Don Frye (USA) vs Taro Akebono (USA) | MMA fight, HD 

Imagine being so enormous that your strategy is "lean on your opponent".

Its unfortunate how many current day MMA fans have no idea how badly Don would beat the literal piss out of their favorite fighter.

Akebono died April 2024 of heart failure. He had been suffering severe memory loss and could not walk since 2019. RIP

Don just gives me the vibes that immediately after a long, grueling fight he goes home, lights up a cigar and mows his lawn shirtless.

Don Frye - the embodiment of badassery.

Don never circled. He just kept letting him walk him straight back into the ropes or the corner.

Tough doesn't even describe Don Frye pure badass

For a 400-lb guy, he’s got some skinny legs.

It looked like Frye was fighting an Elephant Seal.

Akebono has perfected the "put my weight upon you" technique.

Don frye, living legend!!

bro would throw two punches and fall on Don legendary fight

Imagine getting punched by Don fry. Holy crap.

I don't care how big you are, this is what happens every damn time you mess with Burt Reynolds. "Why don't you clean this crap up off the beach? Keep the change."

Akebono only had one weak spot, his head and it took a while for Frye to get to it. Gotta be like wrestling a walrus.

Don was the man in his prime

I think about the third or fourth hit.....this guy knew don fry was there to win!

Just imagine Andre The Giant in his prime in this sport. He would have been undefeated. One serious punch from Andre might have actually killed someone. No kidding. If he kicked you as hard as he could, again, the result would be seriously life threatening. One kick, one punch. Neither of these two men would be able to get up from that and fight back.

Frye is the man. Always loved his fights.

Don Frye, with a stare that could melt the polar ice cap

According to Google, Don Frye is 6’1”. Taro Akebono is 6’8”. Close enough.

I have only seen a few fights in my life but this sure reminds me of Rocky training in the meat processing plant.

You have to have big balls to fight a guy with a mustache like Dons!

brilliantly timed low kick and it worked as planned. amazing strategy.

He really loves to hug him

Good thing Don did not attempt to take him down to the mat, it would have been over real quick with Don not being able to breath.

I'd like to imagine if Akebono had fought MMA in his physical prime. His knees and body were shot to hell by the time he got into this.

I dunno what to say except props for getting in the ring with of the most dangerous legends ever. But my god those hits & knees to that dudes stomach did mega damage for sure.. Don Frye & Dan Sev are my favs !!!

@5:00 Don Frye trying to remember if Titty-Twisters are legal under Pride rules.

Don Frye was an exciting fighter I miss those days!!!😞

Damn, that was a hell of a thing to watch

Frey debió resolver pronto con golpes a las piernas. Pienso que no debió sufrir tanto como en este pelea. El final lo dice todo.

Guys like Connor brought lots of Recognition to MMA but Connor encouraged and perpetrated too many dishonourable acts.

Frye didn't even try to dodge away , he just kept walking into a guy who outweighs him by what 200 pounds ?

I see he's using the "smother your opponent with sweaty flab" method of combat.

Уверен с таким весом даже лежать тяжело...

Well that was a smart move to kick out his leg because he's so top-heavy and his legs are so much weaker

Imagine he's going to fight against the prime Don Frye, man was gas by 3 strike

If I were as big as Akebono, I would not have taken this fight, Don Frye is terrifying. Props to both, the japanese showed courage and being stand-up man, for japanese people only honour counts.

To be fair, the frequent separations did help with the exhaustion that comes with having a guy like Akebono on you in the clinch.

Why did don cry at the end?

Don was a smart figjter! Hit that fat belly over and over lol

Don was the best!

That is one massive tub of lard.

Wow, there's so many people disrespectful to Akebono. That man might be sucks at MMA but he is a great Sumo wrestler. He is the first non Japanese to achieve the tittle of Yokozuna (Grand Champion). He also ranked top 10 Yokozuna with most championships wins. It's just Sumo and MMA is a very different type of combat sports. Transitioning from Sumo to MMA is as hard as transitioning from Boxing to MMA. And that man is already passed his prime when he dominated the Sumo ring. -In Sumo,a fight will end when one of the wrestler out of the ring or touched the ground with anything that is not their sole feet. So... a fight could end in just 10 sec- 5 minutes. There's no second round unless it's a draw. - In Sumo there's no weight division, become big is a great advantage so that you'll not get carried like a baby and not get pushed outside the ring easily.And can generate more force with more weight. - Meanwhile they're looking like a morbidly obese, they rarely get diagnosed with obese related desease. Because their 6 hours daily training and diet make their body only stores fat under their skin. They don't have a visceral fat. And they had regular check ups with doctors to make sure their body fat percentage is not exceeded 30%. That's is a body of pure dedication of an athlete. Not your average McDonald's loyal customers.

I'm just impressed that guy could stand up without having a heart attack let alone anything else.

Völlig sinnfrei dieser Kampf 😂😂😂🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

Taro is listed at 6’8 515lbs, no wonder Don had a Tuff time with this dude just to massive.

The hug with Gary Goodridge is a perfect moment. 12:08

The Real Beast of his time.

I can appreciate the unique challenge for Frye taking on this mountain of sweat and blubber, but what a terrible fight to watch.

Royce Gracie almost popped Akebono's elbow and wrist.

FAST FORWARD 10 MINUTES!!! you're welcome These guys hug each other more than I hug my wife and kids

Don Frye at 3:01 lmao he’s like wtf u want me to do bro

Chuck Norris was born from a hair on Don Fryes' mustache.

Don made a concentrated effort to not absolutely destroy Chad. He wasn't in his best shape, but he could have really inflicted severe violence on Chad's head. It was interesting to see the liver shot efforts!

Don Frye always reminds me of Mayor Mike Haggar from Final Fight.

Ese Don Frye se parece a Tom Sellec..

He should be disqualified for the leaning on Frye.

Don Frye look likes Tom Seleck.

A little weight difference.

Damn, the way Don tears up at the end shows that he is a real man.

What the hell this is a pathetic dance rehearsal. He just keeps letting him hold him against the rope.

I'm surprised Don Frye didn't dance more oh, he kept being pushed into the ropes knowing his 400-pound opponent could Tire him out.

Respect for both fighters but what I saw was a lot of jiggling and a lot of pressing DF in the corners. Assume that is a sumo thing. I'd love to spar with DF, yea even though I'd have my yass handed to me, I'd still be able to say I made it to .02 seconds in the first round without darkness falling.

Talk about no action, worst fight I ever saw

Akebono tries to smother his opponent with his fat.

Ravishing Don Frye

It's a shame that the pro combat community even allows such people to enter the sport. 400 pounds of lard does not represent an athlete. It's pathetic.

2:56 lmao his face after the referee tells him to do something

It's the world leaning championship 😁👍

This ain't no fight. Garbage.

Don Frye was the Justin Gathjie of his generation. An NCAA wrestling champion and judo blackbelt that stood and traded with everyone.

Músculo vs banha kkk

Don is a savage, he's awesome

Akebono's body looks entirely made of ballistic gel.

What a romantic fight.

So the human blob's best offense is to lean on his opponent?

Akebono mastered the noble martial art of leaning on your opponent and falling asleep while hugging him. The healthiest of sports, eating your way to death, and then fall into each other in a small circle and try to scratch your opponent's eyes out. I'd rather be watching a curling marathon.

Perhaps the most boring fight I've ever seen. Uncustomary for a Don Frye fight.

Omniman vs Majin Boo

taro is a big zero

Resembles a fight in a nursing home, fighting for who will get to seat next to the young arts and craft lady instructor…

Don really took it easy on that guy. He was prob paid a lot to let it go past 30 seconds

Akebono R.I.P

Taro only has one “technique” which is to lay on his opponent against the ropes. That makes for a crappy fight!

Sto place ko derper.

When I saw the pic of these 2 I immediately felt bad for the super heavy weight.

He should have targeted the legs from the get go.

Don was a great fighter. But he didn’t know how to move laterally; he could have ended the sumo wrestler much sooner if he did.

One of the worst performances by Don Frye. Just went out there to hug Akebono doing nothing without a plan and expecting for some thing to happen. Without even making use of his beautiful boxing.

What took Frye so long to kick him in one of those bandaged knees? Was he trying to drag the fight out?

WTF

Akebono não tinha perfil de lutador de MMA. Sua técnica de "empurrar" só era relevante no sumô. Era um ídolo e muito valente, mas não deveria ter tentado nova carreira em outra modalidade.

It=looked choreographed for Akebono to just lay on Don.

The big guy isn't boxing. He's just holding onto Don Frye so he can't be hit by him....... Same tactic each time. He shoves Don Frye into a corner and keeps him there......

@Scottlove1832 weight means nothing right? It's almost like all combat sports, ever since this very early inception of popular mma use divisions... hmmmm

What a way to make a living!

Võ sĩ thể hình như vậy xem trận đấu cũng phí thời gian ko hay chút nào... dù cho họ có thắng đi nữa

Just had to get the Tortoise on its back