Evan Tanner

Evan Tanner
Born	(1971-02-11)February 11, 1971 Amarillo, Texas, U.S.
Died	September 5, 2008(2008-09-05) (aged 37) Near Palo Verde, California, U.S. Heatstroke
Nationality	American
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
Division	Middleweight Light Heavyweight Heavyweight
Reach	74.0 in (188 cm)[1]
Team	Hard Knocks Kickboxing[2]
Years active	1997–2008
Mixed martial arts record
Total	40
Wins	32
By knockout	8
By submission	21
By decision	3
Losses	8
By knockout	6
By submission	1
By decision	1
Draws	0
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Evan Loyd Tanner (February 11, 1971 - September 8, 2008) was an American professional mixed martial arts fighter. He was a former UFC Middleweight Champion and was also the first American to win the Pancrase Neo-Blood tournament in Tokyo, Japan.^[3]

Tanner won his first championship when he defeated Heath Herring at USWF 7, and went on to successfully defend that title five times. Tanner then won the UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 51, stopping David Terrell with strikes in the first round.

Background

Tanner was born in Amarillo, Texas and graduated from Caprock High School in 1989 where he won the Texas State Championships in wrestling as a junior and senior despite^[4] only entering the sport in his sophomore year of high school. Tanner attended Simpson College in Iowa but dropped out when he was 19 because he felt that he was not receiving a "real world" education that he was searching for. After dropping out, he travelled the country working various jobs as a bouncer, a cable television contractor, a framer building beach houses, a dishwasher, a baker, a ditch digger, and slaughterhouse worker. After a brief one semester stint at the University of Oklahoma he eventually returned to Amarillo and entered a local mixed martial arts tournament. What he thought would be an isolated event served as a springboard to his professional career. In 2008, he relocated to Oceanside, California.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Tanner, with a wrestling background, began fighting in 1997 when he was convinced by friends to enter a local MMA tournament, hosted by the now defunct Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation. Tanner won the tournament, defeating three fighters including future UFC Heavyweight contender Paul Buentello, in one night.

After his initial success, Tanner taught himself submission and grappling techniques using instructional videos created by the famous Gracie family. He continued to fight in local shows and tournaments in Texas and Iowa before traveling across the world to Japan to compete in the Pancrase organization. Tanner won five fights overseas and competed in the USWF once more before being asked to join the UFC.

Tanner made his UFC debut in 1999 at UFC 18, submitting fellow Amarillo native Darrell Gholar by rear naked choke in the first round. Tanner's next fight in the UFC was against Valerie Ignatov at UFC 19. Ignatov was widely known for his leg submissions and because of this, Tanner decided to fight barefoot for the first time in his career, citing that shoes sometimes make it easier for an opponent to gain a submission.

Tanner fought once more in Pancrase and defended his title two more times in the USWF before deciding to take the first of multiple breaks from fighting in his career. He returned to action in July 2000 and remained undefeated in the USWF, successfully keeping his Heavyweight belt in victories over Raoul Romero and Vinny Nixon. Tanner made his next appearance in the UFC at UFC 29, beating Lance Gibson by TKO.

A new outlook on fighting

With three victories in the UFC, Tanner received a title shot against UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz at UFC 30. Unfortunately, Tanner suffered his first UFC loss in just 32 seconds, being knocked unconscious due to a high level slam by Ortiz. It was after this defeat that Tanner began to become a more disciplined fighter.

Also during that time, Tanner began training with Oregon-based Team Quest. He returned to the Octagon at UFC 34, taking on Homer Moore, whom he stopped in the second round with an armbar. At UFC 36 he defeated Elvis Sinosic by TKO (cut), and at UFC 38 won a unanimous decision over Chris Haseman in an unaired undercard bout. In his next fight, at UFC 42, he faced Rich Franklin. He was defeated by TKO (strikes) in the first round.

After his loss to Franklin, Tanner decided that his frame was not large enough for Light Heavyweight, prompting his decision to drop to Middleweight, where he would be more physically imposing than many of the opponents in that division.

Baroni I and II

Upon becoming a Middleweight, Tanner faced Phil Baroni in consecutive fights at UFC 45 and UFC 48 respectively. Both of the bouts between the two had their share of controversy. In the early minutes of their fight at UFC 45, Baroni was in control as he stunned and bloodied Tanner. However, Tanner was able to regain his composure and take Baroni to the ground where he threw a series of unanswered punches and elbows. After a brief verbal exchange between Baroni and referee Larry Landless the fight was stopped and Tanner was awarded the victory.

Immediately after the fight, Baroni contended that he did not submit and in the confusion struck Landless in the face twice. Baroni maintained that it was a verbal miscommunication and he never asked for the fight to be stopped. To quell the controversy, the UFC agreed to give Baroni a rematch at UFC 48.

Their matchup at UFC 48 showed Tanner to be the clear-cut victor. It was noted many times during the broadcast that Baroni did not look like himself. After the fight, Baroni stated that his game plan was to prevent fatigue in the earlier rounds by pacing himself.

Road to the UFC Middleweight title

After winning these fights, Tanner was victorious for a third time in the Middleweight division against Robbie Lawler at UFC 50, submitting him with a triangle choke. Shortly after the Lawler fight, Tanner left Team Quest and began training on his own.

Because of his success, Tanner was given a shot at the vacant UFC Middleweight championship against David Terrell at UFC 51. Despite being the underdog, Tanner fought out of a deep guillotine choke from the Cesar Gracie student and black belt when Tanner looked to clinch. He went on to control Terrell on the ground against the cage in half guard, delivering punches and elbows until referee Herb Dean stopped the fight in the final seconds of the first round. Tanner became the first UFC Middleweight champion since Murilo Bustamante held the title before leaving for PRIDE Fighting Championships in 2002.

Tanner was next given the opportunity to avenge his loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 53, who had also decided to drop down to the Middleweight division after fighting as a Light Heavyweight for years. Tanner was able to knock Franklin down with a right hand in the first round of the bout but Franklin took control from there, dominating Tanner until the fight was stopped by the ringside doctor.

Tanner's fight against Franklin at UFC 53 proved to decide the winner of the fight as one of the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 2 reality show. Tanner had expressed a great deal of interest in being one of the coaches, stating that the opportunity would give him tremendous exposure. Franklin subsequently became a coach on the show along with then UFC Welterweight champion Matt Hughes.

After losing the title, Tanner began training with American Top Team, but lost his next fight to David Loiseau at Ultimate Fight Night 2. Tanner was ahead on points until the fight was stopped in the second round due to a cut Tanner received from a Loiseau elbow. After this defeat, Tanner took time away to deal with some personal issues but stated that he would become an official member of the Chute Boxe team.

Tanner returned to the UFC in April 2006 at UFC 59, defeating Justin Levens by way of triangle choke in what was Tanner's last victory in MMA. Levens was a late replacement for Jeremy Horn who was originally scheduled to fight Tanner but was forced to withdraw after a training injury.

2006–08

On December 29, 2006, Tanner unveiled plans to set up a mixed martial arts training camp that would be located at his house in Gresham, Oregon. The focus would be setting up a home for disadvantaged athletes and young men at risk. Tanner travelled from Las Vegas to Gresham in the following weeks and began to set up the project. Tanner remodeled and refurnished the house so it would be fit for the athletes to live in.

In February 2007, Tanner announced further details about the foundation. Twelve athletes would reside in the house from six different weight classes. (Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight, Middleweight, Welterweight, Lightweight and Featherweight).

In a March 2007 interview with MMA Weekly, Tanner was asked about the possibility of fighting again but indicated that he wanted to focus on developing his foundation. However, he did hint that he would be training year-round with the athletes he would be coaching and that it might only be a matter of time before he returned. UFC president Dana White was interviewed by CBS Sportsline one week later and stated that Tanner would be welcomed back whenever he was ready.

On May 11, 2007, further foundation development was put on hold by Tanner, citing his own training and a bad experience with the first fighter that was invited to the house. Tanner announced through his official website that he would return to active competition and continue his quest to regain the UFC Middleweight title.

Rumours stated that Tanner would make his return to the UFC in December 2007 at UFC 79 against Dean Lister,^[5] where he would represent the American Chute Boxe team. That report was dismissed by Tanner, as he did not have an upcoming fight with Dean Lister, and was continuing to battle his alcohol problems.^[6] Furthermore, he stated that things had not worked out with American Chute Boxe and he no longer trained with them. He then started training at Hard Knocks Kickboxing in Las Vegas.^[7]

On November 8, 2007, Tanner announced the signing of a new 4-fight deal with the UFC. In addition to his signing with the UFC Tanner revealed that he intended to accept no corporate sponsorships in favour of starting "Team Tanner" intended as an exclusive fan club to be represented in his upcoming fights.^[7]

His first fight back in the UFC was at UFC 82, where he lost to Japanese fighter Yushin Okami and was knocked out by a knee to the head from the clinch position, in the second round.^[8]

In what would be his final fight, Tanner lost to Kendall Grove in a split decision at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale on June 21, 2008. This makes this Tanner's fifth loss in his last ten fights.

In a post-match interview, Tanner stated that he felt "flat" throughout the fight and that he had begun wondering if his two years of serious alcohol abuse had damaged his body past the point in which he could no longer compete at the level he once had.^[9]

Death

Some people expressed concern about Tanner's well being going into the desert alone. Tanner responded to concerns about his plans for a desert adventure in a post on August 27, 2008.

"It seems some MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) websites have reported on the story, posting up that I might die out in the desert, or that it might be my greatest opponent yet, etc. Come on, guys. It's really common down in Southern California to go out to the off-road recreation areas in the desert about an hour away from LA and San Diego. "So my plan is to go out to the desert, do some camping, ride the motorcycle, and shoot some guns. Sounds like a lot of fun to me. A lot of people do it. This isn't a version of 'Into the Wild.'"^[10]

Tanner had recently purchased a dirt bike, and on September 3, 2008 he rode into the desert region west of Palo Verde, California to go camping.^[11] According to Tanner's manager John Hayner, Tanner called that afternoon to say that his bike had run out of gas, and that he would accordingly walk back to his camp.^[11] Temperatures that day reached 118 °F (48 °C), and friends became concerned and reported Tanner missing after he failed to contact them.^[11] His body was discovered by a Marine helicopter on September 8, 2008.

The Imperial County coroner determined Tanner's time of death to be sometime between late September 4 and early September 5, but the legal date of death was recorded as September 8, 2008. Tanner's body was found near Clapp Spring with empty water bottles. Tanner had reportedly intended to refill his bottles at the spring before heading back to the provisions at his campsite, but the spring was unexpectedly dry, and Tanner text messaged a friend informing him of this. However, Evan felt he could make it back to camp if he traveled during the later hours of the evening, refusing offers at that time to send help. Friends were told that if they had not heard from Evan by the next morning and could not reach him by 8am, they then needed to contact Search and Rescue.

Rescuers found Evan at a spot where he stopped to rest. During that rest, he succumbed to the excessive heat, slipping over onto his side into the position that rescuers found him in. An empty water pouch was nearby. According to the military article that was posted, Evan's motorcycle was at his camp, and within his provisions were ample supplies of water.^[12] The Imperial County sheriff's office official cause of death was cited as heat exposure.^[11]

A "Celebration of life" service was held in Amarillo, Texas, on September 27 at 2:00 p.m. at the Amarillo Civic Center. A less formal "Celebration of life" gathering was held at a close friend's house for those that were a part of Evan's Oceanside life. It was attended by Evan's sister and those close to Evan, with sharing of stories and pictures of his life. At dusk, a candlelight vigil was held to honor their friend and loved one.

A documentary about Tanner's life, travels, and philosophy, directed by Gerard Roxburgh,^[13] premiered in competition at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2011 and it has been released on December 28, 2012 on PPV.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

• Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling
  • 1998 Neo Blood Tournament Winner^[14]
• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • UFC Middleweight Championship (One time)
• Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation
  • USWF Heavyweight Championship (One time)
  • Seven successful title defenses

Mixed martial arts record

References

External links

• Official Site
• Official Blog
• MySpace
• Obituary
• Official site of documentary on Tanner's life
• Professional MMA record for Evan Tanner from Sherdog