Tank Abbott

Evening News and Notes: “Wargods” Fighter Salaries, Shields-Riggs Not Official & More

Here are your news and notes for the evening of February 19, 2009.

The California State Athletic Commission today released the official list of fighter salaries stemming from last weekend’s Wargods and KSP co-promoted “Valentine’s Eve Massacre” event. The show’s headliner, Ken Shamrock, earned $25,000 for his first-round submission win over Ross Clifton. David “Tank” Abbott, who Shamrock may be matched up against at another Wargods event later this year, earned $20,000 for his 29-second knockout of Mike Bourke.

Despite Strikeforce officials and Ken Pavia saying different, former EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields tells MMANews.com that his reported bout against Joe Riggs for April has not yet been signed. “Well, nothing is signed right now but it is a good possibility that it is going to happen.” Shields told the website via text message. “If it does go through, I think it will be a good, exciting fight.”

Massachusetts-based World Championship Fighting has announced that it has produced its first television program, WCF Rewind, which will debut on Comcast SportsNet New England on Sunday, March 1st at 6:30 PM. The half-hour program is said to feature intimate and gritty portraits of some of the region’s most exciting up and coming mixed martial artists as they prepare for their WCF bouts.

Shamrock, Tank End Losing Streaks

Ken Shamrock and Tank Abbott both ended their respective losing streaks with wins at the Wargods and KSP co-promoted “Valentine’s Eve Massacre” show on Friday night in Fresno, California.

Shamrock floored replacement opponent Ross Clifton with a right hand just seconds into their bout before finishing him off with an armbar moments later in the first round. Abbott put his infamous knockout power on display, putting Mike Bourke down for the count with a right hand just 29 seconds into their featured attraction. The two MMA pioneers will now likely clash in a showdown later this year that could mark the final professional bout for both fighters.

Complete results from the event:

Ken Shamrock def. Ross Clifton - Submission (Armbar)
Tank Abbott def. Mike Bourke - KO (Punch)
Josh Haynes def. Rafael Real - Split Decision
Mike Moreno def. Gary Padilla - Unanimous Decision
Ron Kessler def. Darrin Freeman - Unanimous Decision
Zoila Frausto def. Karina Hallinan - Split Decision
Issac de Jesus def. Ashe Bowman - Unanimous Decision
Rick Reeves def. Nathan James - Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)

Fight of the Day: Tank Abbott vs. Cabbage Correira

From Rumble on the Rock 7 in May 2005, here’s the second fight between David “Tank” Abbott and Wesley “Cabbage” Correira.

Shamrock, Abbott to Headline WarGods and KSP Event on February 13

FRESNO –  WarGods and Ken Shamrock Productions (KSP) are hosting a spectacular MMA event Feb 13th at the Fresno Arena – The Valentine’s Eve Massacre.  The event will be the first of a string of shows being set up in 2009 between the two promotions and featuring fights long overdue.

One of these will possibly include a match up in the final stages of negotiations between Ken Shamrock and Tank Abbott slated for the end of April in Reno, Nevada.  Their rivalry dates back years, it is well publicized and a fight between the two was only a matter of time.  Ken Shamrock said it best “There are a lot of fans that have followed this for years, die hard fans, who want to see this and reminisce a little bit.”  Wargods and KSP are making 2009 the year of the legends.

Due to unforeseen injuries changes have been made to the Feb 13th card - Ken Shamrock’s original opponent has been changed to Ross Clifton.  The David and Goliath match up will be interesting to say the least and Ken’s son Ryan Shamrock will not be able to compete, but will be back on the next card.

Continue reading "Shamrock, Abbott to Headline WarGods and KSP Event on February 13"

EliteXC Events Headed to DVD

ProElite, the parent company of Elite Xtreme Combat, has reportedly reached a multi-year deal with Image Entertainment to bring events produced by the budding mixed martial arts promotion to DVD.

The deal will call for Image to release four titles annually under the EliteXC brand name and eight titles annually under the ShoXC banner. EliteXC’s “Destiny” (Frank Shamrock vs. Renzo Gracie) and “Renegade” (Nick Diaz vs. K.J. Noons) are slated to be released on May 13th.

A DVD profiling David “Tank” Abbott will be released the following month.

“There is a growing market for high-quality arena-based mixed martial arts content, and ProElite is the premiere source for this type of sports entertainment,” Steven DeMille, senior VP of marketing at Image told VideoBusiness.com. “We are pleased to add ProElite to our roster of content suppliers as we continue to grow both our distribution channels and scope of programming.”

HT: MMA Payout

Tank Abbott: Future UFC Hall of Famer?

Looking at those already enshrined in the UFC’s Hall of Fame and the one person who is about to be (Mark Coleman), it’s tough to think about a guy like Tank Abbott ever being honored in such a way. After all he’s lost more fights than he’s won in the UFC.

However the above way of thinking can go to waste according to UFC President Dana White, who in a recent interview with Michael Woods of ESPN, revealed that Abbott is basically a shoe-in to receive the promotion’s highest honor:

White said he has a plan for when Abbott announces he is done gloving up that will honor the colorful brawler, whose record is an underwhelming 9-14 but who undeniably helped grow the sport out of its infancy and into young adulthood.

“Tank Abbott,” White said, “absolutely will be in our Hall of Fame.”

I’m not sure if I agree with this. I love Tank to death, don’t get me wrong. He’s one of the most popular fighters in the history of the sport and has been through many a memorable war.

While I’m sure that his presence in the UFC helped pushed the promotion to new levels, I’m not sure if that alone should be enough to grant him a spot in the UFC’s Hall of Fame.

A spot for Tank would take away a spot for another more deserving fighter in my opinion.

What do you guys think?

Making the Case for Tank Abbott

Just by looking at tomorrow night’s bout between Kimbo Slice and Tank Abbott, the average fan can likely already tell that Abbott doesn’t stand much of a chance. It’s nothing against Tank, but Kimbo simply has too many ways to win this fight. He’s the superior fighter going into this one and it’s hard to dispute that.

Let’s be honest here. Since 1998, Abbott has only won two fights and he’s lost seven of his last eight fights. His lone win was a knockout of Wesley “Cabbage” Correira, who spoiled Abbott’s UFC homecoming back in 2003 by defeating the Huntington Beach native courtesy of a cut.

However Tank has been through the fire before. Looking past his record, he’s hung in there with some of the best and he always has the ability to end the fight with one punch. Plus with everything said, I still feel like I need to at least attempt to make the case for him in this fight, so here it goes…

Tank has power: We all know this, it’s no secret. Despite what everyone may think, Tank has the power to knock Kimbo out, there’s no question about it. All we have to do is look back to Abbott knocking out Correira in 2005, you know that guy we all thought had a head full of concrete and stuff and couldn’t be knocked out?

Kimbo doesn’t have the best chin. We’ve seen it before in his street fights. However the key here is whether or not he will want to engage in a stand-up war with Tank. Just like in his exhibition bout against Ray Mercer, he could just opt to take Tank down, where he has a clear cut advantage. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.

Tank has the experience: Even though Tank really has only one way to win this fight, the fact that he’s been fighting for well over a decade bodes well for him. It’s likely that Abbott has seen positions during the course of a fight that Kimbo hasn’t, no matter how many different scenarios Bas Rutten tries to put Kimbo in during training sessions.

No pressure for Tank: There is no pressure for Tank Abbott going into this fight. None. He has nothing to lose. In 10 years, he’s won once and that’s it. However all of the pressure is on Kimbo in this one. Unlike Mercer who obviously didn’t even attempt to learn ground skills for their fight and Bo Cantrell who came in on short notice, Tank poses a huge threat in the exact place in this fight where Kimbo is the best.

So there’s the case for Abbott going into this fight. It might not seem like much and it might not change anyone’s mind, but it at least shows us that Tank does at least have a chance against the big bad monster.

Rock the Vote: Kimbo or Tank?

Months of bad blood and trash talking will finally culminate at this weekend’s EliteXC: Street Certified, where EliteXC heavyweight sensation and internet street fighting legend Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson will take on legendary former UFC brawler David “Tank” Abbott.

While the fight may not be the sure-fire slugfest everyone is hoping for, it will sure be entertaining nonetheless. With the event only now days away, it begs the question - Who is going to win this Saturday?

A video of Kimbo behind the scenes during his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! is after the jump, courtesy of ProEliteTV.

Continue reading "Rock the Vote: Kimbo or Tank?"

CKA: Feb 8, 2008

Kimbo Slice discusses his original date to fight against Tank Abbott that was cancelled and how he feels about EliteXC’s upcoming “Street Certified” event being in his hometown of Miami in the above video courtesy of Pro Elite.

Some news for you this morning…

Sean Sherk Still Not Fighting in California

Right after his suspension for a positive steroids test was reduced instead of being overturned by the California State Athletic Commission, Sean Sherk said that he would never fight in the state of California ever again. Over three months later, he still feels the same:

“There’s no reason for me to ever fight in California again. The way they treated my case and the way they handled everything was so unprofessional that there’s absolutely no way I’ll ever fight in the state of California again, unless they get rid of the entire commission and hire a whole new commission,” Sherk told MMA Weekly.

Speaking of the CSAC, they have suspended Luke Hartwig after he tested positive for marijuana following his bout at Strikeforce “Young Guns” event on February 1st. Hartwig has been sidelined for three months (can return on May 1st) and was fined $500.

Fedor Dominates at Russian Combat Sambo Championships

Fedor Emelianenko will be competing at the 2008 Russian Combat Sambo Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia over the weekend.

So how did he do on his first day? MMA Ninja says pretty damn good.

As predicted, Fedor Emelianenko easily won all of his three fights. In his first fight, Fedor quickly attacked, after a combination of strikes he took his opponent down and submitted him. The fight was 35 seconds long. His second fight was even shorter - Fedor broke his opponent’s nose in 10 seconds.

The final fight against Stanislav Shushko took a little bit longer. Stanislav tried to keep Fedor at a distance using his height advantage, but Fedor closed the distance with a combination, went for a throw and a hold-down. The sequence of events happened once more and Fedor finished off Shushko in just over a minute.

Ninja and Fightlinker also discuss the weird relationship between Fedor and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Miscellaneous Notes

Fan favorite Paul Buentello revealed his desire to take on former boxing heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison in one of Morrison’s “MMA rules” bouts in The Underground. Touch of gloves to our friends at Bloody Elbow for the find. Luiz Alves, Muay Thai trainer for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, claims that he believes Tim Sylvia greased up for their title bout last weekend in a recent interview with Tatame.

Radio Schedule

Jarry Park: Carlo Prater Is Ready For The Fight Of His Life

12-1 PM EST - TAGG Radio
3-5 PM EST - The Beatdown
3-4 PM EST - The Fight Network Radio
9-10 PM EST - MMAWeekly’s Sound Off
11 PM EST - Knockout Radio

Kimbo Slice to Appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live“

EliteXC heavyweight sensation and internet street fighting legend Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson is scheduled to appear as a guest tonight on “Jimmy Kimmel Live“

The show, which also has Dr. Phil slated to appear as well as musical guests Birdman and Lil’ Wayne, will air tonight starting at 12:05 PM ET on ABC.

Our friends at MMA Junkie first reported Slice’s appearance earlier today and EliteXC parent company Pro Elite confirmed the news later via their official website.

Slice will be on hand to promote his upcoming fight against David “Tank Abbott” at EliteXC’s “Street Certified” event on February 16th at the University of Miami’s United Bank Arena in Miami, Florida. Ironically enough, Abbott was a guest of the show just two weeks ago.

After submitting former boxing heavyweight champion Ray Mercer in an exhibition bout in June of last year, Slice fought and defeated fellow heavyweight Bo Cantrell at EliteXC’ s “Renegade” event this past November. Slice and Abbott were originally set to fight at a Cage Fury Fighting Championship event in October but the event was scrapped due to the lack of a pay-per-view agreement.