What is a Tomato Can? A Tomato Can is a fighter that is not expected to win a contest. They are generally found fighting up-and-coming talent. In this way, a "real" fighter can get some experience and pad their records without much risk of losing.
It is the closest to a sure thing that you will find in the sport of MMA.
The following five men have been abused, beaten, and battered by almost every opponent they faced. A few had hopeful beginnings but let it slip somewhere along the way. Instead of becoming champions, these men became stepping stones.
Honest, tough, and easily manageable, these fighters are the road on which elite fighters tread. Some are strong. Some are large. Some have tons of experience.
The quality that unites them under the term Tomato Can is that despite their best efforts they lose. Some have name recognition due strong starts to their careers. Others are freaks of nature. Earning a living being mauled by professional fighters.
Feel sorry for them if you want to. Respect them if you are so inclined. Regardless, the following fighters have officially attained Tomato Can status.
#1 Shannon "The Cannon" Ritch
Shannon Ritch is a 39 year old fighter with an astounding record of 44-67-4. He has fought almost everyone on his journey to becoming the worlds largest can of soup.
Just a few of the fighters he has received severe beatings from include: Brock Larson (TKO), Alex Shoenauer (Choke), John Alessio (TKO), Dan Severn (Choke), Dan Severn again (Keylock), Yuki Kondo (Kneebar), Hector Ramirez (KO), Evan Tanner (Triangle), Wes Combs (TKO), Diego Sanchez (Choke), Edwin Dewees (Armbar), Jason McDonald (Choke), Jake Shields (Choke), Yves Edwards (Choke), and the list goes on.
As you can see he has had the pleasure of being beaten up by some pretty famous people. Congratulations Shannon, you are finally number one. Ritch is by far the biggest Tomato can of all time.
#2 Bob Sapp
At six feet - five inches tall and weighing in at an immense 341lbs, make no mistake Bob Sapp is a monster of a man. He also cries when he gets hit hard. His record of 10 wins and seven losses might lead one to believe he doesn't deserve Tomato Can status. There really is no doubt, however, that Bob Sapp was used as a punching bag by several of today's biggest stars.
These beatings came from the likes of Big Nog (Armbar), Kaz Fujita (Submission by Strikes - as was mentioned he cries when hit hard), Mirko Cro-cop (K-1 KO), Remy Bonjaski (K-1 DQ'd), Hong Man Choi (K-1 Decision), Alain Ngalani (K-1 Decision), Ikuhisa Minowa (Kneebar), and most recently Bobby Lashley (Submission by Strikes. He cried again).
It should be noted however, that Bob Sapp has some interesting wins as well. These include victories over other Tomato Cans such as Ernesto Hoost twice, Akebono, Kimo, Seth Petruzzeli, Moo Soo -Kim (Brock Lesnar's first opponent), And even a win over our next fellow Tomato Can, Yoshihiro Takayama.
#3 Yoshihiro Takayama
Yoshihiru compiled a meager record of 0 wins and four losses. He has had the pleasure of being destroyed by Don Frye, Kaz Fujita, and even Bob Sapp.
While his record doesn't really qualify him as a complete Can, he is listed because of his incredibly famous battle with Don Frye. Takayama was so annihilated after after the fight that he looked more like a Tomato Can...with Rice. While that may cause you to imagine some fairly disturbing images, they surely don't match seeing the actual result of that fight.
Poor, poor Takayama.
#4 Paulo Cesar "The Giant" Silva
Dwarfing even Bob Sapp, Silva stands an astounding seven feet - three inches. Weighing in at 385 pounds, Silva is officially the biggest Tomato can on this list. In size if not in the number of beatings he took.
"The Giant" was a popular figure in the Far East for a short time. Often misunderstood, Silva is actually a fairly intelligent and well educated individual. That being said he was also a huge Can. He simply used his enormous physical stature to make some money and travel the world. Aside from the beatings he received, it wasn't such a bad deal.
The Japanese are well known for their fondness for strange and unusual fighters. Fights that involved gigantic differences between the height and weight of the two combatants were included in almost every major Pride production. In Japan, It is not unusual at all to see a 185lb man fighting someone 350lbs or more.
Paulo Silva compiled a 2-6 record as a mixed martial artist. His short career leads one to believe that Silva knew something the other Cans in this list did not - when to quit.
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