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

Don Frye - the embodiment of badassery.

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

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

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

Tough doesn't even describe Don Frye pure badass

Imagine getting punched by Don fry. Holy crap.

Don frye, living legend!!

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

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

Frye is the man. Always loved his fights.

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

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 !!!

Tellement d'émotion cumullée qui sort d'un coup dans les bras du coach, c'est touchant 😢❤

It looked like Frye was fighting an Elephant Seal.

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

Don was the man in his prime

bro would throw two punches and fall on Don legendary fight

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

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.

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

Taro Akebono is the king of smother, what a legend. lol

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

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.

Ravishing Don Frye

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

I was lucky enough to come across Don Fry while travelling around Africa...watched him beat up 2 Hippopotamus, 4 Lions and 2 crocodiles at the same time 🤫

Royce Gracie almost popped Akebono's elbow and wrist.

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

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.

Great fight

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

The Greatest

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

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.

Excelente.

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.

He really loves to hug him

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."

Both they did awesome 💪

Damn the weight difference made me think this was a fake video, but no, it reminded me that Pride FC and Japanese-rooted MMA is Incredible. UFC of course is the dominant MMA promotion in the United States at least, but I remember 20 years ago in high school when I first got into MMA, I remember feeling that Pride FC was like the hardcore underground raw version of UFC.

Don was the man's man

Big man meets a real man…

Imagine fighting a 400lb mobile waterbed. Don is holding him up like I hold up my cal king mattress to flip it

The Real Beast of his time.

Akebono’s corner-BE THE BLANKET

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!

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.

Don looking like he needed a shower after that.

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

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

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

Damn, that was a hell of a thing to watch

I thought about this and his match at Wrestlemania when I think about akebono, rip legend

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

Уверен с таким весом даже лежать тяжело...

Oh, I didn't see this was Don Frye until the final 30 seconds of the fight

Intimate, back stage moment

Akebono is like what I’d imagine Kim jong in born in Alabama would look like

God dam it’s like don Frye as soon as the bell ding a big bag of sand fell on him and is carrying it around and also having to punch him

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

Those knees from Taro were hilarious. The range didn’t even clear his belt

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

Don is a savage, he's awesome

Don should've went for his legs like what Pedro Rizzo did when he fought Tank Abott. Leg strikes to his Taro's legs would've ended it fast. Taro has like 400lbs of his upper body supported by twigs.

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

Frye is the absolute don. Total menace in the ring who was happy to go to war with anyone. Proper legend

Doin more leaning than striking.

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

The big boy is holding onto the Ropes

Not sure why Taro was mad at the end.. he never had a chance in hell of winning. And Fry wasn’t even trying.

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.

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.

didnt one of these guys compete in the Kengan tournament?

Uma lenda ,ele só não foi maior pq lutou em uma época que não ganhou reconhecimento mundial ,MAS quem assistiu suas lutas viram verdadeiras batalhas no ringue ,grande Don frye saudações do Brasil!!!!

Fry is allowing taro to hit him. This would have been over within the 1st minute if Fry wanted it to end

On weekends Taro swims up the bay of Tokyo and walks around crushing the city . OH NO THEY SAY HE'S GOTTA GO, GO GO GODZILLA !

Don was the best!

I bet Don spent 4 hours in the shower washing that Hog off of him 😆

I remember this fight lol

Never skipped big mac day.

Very interesting. the first two rounds would be difficult to score. I am curious. Did don plan on a late round leg kick to disable? Was it a lucky decision? regardless it shows that it is not over until it is over. Lessons for life!;

Legend Don Fry

I think that dudes rolls are still jiggling to this day from Don’s body shots.

Don almost dropped him with his first combo, but picked him up as he was laying on him, what a tank.

Таро Акебоно ещё не начав драться уже вспотел 🤣🤣🤣

What a way to make a living!

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

Don frye possibly the toughest man in a sport full of tough men, that takes some doing

Ese Don Frye se parece a Tom Sellec..

Don's thinking, now I know how Steve Mcqueen felt in the Blob.

Some superb "Looming" by Taro.

@1:23 Good thing it wasn't a cage match, or he'd be Don French Frye. 😂😂😂😂

good hug 😂😂

Size in these types of situations really doesn’t matter

Este es el momento cuando eliges hacer algo por tu vida pero elijes el oficio equivocado

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

That blubbering mass was bleeding in the first 30 seconds.

Рада за переможця!

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.