How good was Evan Tanner?

[pankrat]

More of this "how good was..." threads.

A pioneer and an inspiring human being, but how good was he as a fighter?

RIP

 

[Street Samurai]

Nothing too special to be honest

 

[Class 3 Steve]

Better than us

 

[pankrat]

Nothing too special to be honest

Pretty special for his era I'd say

 

[ICHEERTHEBULL]

He was a world champion. That’s how good he was. R.I.P

 

[TheMessiah]

Considering he taught himself in a garage, very good. He was tough and not particularly good at any skill and he did profit from fighting in a still developing division.

 

[ICHEERTHEBULL]

Wasn’t someone on here writing a book about him? Would love to read that

 

[Iron Nick]

Better than us

Better than sherdoggers?

 

[thinkandbeslim]

Nothing too special to be honest

I guess it depends on how good you think Rich Franklin was. Rich was Evan's kryptonite much like Anderson was Rich's kryptonite later on.

MMA was still very much evolving when Evan when in his prime.

He was a skillful and well-rounded warrior who was good enough to become world champion.

He may not be a MMA GOAT, but he was very very special.

 

[dildos]

His fight with David Terrell is one of the most entertaining middleweight championships ever. Second to Whittaker vs Romero 2 imo. R.I.P.

 

[H41ph_84k3d]

Dude believed in the power of one.

 

[pankrat]

Dude believed in the power of one.

He was also very athletically gifted. Impressive clinch.

 

[CroCopsLHK]

Wins over Robbie Lawler, Heath Herring, Paul Buentello, David Tarrell (title), Phil Baroni, and countless others

Obviously you could say he wasn't ss great as Tito or Franklin but he was damn good for what he had. A lot of toughness and a lot of tricks. A worthy champion. RIP

 

[Fluffy_Bunny]

wins over Robbie Lawler, Heath Herring, Paul Buentello, David Tarrell (title), Phil Baroni, and countless others

That's impressive, but he lost toe Leon van Dijk, https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Leon-van-Dijk-798 That's funny, I knew the guy lived near Eindhoven, but was nothing special, just your regular dutch standup kickboxing guy, trained with Bas Rutten also, Bas was very special, Leon not. Evan was solid

 

[NoSmilez]

He is willing to learn from video and books. His technique is a little off. You can see it in his clinching and low kicks. He wasn't as lucky as others during his time.

 

[pankrat]

He is willing to learn from video and books. His technique is a little off. You can see it in his clinching and low kicks. He wasn't as lucky as others during his time.

I'd not say his technicque in the clinch was off.
He didnt learn it from video and books but from regular training with clinch specialists Randy Couture, Matt Lindland, Dan Henderson or Chael Sonnen in Team Quest.

 

[HHJ]

He was tough,had a rough awkward style he made work for him. Has some good names on his resume. He was also very likeable and his death really saddened me.

 

[NoSmilez]

I'd not say his technicque in the clinch was off.
He didnt learn it from video and books but from regular training with clinch specialists Randy Couture, Matt Lindland, Dan Henderson or Chael Sonnen in Team Quest.

Yea those guys are specialists in Thai clinch.....

 

[pankrat]

Yea those guys are specialists in Thai clinch.....

Thai or Oregonian, saying Lindland, Couture or Henderson had bad clinch technique, which is what you said, is stupid imo. Same for Evan.

 

[pankrat]

That's impressive, but he lost toe Leon van Dijk, https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Leon-van-Dijk-798 That's funny, I knew the guy lived near Eindhoven, but was nothing special, just your regular dutch standup kickboxing guy, trained with Bas Rutten also, Bas was very special, Leon not. Evan was solid

Tanner's run in Pancrase, loss to Leon not withstanding, was pretty remarkable and often overlooked.
It was an environment that required high level grappling and Kunioku in particular was a good win at the time.