Don Frye & Dan Severn talk about who would've won if Royce Gracie had fought Tank Abbott in the UFC?

Underground
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agreed

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For sure but even still a guy like Hugo and his skills and ONE mistake was all it took to end up on queer street.

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Yep, the risk fighting a power puncher.

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Tank was in his best shape in WCW. Imagine if too his shape serous like that earlier in UFC.

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The only person I remember him hurting in the guard was Steve Jennum. And it wasn’t even a punch. He just pressed his head against Jennum’s face until he tapped.

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Man I can’t find that sign a fan had that said “Spank theTank” anyways,I didn’t realize that we almost had Tank vs Shamrock,but Shammy broke his hand.

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He made Cal Worsham tap from a punch landed in the guard.

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And did he really break his hand? Like are there pics of him after with a cast?

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Ken did so much questionable shit I have to wonder.

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I seen a picture of Ken’s broken hand at UFC 2,but not at the Ultimate Ultimate.

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Both of those were kinda, I’m in a bad spot & scared of the possible consequences here, so I’m tapping situations.

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Yeah, Worsham didn’t really seem hurt when he popped up demanding that Tank be disqualified.

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Nowadays guys almost never tap to punishment & pain. They just take the beating until the ref stops it. Pretty crazy. Back then, a lot of guys would see the end & be like F this! Lol

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I was cage side for that fight. Worsham just wanted out. He wasn’t even hurt when he got up.

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Dave Meltzer from the Wrestling Observer said that he saw Ken’s hand, and while he wasn’t sure if it was broken or not, he did say it looked very swollen.

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Here’s how I think the fight might have happened:

Round 1:

Tank and Royce approach each other cautiously to the center of the ring. Royce throws a low kick. Tank unfazed, but keeps his right hand up as if he’s ready to throw it.

Royce throws another low side kick. Both fighters now tentatively circle each other. Suddenly, Tank throws a right hand, but Royce ducks and clinches.

Royce tries to trip Tank, but he’s too strong and pushes Royce against the cage. Royce tries to maneuver away from the cage, but takes a punch to his rib. Royce immediately pulls guard.

Tank tries to posture up to land some punches but Royce tightly holding on to him. Tank throws some rabbit punches but almost opens himself up to an arm bar.

Round over. 10-9, Royce

Round 2:

Round begins with Tank immediately throwing a haymaker, almost catching Royce, but they get into the clinch. Tank bulls Royce into the cage. Royce lands some knees to the midsection of Tank. Tank trying to land something, but lands rabbit punches to the side of Royce’s body. Big John McCarthy warns Tank for landing punches to the back of Royce’s head.

Tank suddenly gets the takedown, but lands into Royce’s guard. Royce trying to go for a triangle, but Tank blocks. Tank is landing some rabbit punches to the side of Royce’s body.

Not much action. BJM decides to stand them back and restart the fight. But the round is over.

10-9, Tank

Round 3:

Royce throws and lands a low kick and another. TANK ANSWERS WITH A BIG RIGHT HAND that almost lands but visibly hurts Royce due to the force. Royce immediately clinches. Tank can smell blood and tries to throw inside punches on Royce, but Royce still holds onto Tank.

TANK TAKES ROYCE DOWN VIA SINGLE-LEG. Tank now is in Royce’s half guard. Tank is throwing rabbit punches, but is visibly slowing down. Tank’s tired.

Tank tries to pass Royce’s guard by lifting him off the ground, but Royce gets a triangle choke. The choke looks tight. TANK ABBOTT TAPS.

Royce wins by 3rd rd via submission.

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139

What year are we in where there’s 3 rounds?

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Royce would demolish Tank. The only possible chance Tank would have is to never fall to the ground. I wouldn’t put money on that. It’s not like he is some amazing wrestler and striker combo like Liddel. He has a punchers’ chance until he falls into guard.

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While Tank wasn’t an elite wrestler, he did have enough skill grappling wise to avoid anything Taktarov had for about 15 minutes. I always felt Taktarov was more dangerous than Royce because he knew leglocks when few people really did in the MMA world. I think where he runs into a problem is being goaded into following Royce to the ground or expending a ton of energy to make sure Royce doesn’t somehow trip him or get into a position where he can’t escape from due to cardio. When he fought Duarte he easily escaped. If that situation happens 5 minutes later I think Tank struggles mightily.

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