Remembering Evan Tanner

David Terrell had Evan Tanner in a deep guillotine choke. Terrell's guard was closed, and he was putting his all into the choke. It looked like the fight was all but over. Suddenly Evan escaped the choke, and without even pausing to take a breath, he started to punish Terrell against the cage with punches and elbows. Color commentator Joe Rogan proclaimed "Evan Tanner is a warrior!"

This is one of the many memories I have of Evan Tanner.

If you are reading this, you probably know about Evan Tanner. You most likely know that he was a mixed martial artist from Amarillo Texas who originally taught himself how to fight off of Gracie instructional tapes. You most certainly know that he won the vacant UFC middleweight title in a thrilling come from behind victory against the highly touted David Terrell at UFC 51. And sadly you know that on September 3^rd 2008, Evan Tanner rode his motorcycle into the southern California desert to go camping. Evan went on a hike away from camp, intending to visit a spring 5 miles away from his camp. Once there he would refill his canteens and return back to camp. Unfortunately, when he got to the springs he found that they were dry. Being stranded in the 118 degree heat was too much. Authorities believe Evan Tanner passed away due to heat exhaustion sometime between September 4^th and 5^th, although he was not found until September 8^th .

But this story isn't about Evan Tanner the fighter. It's not about Evan Tanner, UFC champion. It's not about Evan Tanner's death two years ago in a southern California desert. It is instead about Evan Tanner the man, and how history will remember him.

I was first introduced to Evan Tanner just like most of you were - through his fights. The first fight I remember seeing of Evan's was his one and only attempt to defend his middleweight title, in a rematch against Rich Franklin. Although Evan was able to drop and stun Franklin towards the end of the first round, it turned out to be his only moment of relevant offense in the fight. Franklin battered Evan for the rest of the fight, until he forced a cut stoppage in the fourth round. I came away thinking Evan was a tough son of a gun - he never backed down once while taking an incredible amount of abuse from Franklin - but nothing about the performance really stood out to me at the time.

Later as I became a bigger fan of the sport, I would watch more of Evan's past fights. In some way, I grew to become a fan of his. His polite, understated manner of speaking before fights combined with his workman like approach to fighting appealed to me. I would grow to really enjoy watching his fights with David Terrell, the first fight with Phil Baroni and my all time favorite, his UFC debut against the tough wrestler Darrel Gholar.

Then one day I was perusing one of the various MMA forums, and I ran across a thread talking about a blog by Evan Tanner. Evan had been away from the sport for awhile at the time, sorting out some personal problems. I thought it would be interesting to see what Evan was up to, so I followed the link to his blog. It contained many pictures of a camping trip in Hawaii. The pictures were beautiful, and I started looking through the blog to see what else it might contain.

I was surprised by what I found, to say the least.

Evan posted fairly regularly on his blog. And he was incredibly open and candid about his life and his issues. One day, he might talk about love and relationships. Another day, he might talk about spirituality. Sometimes, he might just talk about travel, motorcycles, or training. But you could always tell he was being honest and talking straight from the heart.

And after spending many hours reading his blogs, Evan Tanner was no longer just a guy I had watched fight in the UFC. He was something much more than that. Even though I never knew Evan Tanner - I never so much as exchanged an e-mail with the man - I felt as though he had a place in my life. He was much more than just a man who fought in the UFC. He was a man who took the time to share many of his deepest thoughts and emotions with complete strangers such as myself. And in doing so, he transcended his entire MMA career. He ceased being just Evan Tanner, MMA fighter to us. He turned into Evan Tanner, the human being.

But how will history remember Evan Tanner? We already know certain fighters places in history. Fighters like Fedor, Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre will be remembered as dominant champions. Randy Couture will be remembered as a man who won belts in multiple weight divisions at an age when most fighters had long since retired. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will be remembered for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat time and again. But where does Evan Tanner fit into the historical discussion? Sadly, MMA fans remember fighters for their accomplishments in the cage and little else. They don't remember fighters for what kind of person they were outside of the cage. 20 years from now, the children of today's MMA fans will come across Evan Tanner's MMA record and most likely dismiss it out of hand. And honestly, there's nothing about it that really stands out. He was a really good fighter who beat some other good fighters of his era, and he put on some wonderful fights in that time.

But there is so much more to Evan Tanner than that, and I'm afraid that's what history will miss. How do you explain to someone 20 years from now what a unique and special person Evan Tanner was? If you weren't around to read Evan's blogs, to go through his day to day life with him, it's hard to really understand. Just look at how people can't grasp what certain fights meant when they took place, simply because they weren't following the sport when they happened. I know lots of people who think Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia is just a boring 5 round fight, because they're watching it 3 years later. They weren't around for the lead up to that fight, where everyone was convinced that Randy Couture was going to be taken out of the cage on a stretcher. Watching Randy beat up Tim Sylvia at the time was absolutely thrilling to watch. In much the same way, if I tell you how wonderful Evan Tanner was, and all you do is go check out his fight record, you really aren't getting the whole story.

Thankfully, it appears someone is making an effort to keep the true memory of Evan Tanner alive. There is a documentary called "Once I Was a Champion" being filmed at this time. From the clips that are available, it appears the film focuses more on what sort of person Evan was than the fact that he fought in the UFC.

The website for the documentary features a quote from one of Evan's blogs. I think it sums up everything that we loved about Evan.

 College dropout, adventurer, seeker, traveler, ditch digger, dishwasher, cable tech, concrete worker, steel worker, salad prep, busboy, ski resort security, ski resort rental shop technician. I've worked in a slaughterhouse. I've been a landscaper. I've done drywall, tile, countertops, wood flooring, roofing. I have been a plumber, worked as a bottle collector at a bar, a bouncer, a doorman, a head of a security team. I have been a basket room clerk, a carpenter, a framer building beach houses, a truss builder. I've lived on a farm. I've lived in the city. I've earned money mowing lawns, selling on ebay, and fighting. A teacher, a trainer, and a coach sometimes. There was a time when I was younger that I didn't know any better than to be a liar, a cheater, and a thief. I have since learned to despise those things. I have had great friendships. I have had great loves. I have been a lover, I have been a son, a brother, and a friend. And I was once a world champion.

In the end, I hope that's how we remember Evan Tanner - an incredibly complex and interesting individual who we just happened to encounter along life's path because he decided to add mixed martial artist to his resume. He welcomed us into his life, and we were allowed to go on many adventures with him. Experience great triumphs and great disappointments with him. Even experience the preparation for the camping trip which would ultimately cost him his life.

Thanks for the memories Evan.

9/6/10- edited to provide proper details on Evan's death. Thanks to Kid Nate of Bloody Elbow for taking the time out of his busy day to provide the correct infomation. Nate also provided a link to a great article by Men's Journal about Evan that is definitely worth your time to read.