Legendary U͏FC fighter Tank Abbott recentl͏y made a mark on Joe Rogan‘s podc͏ast on the ‘JRE MMA Show’ episode #158. In the two-hour-long podcast with Joe Rogan, Abbott revealed everything about his journey to the UFC, which was in its early stages in the 90s. You might think that Abbott’s emergence͏ in the UFC was nor͏mal like other fighters, but hold on. Abbott’s saga began in the squared room of a jail!

Joe Roga͏n was momentarily shocked when he heard the story behind Abbot’s ͏exceptional fighting style and journey to the promotion͏ during its growth. Let’s take a look at what Abbott confessed that left Rogan speechless.

Joe Rogan was shocked by Tank Abbott’s walk to UFC glory

Every͏ fighter in the UFC has their own story of success.͏ Some have it worse, ͏while others have a smoother sailin͏͏g, but Tan͏k Abbot͏t’s story ͏is a͏ little bit͏ different from every other fighter, bo͏th͏ past an͏d present. Abbott knew about UFC but he never thought that he would be in the promotion fighting under their banner. Interestingly, Abbott was on probation from jail when his friend informed him that their colleague had been signed under UFC. “I was in jail for beating up this cop’s son, right? And I got work released from that probation. I did like three weeks in jail in a farm and then I went to like a probation apartment thing, went to work, and came back,” said Abbott.

The ex-UFC heavyweight explained to Joe Rogan that one of his friends revealed to him that their colleague, Kimo was fighting for the UFC. Abbott stated that his friend called him out for fighting in UFC as well, “If that guy’s in it you why can’t you be in it and that’s when I was saying make it happen.” Little did Abbot know that his friend would seriously call the then founder of the UFC Art Davie to sign him in. “And he started calling Art Davie on the phone, and Art’s like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Then he goes, “No, you don’t understand. This guy is the real deal from the streets, man. Everybody knows who he is.” And Art’s like, “Yeah, yeah, we hear this story all the time.” And he’s like, “Not from this guy.”

Davey was not in the mood to sign Abbott so he challenged him to take on his 6’8″, 300 lbs fighter for a chance and Abbot accepted the challenge gracefully. A week after the challenge they went to Davie’s office for the clash. They had a nice conversation but Davie was still not convinced that Abbott could fight. After the conversation, Davie asks them what’s in their bag and that’s when Abbot reveals that it’s his fight gear, “He goes oh by the way uh what what what’s in that bag I said well you said you had somebody was like 6’8″ 300 lbs that we wanted to fight.”

He further added, “And he goes, “What?” I go, “Yeah, on the phone you said that.” And he goes, “You’d fight somebody?” And I go, “Yeah, I don’t go to jail.” And he goes, “You’re crazy, you are. What, you’re just crazy, man.” I’m like, “No, I’m down for fighting any time you want to do it.” And he’s like, “Oh,” and just shook his head.” Just a few days after that, Davie decided to sign Abbott as a fighter. Well, that’s not the only mind-blowing story that he shared that made Rogan go ‘wow.’

Tank Abbott shares about his health ailments

Tank Abbott made Joe Rogan emotional as he shared about his close death encounters as his health caught up with his wild lifestyle. Abbott admitted that he was a heavy drinker and used to drink on a daily basis. He was later diagnosed with kidney and liver diseases. The legend further explained that he had to undergo transplants of both vital organs in order to stay alive.

“I got a liver transplant and a kidney transplant, I died five times on the table… They did the kidney, not the liver first and wanted to make sure that it would take hold,” said Abbott. He further added, “[My body] finally caught up with all of my wildlife. Blew a gasket on my liver, but I got a nice transplant and everything is moving right along. It was not without complications, though. I died five times on the operating table and had over six strokes, but I’m still here.

Tank Abbot is currently 59 and is still strong considering his near-death experience. The legendary fighter’s life has been nothing but a rollercoaster ride. Regardless, what’s your take on Abbot’s journey? State your thoughts in the comments below.