|
Posted 09/09/2008 at 07:08 PM
Evan Tanner, a former UFC middleweight champion, was found dead in the southern California desert Monday due to heat exposure. The 37-year-old was a popular fighter who also wrote a blog for Spike TV that is especially erie titled Treasure hunting in the desert.
Personally, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tanner a couple of times throughout his career and became a fan of his leading up to his June 2004 unanimous-decision victory over Phil Baroni at UFC 48: Payback. Two fights later he would capture the middleweight championship with a first-round destruction of David Terrell at UFC 51: Super Saturday.
Tanner was ecentric, and I didn't even recognize him before his last fight against Kendall Grove back in June when he sat two seats away from me. I actually got up and moved seats next to some fellow sportswriters because Tanner looked like a pissed off biker, which I joked about later when I realized it was the former champ. Here is a brief pictorial of Tanner and his various appearances over the years.
Tanner had a mixed martial arts record of 32-8, including a 12-5 ledger with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The Texas native lost the title on his first defense against Rich Franklin, and after two more fights (1-1) he would take a two-year hiatus from fighting. Tanner returned to the UFC only to lose his last two fights to Yushin Okami and Kendall Grove, the last of which was by split decision.
|
