrator 1:02:05 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:02:05 ... where I was in that time of life. And so we get there and I had a big club bag and I go, and they go, "Yeah, just try to get on TV, man, just so we can see our stuff." Well, I get to Charlotte and, uh, I walk in and it was like a, the lobby of a hotel. It was, like, a two-story hotel, but it was a nicer, like a suites kinda hotel. It wasn't dumpy. And, uh, everybody in the lobby had their desk out and at that time, it was martial arts. And it was Kung Fu Frank over there and, uh, whomever. Jujitsu Jeff over there and I'm just g- like, and they're walking around like they're Steven Seagal with their chip on their shoulder and their chest out. And I'm thinking, I'm like, "What the heck is this, man? (laughs) Are you kidding me?" It looked like a swap meet for, uh, martial art wannabes. I, I, I don't know. (laughs)

Narrator 1:03:17 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:03:17 And all these people are walking around, like, going... This is before UFC, even, you know, people knew. They're like, "Wow." And I can remember some guys and I went, I w- I was just like, "Are, are you, (laughs) are you kidding me? I- This is, like, insane. These people are, like, uh, just playing the role." And so I just walked on by and I, I was like, "Wow, I got a room." And I went to the room and I'm like, "Wow." Like, my first time really being somewhere by myself and I'm fine with being by myself, but I'm like, "What the hell am I gonna do?" So there was a UFC office in the hotel, so that's my first run-in with Karen McCartney. And I walked in there and she's like, "Who are you? What do you want?" And I'm like, "Wow." (laughs) I was just like, "Hi," you know, whatever, and Dave, the guy that, that, that, uh, set it up from, from the clothing company or the medical company, said "Oh, you're gonna be all set, you're gonna have backstage passes." And I go, "Good, 'cause I wanna know what I'm gonna do and I... The lay of the land," you know? So she's like, "Oh, yeah. Nah, whatever." And I'm like, "Okay. Well, whatever." I was like, maybe she's having a bad day or something. And so I, uh, go, "Hmm, what do I do?" So I walk down to the lobby and I said, "Hey, man, is there a bar around here?" And he goes, "Oh, yeah. Right across the street over there, just down in there in the highway there." And I go, "Perfect." So I walk over there and everybody's partying. I sit at the bar and, uh, everybody's like, "Oh, what are you here for?" And I go, "You know that UFC thing they're having at the Coliseum or something like that." "Oh, yeah. That fighting thing. Are you a fighter?" And I'm like, going, "I- I'm not technically really a fighter." I go, "Well, I'm not fighting in this show, but I got a piece of paper saying, you know, a contract saying that I'm gonna be in the next one." So, um, I can... You, you know, you partied with me. I, uh-

Narrator 1:05:39 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:05:39 ... I like to have a good time.

Narrator 1:05:41 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:05:42 So it doesn't take long before the whole bar's rocking and rolling around me.

Narrator 1:05:46 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:05:46 And, uh, we're having fun.

Narrator 1:05:47 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:05:49 Everybody's like, "Woo-hoo, man. Tank." And I'm, like, going, "Ew," cringing, you know. Like, "Ugh, Tank." And, um, they're like, "Yeah," and I'm like, "Oh, yeah. Woo-hoo." And so we partied it up and had a good time and, uh... So... End up, uh, going back with these guys to... It was, like, a suites hotel, so there was, like, a room, like, a living room and then you had your bedroom type thing. And we're partying it up and, um, it doesn't take long before security comes and knocks on the door and says, "Hey, people are..."... complaining about you guys. And, God, I'm probably swinging off the couch, doing all sorts of crazy stuff. And, um, like, okay. Well, turns out, Meyrowitz is right across the hallway, and I think he called.

Narrator 1:06:44 Oh.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:06:45 So that wasn't a good thing. And I'm like, "Okay, we'll keep it down." And I didn't even know who the Bob was. Uh, Art Davie was the, was the- the guy. That's what he was purporting himself as. So I'm like, "Oh, whatever." And so, toned it down. So, go back the n- next day and it all starts up all over again. And I'm like, "Yeah, let's go." And they're going, "Hell yeah, we're going, we're going to the, the fight." And I go, "Yeah, let's go." So we end up, I go, "I got these backstage passes and stuff, so I don't know if I can sit with you guys." So they got tickets and they were in this little cubicle block of seats, just up on the first rail. And they're sitting there and I go, "Okay." And I go, "Hey, there's that art guy." I go, "Hey, Art!" And he's g- running around like he's, uh, Don King in a tuxedo. And I'm like, "Hey, Art! Art! Art! Hey, you got my passes?" And stuff like that. And he's looking at me, he's giving me, like, the cold shoulder, like in not even knowing... He sees me, but like, "Oh, shit, I don't wanna talk to that guy." And I'm like, uh, "Why is he being evasive?" And, um, finally, I called him over and I started putting two and two together. Like you said, I'm kind of cynical, a conspiracy theorist. He would walk around the hotel like he was King Kong, like, "I'm the man," type thing. And right when I went in to get tickets, and they, Layne and them are all in there, he's giving these two young girls these laminates. And gave me the quick eye, like, "What the hell is he looking at?" Like, "Oh," you know, sketchy look.

Narrator 1:08:39 Oh.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:08:39 And when I got to the show, when I... They gave, j- just gave me paper tickets. And those two girls were running around with the laminates in the office. So I put two and two together. He gave them my laminates trying to get over with the girls, and just gave me some tickets.

Narrator 1:09:00 Oh.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:09:02 All right. So now, just add a little alcohol, a little conspiracy thoughts going on in my head, and I'm going, "That little worm." And I go, "Oh, I know what's going on." And so I go, I go-

Narrator 1:09:18 So you were supposed to get laminates?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:09:20 Right, but those girls got the laminates-

Narrator 1:09:22 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:09:22 ... when I went in to get the tickets.

Narrator 1:09:23 And those girls that he had just met?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:09:25 Yes. They were just groupie-

Narrator 1:09:28 Okay.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:09:29 ... ring rats, kind of thing.

Narrator 1:09:31 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:09:31 Anyways (laughs) , so, um, he, I'm like, "Hey, Art! Art! Art!" And he finally walked over. I go, "What the fuck, dude?" And I go, "You gave me these paper tickets." I go, "I can't see anything. I, I just wanna walk around." And in the back of my mind, I wanted to get their clothes on camera. I was gonna do, like, a cameo walk-by, you know?

Narrator 1:09:51 Yeah. (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:09:52 I was a kid. Anyways... Or young, or ignorant, or whatever. Unwise. And so, um, I'm walking and he's like, "Oh, oh, I don't study..." You know, he gives me this shrug and he walks off in his little tuxedo. And I'm, I'm steaming. And so, that goes down, and, uh, the first fights go down. And one of the girls, there was, like, a group of maybe 10 people? She goes, "Hey, Tank!" You know, in the Southern thing. She goes, "I don't know. I, you know, I was expecting something else. This is kinda boring to be honest with you." And I'm like, like I was part of the show, you know? And I'm, like, going, "Yeah. I understand." I think, I think Gracie or Oleg or somebody fought and they were doing submission and it was boring. And, and, and so I go, "Let me tell you something. I promise you, I promise you, it's not gonna be anything like this. It's not gonna be laying on the ground, rolling around when I fight. I promise you that. You have to believe me." And she goes, "Well, I hope so, 'cause this..." You know, I can't, I can't get into my accent, but-

Narrator 1:11:11 Right. (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:11:11 She goes, "I hope so, 'cause this is boring." And I'm like, "No, it's not gonna be anything like that when I get in there. Trust me." And so, that was the tone that was set, and more beers. I was drinking beer at that time. Eh, maybe I was drinking some vodka then. But, so, we get back after the show at the bar, and I remembered. Everybody's, like, sitting around talking about it, and they're like, "Yeah, man," you know. And I went, "Hey. You know what? I forgot. There's a cocktail party going on." And they're going, "What?" And I go, "Yeah, the- there's a cocktail party going on. My, my guide told me about it." And, like, I had backpay- back, you know, passes and the whole nine yards. I go, "But there's a cocktail party with everybody there." (laughs) Anyways, so I go, "Let's go." And they're going, "Well, we're not... How are we gonna get in?" I go, "You're fucking with me, man. We'll, we can get in, don't worry." So, I went over there. I had an entourage by that time, believe it or not. I wasn't, I didn't even fight.And we walked in and, you know, they had a typical banquet type stuff with the silverware, and the rolled roast beef, and rolls, and cocktails. And (laughs) so I was drinking and drinking and drinking. And, uh, didn't take long before I started telling them that they were a bunch of pussies-

Joe Rogan 1:12:58 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:12:58 ... and that they didn't know how to fight. They don't even... what the hell is going on? Wait till I get in there. And Jim Brown, the football player, was an announcer then. And, uh, I think he came up in a fatherly way like, "Hey, hey, hey, hey. Calm down." I was like, "Pfft, tell me what to calm down. I'll tell you what to calm down." I didn't have any respect at that time. And so things went on like that and ended up taking Jim Brown's, um... what do you call those things? Like a derby.

Joe Rogan 1:13:41 His hat off?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:13:42 Yeah. But what's it, what are they called?

Joe Rogan 1:13:44 I don't know.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:13:44 It's like a hat.

Joe Rogan 1:13:45 I know what it is. Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:13:47 It's just the word escapes me right now. His beret. He had a beret that he used to wear all the time. And, uh-

Joe Rogan 1:13:54 And you took it off his head?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:13:55 I took it off his head and wa- started walking off. And I got about five yards away and he's all, "Hey, hey, hey, young man." And I turned around and I threw it at him. I flung it like a frisbee and it hit him in his chest and he caught it. And he looked at me angrily, angrily, and I was joking around, having fun. That's all. And that might just be the, the top, the cherry on top, but the whole behavior was that the whole night. And we left because it was closing down and I had my fill of food. And we went back to my room and restarted the party up again. And then I left and came back and they never called us back or anything. And I was like going, "Hey man, what the hell's going on?" And he's all, "What did you do there?" And I'm like, "Uh, I was just being me." And he gone, "Oh, no." And he was shaking his head. And then that's when Art called him and said, "Hey, that guy is a maniac."

Joe Rogan 1:15:24 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:15:25 "He's not, not only allowed in to fight in the show, he's not allowed to be at the show. No effing way. That guy, he's crazy." And my... I remember my friend hanging the phone up and looking at me and slowly just shaking his head like, "You blew it, dude." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:15:48 So how'd you get back in?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:15:49 I told you from the guy from the, the bar.

Joe Rogan 1:15:54 Okay. So that, so they discounted all the things that happened in the past?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:15:57 That guy made a phone call.

Joe Rogan 1:15:59 Well, it's the smart thing to do. I mean, regardless if someone's a maniac, it's a maniac sport. You just gotta like-

David “Tank” Abbott 1:16:06 Well, well, the-

Joe Rogan 1:16:06 ... have better security. (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:16:07 That... Okay. The lead up into meeting the guy that got me in, the professional wrestling guy.

Joe Rogan 1:16:15 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:16:17 Okay. So I get this, this phone call. "You're out." Boom.

Joe Rogan 1:16:25 Right.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:16:26 And, and we go to this bar and it's not a nice... It's a bar that normal people don't go to. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:16:37 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:16:37 And so i- and we're in there and there's... I told Paul and Eddie that I didn't want to go there. I just go, "I don't, I don't want to..." It's trouble. And I was a well-oiled and primed machine for beating ass. And I'm like... And I had anger issues from being kicked out of my dream. And, um, so they talked me into it. (laughs) And I go, "Okay, listen, if anybody bothers me, you guys have to take a... take care of business." And, "No problem." And we were supposed to be in a wrestling room training and fighting, but the wind got knocked out of our sails, my sail, but they were in there for me. And so we're in there and it's a seedy place and seedy things happen. This girl starts in with Paul. Paul disables her, and she falls on the ground.

Joe Rogan 1:17:54 Disables her?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:17:55 Well, he foot swept her 'cause she was clawing him.

Joe Rogan 1:17:59 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:17:59 It's a dirty, you know, it's a bad place.

Joe Rogan 1:18:02 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:18:03 Anyways, so, so that Paul didn't beat up her boyfriend, I came up behind him and got double underhooks underneath him from behind and was pulling him back. And all of a sudden, I hear this loud crack and a light flash across my eyes. I'm like, "What the fuck happened?" You know? It was like... It sounded like the jukebox machine got broke, you know, the glass on it. "What the hell happened, man?" And I let go of Paul f- pulling him back, and I turn around and there's a guy with a broken pool cue.... standing there and obviously, I put two and two together. Put two and two together and, um, his eyes were like, "Oh, that didn't go the way I had planned 'cause he's still standing here." And, um, I don't know because I was knocked silly, but I heard that he got hurt really bad and that's why the bartender or bar owner wanted to extort money from me f- from having a tape of me beating up those guys.

Joe Rogan 1:19:18 Oh.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:19:19 He's like, "Yeah, that guy came into my bar and almost killed somebody and I have it on videotape."

Joe Rogan 1:19:26 Mm, I see.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:19:28 And that's a long roundabout back to the story thing.

Joe Rogan 1:19:31 Got it. Yeah. So it was a whole lot of fights and a whole lot of chaos. When you were, when you were competing, were you... Like, what kind of training were you doing if you were drinking that much?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:19:42 Oh, man. See, you know, I want, I really like to address this. And everybody thinks-

Joe Rogan 1:19:46 Please.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:19:46 ... p- people don't think that I train. I, I ran a marathon. You think that you just get up some day and go, "I'm gonna go run a marathon"?

Joe Rogan 1:19:53 Well, there's no way you didn't train.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:19:55 Right, I, I-

Joe Rogan 1:19:55 At all. Like you, look at you, you were very strong.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:19:58 Right.

Joe Rogan 1:19:58 You, you were obviously, y- you know, even though you're a big guy, your cardio wasn't that bad. You, you were-

David “Tank” Abbott 1:20:03 No.

Joe Rogan 1:20:03 ... definitely doing something.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:20:04 You try, try-

Joe Rogan 1:20:05 Yeah, yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:20:06 Yeah. No, you try-

Joe Rogan 1:20:07 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:20:07 ... try fighting three times. On-

Joe Rogan 1:20:08 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:20:09 ... on that day, the first UFC 6, I believe I could beat any man, ah, any man on Earth that day. On, on... I was in my prime that day. The only reason why I lost is because of big John McCartney and his, uh, breaking up the fights. He, he should have never broke that fight up.

Joe Rogan 1:20:32 Did they break... So there was no rule at all about standing people up?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:20:36 No, none.

Joe Rogan 1:20:37 I personally believe, and I've t- so I've broken this down too many times to repeat it, but I'm gonna anyway. I don't think they should ever stand people up.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:20:44 Right.

Joe Rogan 1:20:44 I think if a person could take you down, a person can take you down and keep you down, tough shit. Even if it's boring. Like, the whole idea-

David “Tank” Abbott 1:20:51 Y-

Joe Rogan 1:20:51 ... is like, what's real?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:20:52 Ta- ta- take, take it away from me about McCartney, uh, affecting fights. The first fight they had, I'm... Don't quote me on this 'cause I'm, I'm not a historian, but I believe it was Bas Rutten and Kevin Randleman. That was the first fight they had with judges. John McCartney got in there and broke that fight up twice so Bas could get back up and, and come back and fight him.

Joe Rogan 1:21:22 Were there rules back then about stand-ups?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:21:24 I'm, I w- I don't know. I don't think so.

Joe Rogan 1:21:27 That was an interesting fight.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:21:28 I, I think, I think, i-

Joe Rogan 1:21:29 'Cause it was the first fight anybody ever won off their back, really.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:21:32 Yeah, but, but there, no. He shouldn't have won. If you watch that fight, and I just watched it recently, Kevin Randleman kicked his ass, beat his ass severely, and John broke it up twice just so he could, uh, to give Bas a, a, a, an advantage and-

Joe Rogan 1:21:54 A chance to get back up to his feet.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:21:55 Yeah. And, and Bas is, is nothing more than a, a charismatic... Uh, what? Pancrase, pancrase is fake. Listen to Ken Shamrock. He said it's fake. Well, it's pre-

Joe Rogan 1:22:08 Well, there were-

David “Tank” Abbott 1:22:08 ... at worst, uh, at best-

Joe Rogan 1:22:09 There were some real fights. There was-

David “Tank” Abbott 1:22:11 At best, it was predetermined, as Ken said it.

Joe Rogan 1:22:13 I think there were some real fights, and I think this is true in all of Japan.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:22:17 Okay.

Joe Rogan 1:22:17 There's some real fights and there's some fixed fights.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:22:20 But-

Joe Rogan 1:22:20 Like when Bas fought Funaki? Watch that fight. He beat the fuck out of Funaki. That was a real fight.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:22:25 Yeah, I haven't... I, uh...

Joe Rogan 1:22:27 I don't know if you've seen that one, but that-

David “Tank” Abbott 1:22:29 I didn't.

Joe Rogan 1:22:29 ... is not fake. He beats-

David “Tank” Abbott 1:22:30 No.

Joe Rogan 1:22:30 ... the fuck out of Funaki. I mean, it's one of the worst beatings anybody's ever taken in pancrase.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:22:35 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 1:22:35 'Cause Bas, Bas had figured out, instead of slapping-

David “Tank” Abbott 1:22:38 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 1:22:38 ... to throw palms like punches. You know?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:22:43 Well, I'm not gonna get into that, to, to technicals.

Joe Rogan 1:22:46 I know you discredit a lot of people because that's you.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:22:47 I'm not this... Yeah, but I-

Joe Rogan 1:22:49 But like, Bas Rutten was a bad man.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:22:53 I think, uh...

Joe Rogan 1:22:55 When Bas Rutten beat Tioko Kosaka, did you ever see that fight?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:22:57 I don't. Uh, th- the, the... It's a, a skills fight and what have you. I- I did see the thing-

Joe Rogan 1:23:07 Tioko Kosaka was a very good fighter and that was not... I mean, it was a skillful fight, but it was a brutal fight.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:23:13 But was that pancrase?

Joe Rogan 1:23:14 No, that was UFC.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:23:15 UFC.

Joe Rogan 1:23:16 That was his first fight in the UFC.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:23:17 I haven't seen it. And he's had two fights in the UFC?

Joe Rogan 1:23:20 Ye- I think he had two fights in the UFC.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:23:21 And in my opinion, I just watched it, he lost to Randleman, so he's one and one.

Joe Rogan 1:23:26 Maybe he had more. Did he have more than two fights in the UFC? I can't think of a third.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:23:30 I think, I think he might have fought, um, that Indian guy?

Joe Rogan 1:23:35 Yes. But that was, uh, Ruben Villarreal, right?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:23:37 Yeah, I fought-

Joe Rogan 1:23:37 And, but that wasn't in, um, the UFC. That was in another organization. That was l- like a later fight.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:23:44 Right. No, I fought that Ruben whatever guy. That was my last fight.

Joe Rogan 1:23:48 Mm.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:23:48 I came off of my hotel bed and walked into the octagon.

Joe Rogan 1:23:54 Didn't you have a fight with Scott Fairoza in a backyard?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:23:57 Yes.

Joe Rogan 1:23:58 (laughs) That fight fucking great.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:24:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:24:00 We played that fight once on the podcast. We're like, "This is so crazy."

David “Tank” Abbott 1:24:03 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:24:04 "These guys are so wild. They're just fighting on a lawn."

David “Tank” Abbott 1:24:06 Yeah. No, they... I, they called me up and they said that. I go, "Yeah, I'd love to fight that guy again."

Joe Rogan 1:24:12 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:24:12 And, and, um, uh, I flew out there and went... They wanted to do it in a empty strip, um, club.

Joe Rogan 1:24:22 How was this organized? Like, how does that take place?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:24:24 Some guy, some guy named Brian Grooms.

Joe Rogan 1:24:26 Just came up with some money-

David “Tank” Abbott 1:24:28 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:24:28 ... and said, "Hey, I'll pay you guys to fight on a lawn."

David “Tank” Abbott 1:24:31 Well, he wanted to do it in a, an abandoned strip club. And I told him, I go, "Dude." He's like, "Uh, I'm having trouble." I go, "I'm not, I'm not gonna get arrested."

Joe Rogan 1:24:41 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:24:42 I go, "I value my freedom." And he's like...Yeah. And I go, "I'll fight him anywhere." He goes, "Will you do it in my backyard?" I go, "Hell yeah, I'll do it in my backyard."

Joe Rogan 1:24:50 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:24:51 And so we went there, and I don't know what version you saw. He put, he put some, uh, uh, edited version out of it. But, um, he ended up going to the hospital again. I sent him to the hospital the first time, and he went again, th- the second time, 'cause of his big mouth.

Joe Rogan 1:25:11 Well, you were punching him on the top, and he was, like, cheering. Like he was having a good time.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:25:16 Yeah, he was.

Joe Rogan 1:25:16 It was a cr- kind of a crazy fight to watch.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:25:19 Yeah, I don't, I don't know if he was cheering. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:25:22 It was something like he was saying, "Woo." Like, "This is great."

David “Tank” Abbott 1:25:25 Yeah, he's trying to, he's trying to act...

Joe Rogan 1:25:27 Yeah, like he's enjoying it.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:25:28 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:25:29 Enjoying getting beat up.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:25:30 Right.

Joe Rogan 1:25:30 Yeah. Um-

David “Tank” Abbott 1:25:32 Only if a girl's doing it to me.

Joe Rogan 1:25:33 How many fights do you think you had total, uh, in all of MMA and in street fights, in your life?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:25:41 Uh.

Joe Rogan 1:25:41 If you had to guess.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:25:42 I have guessed... You know what? That's like, uh, asking Wilt Chamberlain about how many one night stands he's had.

Joe Rogan 1:25:51 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:25:51 You know. I-

Joe Rogan 1:25:52 Didn't he say 10,000?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:25:54 Yeah, so like-

Joe Rogan 1:25:55 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:25:55 ... you know, I... Not 10,000. I, I, I kind of dabbled around before I got bored. And thinking like, wow, you know, in the last couple years, at least two times a week, at least. And then, you know, so-

Joe Rogan 1:26:12 That's 100 a year.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:26:12 That's what I'm saying. And that-

Joe Rogan 1:26:14 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:26:15 I mean, I used to-

Joe Rogan 1:26:16 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:26:16 Two times a week.

Joe Rogan 1:26:17 Two times a week is so... If you looked at a chart of the average person, how many street fights they get in, the two times a week, that is the smallest percentage of the population that's alive.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:26:27 Yeah, yeah, well-

Joe Rogan 1:26:29 Yeah.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:26:29 ... I, I was into it.

Joe Rogan 1:26:30 (laughs) What did you enjoy so much about it?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:26:32 Well-

Joe Rogan 1:26:32 Because here's the thing. You're, you're not a dumb guy.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:26:35 Mm-mm.

Joe Rogan 1:26:35 You're s- you're a s- like when someone can get into a conversation with you, and you want to really start talking about things, you're a very bright guy.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:26:42 Yes.

Joe Rogan 1:26:42 But you liked it.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:26:44 Oh, yeah, I loved it.

Joe Rogan 1:26:44 It was like your favorite thing.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:26:46 Well, you know, I broke it down. A- and, uh, recently, not really recently, but in, towards the, after my surgery and all these kind of things, you sit around and talk to yourself all day. Um, I come to realize, you know, there's a, like a cliche, I'm the bully's bully, that kind of thing. Um, I used to set up, um, textbook narcissist that come in and display their narcissism around people. Like, you ever meet somebody that, that, that you're like, "Oh no, those two can't be around each other."

Joe Rogan 1:27:39 Mm-hmm.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:27:40 Well, I was the kind of guy... And I've never... I'm more of an empath than people know. But, um, I would, my ears would perk up and my eyes would open up when I saw a narcissist, that they would try to, uh, belittle, put people down.

Joe Rogan 1:28:03 Oh, okay.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:28:04 And I would s- kind of like be... And my brother's five years older than me, and I kind of maybe... You, you know. He's very athletic. I come from like a football, dad's a football coach, that kind of thing. And so maybe a deep-rooted, and I was resentful of him being older and able to push me around or what have you.

Joe Rogan 1:28:30 Mm-hmm.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:28:31 And so when I see these narcissists and I'd be like, "Why would that guy be doing that? For what?" Like, "What? Are you getting yourself over?" And so I would put myself in their vicinity, and sooner or later... And if you look at me, like even today when I walk down the street, people give me the eye like, "Yeah, you want some?" And I-

Joe Rogan 1:28:52 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:28:53 And I-

Joe Rogan 1:28:54 Do they really? (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:28:54 Oh, hell yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:28:55 How are you looking at them?

David “Tank” Abbott 1:28:57 Well, y-

Joe Rogan 1:28:58 (laughs)

David “Tank” Abbott 1:28:58 ... you don't want to know.

Joe Rogan 1:28:59 (laughs) Like, "Hey, do you want some?"

David “Tank” Abbott 1:29:01 Yeah, exactly.

Joe Rogan 1:29:02 They're looking at you back.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:29:03 Yeah, and I know. I just smile and, and it's like, it's not... It's like, are you kidding me? I feel like Billy Jack, you know.

Joe Rogan 1:29:10 Right.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:29:11 Like, you're, you know, you don't know what you're, you're gonna get into. Same same back in the day. And I would go, "No, no, no, no." You know, I wrestled at 190 pounds. I wasn't, uh, like I was when I was fighting. Once I knew I was fighting, I just ate everything and just got as strong and as big as I possibly could. Um, so sooner or later, and I go, "No, no, no, no, no, no. You're gonna slow down there." And, uh, sooner or later, "Were you talking to me?" One of those kind of back and forths.

Joe Rogan 1:29:47 Mm-hmm.

David “Tank” Abbott 1:29:48 And like I say, um, fighting to me is like walking the dogs. I don't, I don't... Okay, we can go there if you want to. And, uh, like I said, I've, I've been in a lot of fights. And talk about, uh, fighters' fortitude and, you know, someone's bite, biting my back or sticking their thumb in my eye socket. I was like, "All right, just enjoy your time right now, 'cause, uh, you're gonna pay the price." And the more you beat people up in the street and in life, the more jaded and, um, you get used to it. Like, you know, I can remember