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[Kuark]

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=14429

wow what a shock, only 37 too

[NovaAngel19]

I just heard about this ... man, this is so sad. He died way before his time ...

RIP

[Gurre]

wow, talk about a total shock.... RIP evan, I'll always remember the beating you put on Terrell

[qwerty]

RIP TANNER!

[fightDR]

Bad day for the MMA world...RIP Buddy and thanks for the memories. You were great to watch.

[shift]

RIP

[Koulikov]

RIP

[DiceandSlice]

Thanks for the fights. RIP

[Kensei]

The man was a warrior and a true intellectual. What a interesting man.

Lets face it, he did things most of us only dream of having the freedom and moxy to do!

[qwerty]

Yes, I wish I can learn from watching mma videos!

[fightDR]

Evan was a tough guy with a ton of heart. His title defense against Franklin is a good example of that. I have never seen a guy take that much punishment and never stop or even slow down...what a gutsy display.
His win over Terrel too was awesome. He totally dominated the younger faster guy.
He left Team Quest which is one of the best MMA teams in the world. Went solo and actually looked better for it. He bacame much more well rounded and had some great submissions IMO.

BIG LOSS TO THE MMA WORLD AND THE WORLD IN GENERAL...RIP Evan, Thank you for the memories buddy!

[Kensei]

This is from an online blog I wrote as part of a site I work with.....

Not many can boost a 32/8 record and had fights with some of the best guys at his time coming up...and all this after watching Videos as training and haveing two years as a High school wrestler. I am not sure if he had any collegiate wrestlting.

I never saw the Buentello fight, but he speaks very highly of him and Tanner took the larger kick boxer out with a RNC in his FIRST ever MMA pro fight.

He took a much bigger Herring past his gas tank limits and had him throw in the towel their first tilt, then kept him busy for 8 plus minutes in their second tilt.

His first UFC fight was against Lance Gibson, a decent kick boxer that did not stand a chance against Tanner.

one loss to then up and comer Tito Ortiz and back on a four fight win streak only to be stopped by Rich Franklin.

Back to back wins against one of the toughest strikers at that time, Phil Baroni and then taking out equally hard hitting (if not more so) striker Robbie Lawler.

After battering strikers he took out Jujitsuka extrodinare David Terrell.

After the Terrell fight you could see the fire for fighting was not their, he liked it but with back to back losses to Franklin and Loiseau he just did not look like he had his head in the game. A short respite and back to battle Levens and choke him out...then he hit rocks and dropped off the face of the earth....into a bottle.

But like all great men he grabbed himself as he teatered over the edge and in Evan Tanner fashion he cleaned up, put himself back on track...mixed in some extraordinary good deads and went back to war in teh UFC.

Time had slightly passed him by how ever, he had to face Okami and Grove on the way into the new era and he found out how rough it was. Okami KOd him but Grove had a harder time eaking out a decision win over the older fighter.

Tanner was one of those guys that just made you part of the fight, you know the kind of fighter that put you in the mix emotionally, you knew he was facing an uphill battle and yet you were willing to be his "corner man" and actually thought he could pull it out.

He was the kind of guy that had you thinking that maybe he would face a fighter of obviously higher skill level and actually beat him at his own game...and the neat part was he often did it.

I dont subscribe to the same belief systems as Tanner, and maybe that is why he was a MMA star and I still have my mortgage payments to make monthly and can not up and leave for a training camp at big bear if I wanted to, But I can respect alot of what came out of that guys way of thinking.

Evan Tanner made MMA better! Not from his titles or his wins, but from what he put back into MMA and how he used it as a tool to improve those around him and those not as well off as he was. I have read alot about his "camp" for children at risk. The guy took his own ranch home and turned it into a MMA gym and had kids come and live at his ranch and train if they could benefit from it. The guy was friendly, smart and was a great reprosentitive of MMA.

My biggest regrets about his death are the possible benefits of having a coach like this showing the way for new MMA stars to come...and what a TUF coach he would have made.

Evan Tanner RIP sir.

[fightDR]

Kensei my friend, thats great. Well done bro!