The rumor mill was rife with reports that Tank Abbott has challenged Scott Ferrozzo to a rematch of their first fight, which took place at UFC 11 way back in 1996. Ferrozzo toughed out a decision in that grueling bout and now, all these years later, it seems that these two behemoths might be going at it once more. Excited by the prospects of this match, I called Scott and we spoke about the possibility.
TheGARV: Scott, there are rumors of a rematch between you and Tank. What's going on?
Ferrozzo: I got an email from a guy, one of [Tank's] representatives, asking me if there could be a Tank/Ferrozzo 2 and offering me a lot of money.
TheGARV: Do you know if this guy is legit and actually connected to Tank Abbott?
Ferrozzo: Well, Tank Abbott's on the main page of the guy's entertainment website. He's an agent.
TheGARV: What kind of shape are you in?
Ferrozzo: Well, they want to fight on March 11 in LA, so I'm not too worried about it. I weigh 310 pounds right now. When I fought Tank I was 355.
TheGARV: So you've actually slimmed down.
Ferrozzo: Oh yeah. Stronger.
TheGARV: You won the first fight with Tank, but afterwards Tank said that you went to the hospital and he went to the bar, so he really won. What do think about that?
Ferrozzo: Going to the hospital was one of the things--they were just giving me IV fluid, there was nothing wrong with me.
TheGARV: Tank was a monster at the time.
Ferrozzo: At the time I fought Tank he was the toughest guy that I ever had to fight. Now he's gotten older and it's just time to shut the guy up for good.
TheGARV: Your last fight was against Vitor Belfort, back when he was destroying everyone he faced. Why did you retire after that fight?
Ferrozzo: I don't know. My only goal was to beat Tank when I got into it. I think [the Vitor stoppage] was a little political. The guy had me at a down position but at no time was I ever hurt or ever felt any pain or anything. I was just biding my time. It was a no-rules fight. Right when I felt some pressure come off me I was up ready to go. There was nothing wrong with me.
TheGARV: So this fight with Tank in March, you're treating it as though it is going to happen, correct?
Ferrozzo: I put it on my Facebook and I had 150, 160 emails in an hour. It's been a long time, lot of people [interested].
TheGARV: Looking at the UFC today, there's a fighter, Roy Nelson. Does he remind you of anyone? He's not exactly the most chiseled fighter out there.
Ferrozzo: Well I think that as long a guy's got a jaw and he wants to train hard and he's able to train. See, that's the thing, I never had an athletic body. But I train hard. I mean, I went 18 minutes with Tank. I know it's a fight and I take it seriously. I'm not going to show up the day before and say let's get it on. I take it very seriously. And if I prepare for Tank I'm going to put a team back together. We're going to train for 60 days, twice a day. When I walk into the ring I'll be able to do a 20 minute fight.
TheGARV: You said that you got into the UFC for one reason, to beat Tank Abbott.
Ferrozzo: Exactly. When I first saw him in Buffalo I wanted to go kick his ass because he was in the crowd. I was told that if I touched the guy I would never fight in the UFC. It took a couple years to get there but that night I fought him, it was fate.
TheGARV: What was it about Tank that pissed you off so much?
Ferrozzo: Because he's a bully and I don't like bullies.
TheGARV: Do you get recognized by MMA fans?
Ferrozzo: Sometimes. The old school UFC people who watch it know who I am. I don't look much different. When I went to the Brock Lesnar fight in the Twin Cities and wore a shirt that said "Kimbo Slice Pick on Somebody My Size" the freakin' crowd went nuts.
TheGARV: Would you like to fight Kimbo?
Ferrozzo: Oh yeah, I'd kick his ass too. It would be a stand up fight and I got a freakin' jaw of iron. I trained with Brett Rogers a little bit and he couldn't do anything to me. Brett couldn't do a thing to me. Couldn't punch me hard enough, couldn't get me off him. That's why they call me the Pitbull.
