Evan Tanner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Evan Tanner

Statistics
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Nationality	American
Born	February 11, 1971
Fighting out of	Las Vegas, Nevada
Town of birth	Amarillo, Texas
Fighting style	Freestyle
Mixed martial arts record
Wins	32
By knockout	7
By submission	21
Losses	6
Draws	0

Evan Tanner (born February 11, 1971) is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter. He is a former UFC Middleweight and USWF Heavyweight Champion with a professional record of 32 wins and 6 losses. Tanner first won championship when he defeated Heath Herring at USWF 7 and would go on to successfully defend that title five times. Tanner then won the UFC Middleweight Title at UFC 51, stopping David Terrell with strikes in the first round. Tanner would lose the belt in his very next fight against Rich Franklin at UFC 53. Despite much speculation as to when he will fight next, Tanner is currently inactive. He has two fights remaining on his contract with the UFC.

1 Biography
2 Mixed Martial Arts Career
- 2.1 The Ultimate Fighter 2
3 MMA Record
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Biography

Tanner was born in Amarillo, Texas and graduated from Caprock High School in 1989 where he won the Texas State Championships in wrestling as a junior and senior despite not starting to wrestle until he was a sophomore in high school. Tanner attended college but ultimately decided to drop out not because of his grades but rather because he felt that he was not receiving the kind of education that he was looking for at that time. He then went on to travel around the country for a few years. Tanner eventually returned to Amarillo and was convinced by friends to enter a local mixed martial arts tournament which would serve as the basis for the start of his professional career.

He is widely known for teaching himself submissions and grappling using instructional video tape. Tanner later changed this method once he began fighting in the UFC. Tanner is currently single and has no children. He has been previously engaged. Tanner became very popular to internet users in 2006 because of his page on myspace in which he frequently posted new pictures and blogs for fans to see.

[edit] Mixed Martial Arts Career

Tanner began fighting in 1997 when he was convinced by friends to enter a local MMA tournament hosted by the now defunct Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation because of his background in wrestling. Tanner went on to win the tournament, defeating three fighters including former UFC Heavyweight contender Paul Buentello in one night. He continued to fight in local shows in Texas and Iowa before traveling across the world to Japan to compete in the Pancrase organization. Tanner would win five fights overseas and would compete in the USWF one more time before the UFC came calling.

Tanner made his UFC debut in 1999 at UFC 18, submitting Darrell Gholar by rear naked choke in the first round. He would fight once more in the UFC, Pancrase, and three more times in the USWF before deciding to take a break from fighting. Tanner would return to action in July of 2000 and made his next appearance in the UFC at UFC 29, beating Lance Gibson.

With three victories in the UFC already under his belt, Tanner received a title shot against UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz at UFC 30. Unforunately, Tanner suffered his first career UFC loss in just 32 seconds, being knocked unconscious after Ortiz slammed him head-first onto the mat. It was after this fight that Tanner would become a mainstay in the UFC and would begin taking fighting more seriously than ever before.

Evan Tanner grapples with Tito Ortiz at UFC 30 during their championship bout.

Tanner would be victorious three more times in the UFC before deciding to take another vacation from June 2002 to April 2003. During that time, Tanner began training with Oregon-based Team Quest. He returned to the Octagon at UFC 42, taking on Rich Franklin who was able to defeat Tanner midway through the the first round. After his loss to Franklin, Tanner decided that he would be better suited in the UFC's middleweight division and left the light-heavyweight weight class.

Tanner would then face Phil Baroni in consecutive fights at UFC 45 and UFC 48 respectively. After winning both of those contests, Tanner was victorious for a third straight time against Robbie Lawler at UFC 50, submitting his opponent with a triangle choke early on in the fight. Shortly after the Lawler fight, Tanner would decided to split ways with Team Quest and begin training on his own once again. Because of his success, Tanner was given a shot at the vacant UFC Middleweight Championship against David Terrell at UFC 51. Despite being the underdog coming into the fight, Tanner was able to control Terrell on the ground, pounding away at him until the referee was forced to stop the fight towards the end of the first round.

Tanner was awarded the belt and the opportunity to avenge his loss to Franklin at UFC 53, who also decided to drop down to the middleweight divsion. Tanner was able to knock Franklin down with a right hand in the first round of the bout but Franklin took control from there, dominating Tanner until the ringside doctor requested that the fight be stopped due to the punishment and facial damage that Tanner was taking.

After losing his belt, Tanner's next fight didn't go very well either. He took on David Loiseau at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 2 and the fight was stopped in the second round due to a vicious cut Tanner received because of an elbow from Loiseau. With two losses in his last two fights, Tanner took some time off to deal with some personal issues. During the off time, he stayed in shape by training with Chute Boxe. He returned to the UFC at UFC 59, defeating Justin Levens by way of triangle choke.

[edit] The Ultimate Fighter 2

Tanner's fight against Rich Franklin at UFC 53 was for more than just the UFC Middleweight Title as the winner of the fight would also become one of the coaches for the The Ultimate Fighter 2. Tanner expressed much interest in being one of the coaches, stating that the opportunity would give him tremendous exposure and that he would be able to show the country what kind of person he really is. However Tanner ended up losing to Franklin and became a coach on the reality show along with the UFC Welterweight Champion at the time, Matt Hughes who defeated Frank Trigg at UFC 52 to grab the other slot.

Unlike the first season of the show, the two coaches did not end up fighting each other and instead both defended their titles at UFC 56. Franklin and Hughes decided not to fight because they were training partners and friends. It was determined later that if Tanner had defeated Franklin at UFC 53, he would have fought Hughes at UFC 56. It is unknown as to whether or not that fight would take place at the welterweight or middleweight weight classes.

[edit] MMA Record

Result	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Notes
Win	Justin Levens	Submision (Triangle Choke)	UFC 59-Reality Check	4/15/2006	1	3:14
Loss	David Loiseau	TKO (Cuts)	UFC Ultimate Fight Night 2	10/3/2005	2	4:15
Loss	Rich Franklin	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)	UFC 53-Heavy Hitters	6/4/2005	4	3:25	Lost UFC Middleweight Title
Win	David Terrell	TKO (Strikes)	UFC 51-Super Saturday	2/5/2005	1	4:35	Won UFC Middleweight Title
Win	Robbie Lawler	Submission (Triangle Choke)	UFC 50-The War of '04	10/22/2004	1	2:22
Win	Phil Baroni	Decision (Unanimous)	UFC 48-Payback	6/19/2004	3	5:00
Win	Phil Baroni	TKO (Strikes)	UFC 45-Revolution	11/21/2003	1	4:42
Loss	Rich Franklin	TKO (Strikes)	UFC 42-Sudden Impact	4/25/2003	1	2:40
Win	Shannon Ritch	Submission (Triangle Choke)	FCFF-Fighting Against Cancer	2/15/2003	1	N/A
Win	Chris Haseman	Decision (Unanimous)	UFC 38-Brawl at the Hall	7/13/2002	3	5:00
Win	Elvis Sinosic	TKO (Cut)	UFC 36-Worlds Collide	3/22/2002	1	2:06
Win	Homer Moore	Submission (Armbar)	UFC 34-High Voltage	11/2/2001	2	0:55
Loss	Tito Ortiz	KO (Slam)	UFC 30-Battle on the Boardwalk	2/23/2001	1	0:32	For UFC Light-Heavyweight Title
Win	Lance Gibson	TKO (Strikes)	UFC 29-Defense of the Belts	12/16/2000	1	4:48
Win	Travis Fulton	Submission (Triangle Choke)	USWF 18 -Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 18	11/25/2000	1	4:38	Defended USWF Heavyweight Title
Win	Raoul Romero	TKO (Strikes)	USWF 17-Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 17	7/17/2000	1	6:59	Defended USWF Heavyweight Title
Win	Vinny Nixon	Submission (Keylock)	USWF 14-Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 14	4/24/1999	1	1:07	Defended USWF Heavyweight Title
Loss	Leon Dijk	TKO (Knees)	Pancrase-Breakthrough 4	4/18/1999	1	11:39
Win	Mike Cizek	Submission (Strikes)	USWF 13-Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 13	3/20/1999	1	2:06	Defended USWF Heavyweight Title
Win	Valeri Ignatov	TKO (Elbows)	UFC 19-Ultimate Young Guns	3/5/1999	1	2:58
Win	Darrel Gholar	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	UFC 18-Road to the Heavyweight Title	1/8/1999	1	7:57
Win	Ryushi Yanagisawa	Submission (Arm Triangle Choke)	Pancrase-Advance 12	12/19/1998	1	2:24
Win	Gene Lydick	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	USWF 12-Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 12	10/24/1998	1	4:15	Defended USWF Heavyweight Title
Win	Kiuma Kunioku	Decision (Lost Points)	Pancrase-1998 Anniversary Show	9/14/1998	1	20:00
Win	Justin McCully	Technical Submission (Kimura)	Pancrase-1998 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 2	7/26/1998	1	5:07
Win	Kousei Kubota	Submission (Arm Triangle Choke)	Pancrase-1998 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 1	7/7/1998	1	2:23
Win	Ikuhisa Minowa	Submission (Arm Triangle Choke)	Pancrase-1998 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 1	7/7/1998	1	4:05
Win	Tony Castillo	TKO	USWF 9-Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 9	6/20/1998	1	4:06	Defended USWF Heavyweight Title
Win	Dennis Reed	Submission (Triangle Choke)	Gladiators-Gladiators 2	4/18/1998	1	1:20
Win	Wade Kroeze	TKO	Gladiators-Gladiators 2	4/18/1998	1	1:00
Win	Rusty Totty	Submission (Arm Triangle Choke)	USWF 8-Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 8	3/28/1998	1	1:36	Defended USWF Heavyweight Title
Loss	Heath Herring	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	PSDA-PSDA	11/22/1997	1	8:20
Win	Jesse Gonzalez	Submission (Choke)	PSDA-PSDA	11/22/1997	1	1:15
Win	Joe Frailey	Submission (Strikes)	PSDA-PSDA	11/22/1997	1	0:56
Win	Heath Herring	Verbal Submission (Exhaustion)	USWF 7-Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 7	10/18/1997	1	6:19	Won USWF Heavyweight Title
Win	Paul Buentello	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	USWF 4-Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 4	4/12/1997	1	2:20
Win	Gary Nabors	Submission (Keylock)	USWF 4-Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 4	4/12/1997	1	2:21
Win	Mike Kennedy	Submission	USWF 4-Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 4	4/12/1997	1	1:29