Remembering Evan Tanner

Loved watching him fight.

My favorite memory is when he derailed David Terrell. Terrell was very skilled and everyone thought he would take over the division but Tanner smashed him with elbows!!! It was so raw and and so shocking when it happened.
 
Bushpig said:
There was huge hype around David Terrell before the Tanner fight.
RIP
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definitely. terrell knocked out lindland when lindland was a somebody. tanner derailed his hype train big time.
 
I always hoped that big right hand he landed on Franklin in their 2nd fight would have ended it. Won't ever forget the guy.
 
His last fight against Kendall Grove is sad to watch nowadays, knowing he would pass away not long after. One of the more forgotten champions in UFC history. RIP
 
June 30, 2008: Tanner decides to move to Oceanside, California:

“I had spent a considerable amount of time in Vegas over the years, and had been living there since last October. It’s a souless, heartless place. It had never been my kind of city, but it was the place where I had chosen to settle for a time, to make some life changes. I was centered in what I was doing, and had been unconcerned with the chaos surrounding me. For sometime though, I’ve been contemplating making a move to California, by the beach, so I could take up surfing again. I had considered Huntington Beach, and San Clemente, among others. As I sat in Oceanside the last couple of days, it hit me that the answer was right in front of me. Why not settle here? I have good friends here, and it is within easy driving distance of many great MMA gyms in LA and San Diego.”



July 17, 2008: “The truck is loaded, and I’m ready to go. Leaving for Oceanside tomorrow morning. My friend Brent offered to haul everything out for me in his Tahoe, but he’s got a heavy week of training coming up, and I didn’t want to trouble him. He has a really big fight coming up in King of the Cage in October.

“I had fun with the beard for a while, but I decided it was time for a change.”



August 8, 2008: “Just bought a new motorcycle. Going to be starting a new adventure soon.”



August 10, 2008: Tanner lays out his plan:

“As I said in the previous entry, I’ve decided to get an adventure motorcyle to ride far out into the desert to search for gold. ha ha I’m serious, and I’m not.

“I could just say I’m getting a motorcycle and I’m going do some off-roading in the desert. But why not make it more romantic, more mysterious, why not make it more of an adventure. I’m not just going out into the desert, I’m going out into the desert to hunt for lost treasure. Who knows, I could get lucky and find some gold, but I don’t really expect to. I couldn’t really say how much gold hunting I’ll actually do. The important part I feel, what I’m going to enjoy the most, is just getting far out, away from civilization, into the quiet of the desert, and standing under the cobalt blue night sky filled with countless stars. I want to stand under that sky again, a sky that most in this lifetime will never have the chance to see. It is a sky that can only be seen far out in the wilds, far away from the noise, and the drowning lights of the city. It is crisp and clean, pure and shimmering. It is a pilgrimage that each of us should take at least once in our lives, a pilgrimage to worship beneath god’s sky.

“So I say I’m going out into the desert to hunt for treasure, but I really say that just for fun. I’m going on a pigrimage of sorts, a journey to solitude, to do some thinking, and to pay my respects to the great mysteries.”

Tanner includes a picture of his new dirtbike.



August 16, 2008: “I’ve been gathering my gear for this adventure for over a month, not a long time by most standards, but far too long for my impatient nature. Being a minimalist by nature, wanting to carry only the essentials, and being extremely particular, it has been a little difficult to find just the right equipment. I plan on going so deep into the desert, that any failure of my equipment, could cost me my life. I’ve been doing a great deal of research and study. I want to know all I can about where I’m going, and I want to make sure I have the best equipment.

“One more week. I think one more week, and I’ll be ready to go.”



August 27, 2008: “I’ve been sitting around this apartment, bored to tears, waiting on the last of the gear I need for the desert adventure to come in the mail. I’ve really been looking forward to getting out there. I’ve been writing about it a little bit here. It seems some MMA 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”. I’m not going out into the desert with a pair of shorts and a bowie knife, to try to live off the land. I’m going fully geared up, and I’m planning on having some fun.

“I do plan on going back pretty far, so I did mention in one of my posts that I wanted to make sure to have good quality gear. Any failure of gear out in the desert could cause a problem.

“So here I am waiting on this gear I ordered. Despite the surfing, and all the other things there are to do around here, I’ve been really anxious to go camping, and I’ve gotten really bored waiting.

“I got a call this afternoon from the UFC public relations department. Turns out they need someone last minute to make an appearance out in Milwaukee at the Harley Davidson 105th Anniversary. Perfect. Gives me something to do. I’m a biker anyway.”



September 2, 2008: Tanner’s final blog entry:

“Dropped into the Compound MMA here in Oceanside for a workout. The owners, Claudia and Frank, and the manager Bill have always been very friendly and very supportive. I probably didn’t come across too well the last time I was in. I just want to let them know I’m sorry about that. Like everyone else, I kind of lose sight of things sometimes. I would like to sincerely thank them, and I really appreciate everything.”



September 4, 2008: Tanner sends two text messages.

Text 1: “At Clapp Springs almost out of water will try and hike back to camp 5 miles south & east of Flap Top Mtns after sundown.”

Text 2: “If you don’t hear from me by 8 am call for help.”



Unsent text, unknown timestamp: “I need help.”

http://mmaowl.com/2013/09/the-final-days-of-evan-tanner-as-told-by-evan-tanner/
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Used to read Tanner's blog posts back in high school. Dude was really lost, trying to find something in his life. Don't know what. Was a good introspective look into life.
 
Wow, its been almost 9 years since he passed... that's crazy

RIP Tanner
 
Momentosis said:
Used to read Tanner's blog posts back in high school. Dude was really lost, trying to find something in his life. Don't know what. Was a good introspective look into life.
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Reading all that brings back memories. I also once went into the wild alone, in my case into the mountain jungle. Got back and realized how unprepared and naive I was and that a "preparing" is nearly impossible without having made some smaller expeditions with seasoned veterans.
I dont think Tanner necessarily made errors to die. A small tiny mistake / malfunction and you are gone in these environments. He had his troubles in life but was always self conscious and tried to grow as a human.
Not much more you can do.
 
That man was a true inspiration, whether he wanted to be or not. The guy literally taught himself how to fight in MMA by watching videos and practicing things, and did a damn fine job of it for the time no less. Also, a genuinely good person. One of the greats in more than just a simple combatant.
 
I remember back in grade school going to a wrestling duel. The school was competing against Caprock High, another local school. Everyone kept talking about Evan Tanner, an undefeated State Champ. He had an aura about him that everyone respected and loved. Calm, quiet, and kicking ass. He was a great role model.

After Evan graduated I dont recall hearing much about him through my high school years. Some of the other wrestlers in the district started training sambo and shootfighting and one of the district school's head wrestling coach, Steve Nelson started a NHB promotion called USFW. He and my wrestling coach, Paul Jones would go to Japan and fight. This fight org would give rise to Heath Herring, Paul Buenetello, Paul Jones, Steve Nelson, and the return of Evan Tanner amongst others.

I didn't know Evan's family or who his circle of friends were, but coming from that town in the middle of high plains, I think I can understand his wanderlust. Through the years Evan has been a source of pride for me and what our stomping grounds stood for in that era.
 
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