Dana Makes it too Easy

I feel bad for what seems like a constant barrage of criticism against the guy, but Dana White is asking for it. In an ESPN.com article regarding Tank Abbott’s recent loss to EliteXC’s up and coming slugger, Kimbo Slice, White talks a little about the recent EliteXC production and one of his fighters from the renaissance days of the UFC; Tank Abbott.

UFC president Dana White watched the Slice-Abbott fight Saturday after taking in the Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor fight.

He prefers that Abbott call it a day.

“I think the whole thing was a farce,” White said of the EliteXC promotion. “I love Tank. I have nothing but respect for him; he’s always been good to me. But I don’t want to see that again.”

White would like Abbott to concentrate on the book and his next logical out-of-the-cage career move.

Currently, Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn are the four entrants in the UFC’s Hall of Fame. Mark Coleman will be inducted at UFC 82 on March 1 in Ohio.

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.”

This shouldn’t take long to dissect. Let’s take it one paragraph at a time and skip over the boring stuff.

“I think the whole thing was a farce,” White said of the EliteXC promotion. “I love Tank. I have nothing but respect for him; he’s always been good to me. But I don’t want to see that again.”

Well gee, is that because Kimbo Slice, the guy you doubted could beat any UFC heavyweight, beat an ex-UFC heavyweight? Ouch.

White would like Abbott to concentrate on the book and his next logical out-of-the-cage career move.

I think White could concentrate on keeping his heavyweights signed. EliteXC will soon have more heavyweight drawing power if they can pick up Josh Barnett and work with M-1 to bring in Fedor Emelianenko as part of M-1′s “let’s share our fighters to derail the UFC” program.

Currently, Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn are the four entrants in the UFC’s Hall of Fame. Mark Coleman will be inducted at UFC 82 on March 1 in Ohio.

These four guys deserve to be in the hall of fame. Randy Couture isn’t dubbed Captain America for no reason. He’s a big part of keeping American’s proud of their MMA fighters and he deserves to be in the UFC Hall of Fame. So does Royce Gracie, a big part of bringing the UFC over to the U.S. years ago as part of showcasing how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can be so dominant in the art of fighting. Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, and Mark Coleman are all worthy of Hall of Fame honors as well. But Tank Abbott? Seriously?

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.”

Wow. Just wow. Considering Abbott fought many fights long before many MMA fans, myself included, watched their first UFC (his last UFC win was over Hugo Duarte during UFC 17 more than 10 years ago), I wanted to take a look at the history of the infamous street brawler. Recent notable win include Wesley “Cabbage” Coreira. Aside from the lone victory in 2005, Abbott has beaten Hugo Duarte (6-3), Yoji Anjo (0-5), Steve Nelmark (2-1), Cal Worsham (11-9) and many other no-name fighters from the dark ages of MMA. He’s lost to every big name from the past, however.

What’s interesting is that White clearly stated that Kimbo Slice would not be able to beat any of the UFC’s current heavyweight fighters. There’s not many big names left to choose from, but it’s certainly true that Slice would have a very hard time against all of the top 10 guys out there. Would be beat any of them? Probably, but we have yet to see his ground game so it’s hard to accurately say anything. What’s funny about all of this is that Slice beat someone that Dana White wants to put in the UFC hall of fame and that, to me, is a pretty dumb move on his part. Either keep your mouth shut for five minutes or realize that Tank Abbott was a UFC heavyweight and Kimbo Slice destroyed him.