How a barroom encounter made Pat Miletich and Tank Abbott longtime enemies

If you were around a UFC event in the mid-1990s, there’s a good chance you have a story involving an alcohol-fueled Tank Abbott. UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich is no different.

Abbott (10-15 MMA, 8-10 UFC) was known as a brawler with dozens of unsanctioned fights. He joined the UFC in 1995 in an attempt to translate that experience into octagon success. Sometimes it went well for him; others times it didn’t. He certainly didn’t have the same career success as Miletich (29-7-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC), who at UFC 17.5 in October 1998 captured the welterweight title before defending it four times.

Miletich wasn’t the type to turn away from conflict during his prime fighting years, he said, be it inside or outside the octagon. However, he said the same can’t be said for Abbott, who apparently portrayed the opposite of his tough-guy demeanor during a confrontation with Miletich in December 1996 at Ultimate Ultimate 1996 in Birmingham, Ala.

“I walked up to Tank, and he was talking to (Bob) Meyrowitz, who owned the UFC at the time (under) Semaphore Entertainment Group,” Miletich told MMAjunkie Radio. “Tank had been in the bar dancing with his shirt off, dancing on the dance floor, grabbing everybody’s women. So I walk up to talk to Meyrowitz. Tank’s standing right there. I go, ‘Hey Tank, good fight.’ Then he palms my face and shoved me away.”

Although there’s a dramatic size different between Abbott, a heavyweight, and Miletich, a welterweight, it apparently didn’t stop Miletich from attempting to retaliate. But the way he tells it, Abbott wanted no part of that.

“There’s a drink railing between (us); I’m on the dance floor side, he’s on the bar side, and I looked at him and I go, ‘You fat mother(expletive). I’m knocking you out right now,'” Miletich said. “So I started marching toward the end of the drink rail to come around. I was just going to attack him.

“Well, he starts walking with me, and I’m assuming he’s going to meet me at the end of it. So we’re walking, (but) he takes a right and goes out the door of the place. Then somebody grabs me and goes, ‘Don’t go out there.’ Then I go, ‘No, I’m knocking his fat ass out right now.’ So I’m going outside – and he and his three buddies are running down the street.”

Despite Abbott apparent sudden exit, Miletich said wasn’t about to let the man who had disrespected him out of his crosshairs. He pursued Abbott back to the fighter hotel but was never able to exact his revenge.

“I start chasing him, but they got like a two block lead on me,” Miletich said. “So I’m chasing them like, ‘You fat son of a (expletive). I’m going to beat your ass.’ I get to the hotel, and he’s already got in the hotel, and I go in, and Tra Telligman’s in the lobby, and I go, ‘Tra, did you see Tank come in here?’ He goes, ‘Yeah, dude. He just sprinted up those stairs.’ So I sprinted up the stairs, and another fighter is there. I go, ‘Did you see Tank?’ He goes, ‘Yeah, he just got on the elevator.'”

Miletich said his opportunity to settle the score never came to fruition. However, he said he thought Abbott was always aware of what he had done, because every time they were around each other following that incident, Miletich said Abbott did everything he could to avoid him.

“From then on every time I see Tank, he literally would just go hide,” Miletich said. “I wanted to beat his ass so bad.”

Check out the full conversation above.

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MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show, available on SiriusXM Ch. 93, is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.