Evan Tanner Dead At 37
by Robert Sargent
In a truly sad story, former UFC Middleweight Champion Evan Tanner, 37, was found dead earlier today by members of the Imperial Valley Sheriff's Department after embarking on a camping trip into the desert area north of Brawley, California.
Tanner had posted in his online blog about the potential dangers of the trip, but adventures such as this were a staple in his life and he died while doing what he loved.
As of now, the cause of Tanner's death is unknown, but he had sent text messages to friends stating that he had run out of drinking water and fuel for his motorcycle. An autopsy is expected to be performed on Tuesday.
Tanner had recently moved to the area around Oceanside, California, and had begun training in the Compound Mixed Martial Arts & Fitness gym. Deana Epperson, a co-owner of the gym who had grown up across the street from Tanner, said that Tanner had told her that he would be taking a couple of trips and would like to settle in at the gym when he got back. He intended to make the gym his own, and Epperson and her husband were in full support of him.
Despite never considering himself a fighter, and seeing his life as that of a poet or writer, Tanner fell into mixed martial arts by chance in 1997, when he entered a one-night heavyweight tournament in the Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation. Tanner won all three of his fights that night, including a victory over former Strikeforce and UFC heavyweight standout Paul "The Headhunter" Buentello.
In subsequent bouts, Tanner would score major victories over the likes of "The Texas Crazy Horse" Heath Herring, Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa and Justin "The Insane 1" McCully, and he made his debut in the UFC in December of 2000. Inside the Octagon, Tanner defeated Elvis Sinosic, "The New York Bad Ass" Phil Baroni (twice) and current EliteXC Middleweight Champion "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler.
He then scored the biggest victory of his career at UFC 51, stopping "The Soul Assassin" David Terrell, who was heavily favoured coming into the bout, in the first round to capture the UFC Middleweight Championship.
Though Tanner would lose the title in a war with Rich "Ace" Franklin at UFC 53, and suffered a subsequent loss to David "The Crow" Loiseau due to cuts, Tanner initially went out on a high note by defeating Justin Levens at UFC 59.
He then took two years off from the sport, writing constantly in his online blog about his adventures and struggles in life. He battled through alcoholism and made his return to the UFC in March of this year. Tanner was unable to obtain another win in the Octagon, dropping fights to Yushin "Thunder" Okami and Kendall "Da Spyder" Grove, but he remained as a beloved fan favourite.
In 40 fights, Tanner was defeated just eight times, and four of those defeats came in the latter stages of his career. He will forever be remembered as one of the best fighters to ever compete in the UFC's middleweight division, and as a man who lived life to the fullest and under his own terms.
He was 37 years old.
