Evan Tanner Unoffical Fansite

Evan Tanner was born February 11 1971, in Amarillo Texas. In 1989 he graduated from Caprock High School, where he won the Texas State Championship in wrestling as a junior and senior, despite only taking up the sport in his sophomore year. After dropping out of college, Evan traveled the country for a while. Evans fighting career began 10 years ago, in 1997, when on his travels he passed through his hometown of Amarillo. The Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation was putting on fight shows so Evan, who didnt really have an interest in fighting, signed up for the heavyweight tournament because he thought it would make a good story. Evan set about teaching himself as much as possible using aids like instructional DVD's from the Gracie family. Evan signed up for the heavyweight tournament but wasnt a heavyweight. He was weighing in at about 195lbs, but signed up because this was the only tournament for months and he wanted to get back on the road. On May 12 1997, Evan won the tournament beating Mike Kennedy, Gary Nabors and Paul Buentello. He thought he was done with fighting. He planned to only fight that one night. But Evan got a call from the promoter of USWF to fight for the heavyweight championship title. Another story he didnt want to pass up. He did and beat Heath Herring on 18 October 1997. Evan was to become a 6 time USWF Heavyweight Champion, undefeated in the USWF! (Evan later lost to Heath Herring in a different organisation). Evan continued to fight and win, winning 4 more fights in USWF 8 & 9 aswell as Gladiators. Evans next fights were with the Pancrase organization. His first fight was against Kubota Kosei, who he beat by submission with an arm triangle choke. He fought 4 more fights with Pancrase and one with USWF in 1998. Evan was to become the first American to win the prestigious Pancrase Neo Blood Tournament in Tokyo Japan beating fighters such as Team Punishment member Justin McCully. Evan would stay on in Japan for a month and a half to train at the Pancrase Yokohama Dojo. Next Evan got the call from the Ultimate Fighting Championship. His first fight was at UFC 18, against a good wrestler called Darrel Gholar. He won by submission at 7:57 of the first round. At UFC 19 he stopped Veleri Ignatov with elbows at 2:58 of round 1. He then fought a few more fights with Pancrase and USF, before returning to the UFC at UFC29 where he stopped Lance Gibson by strikes. His first loss in the UFC came at UFC 30, where he lost to Tito Ortiz, being knocked after he was slammed on to the mat. He continued to fight for the UFC winning at UFC 35, 36 and 38. At UFC 42, Evan went up against Rich Franklin for the first time losing by strikes in the first round. But he bounced back winning at UFC 45, 48 and 50 before finally winning the UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC51 - Super Saturday on 5 February 2005. He won the championship, beating David Tarrel by TKO after escaping a tight choke. Evan then had his second meeting with Rich Franklin at UFC 53 where he lost his belt. Evan fought hard and took punishment from Franklin that had stopped many fighters in the past. The fight only ending with a doctor stoppage. GUTS! Next he fought at Fight Night 2, losing to David Loiseau, but after a 7 month absence, he returned at UFC 59 to defeat Justin Levens by triangle choke. Evan has never hidden who he is, both strenghts and weaknesses, and because of that has a strong, dedicated fan base. A fan base that will support and follow him every step of the way. Although there have been many who doubted him, on November 8 2007, Evan signed a new 4 fight deal with the UFC. Evan also started Team Tanner, in which fans can become part of the team through sponsorship. The road back has begun, and we all support him and cant wait to see what happens. Evan Tanner sadly passed away during a trip into the desert. He will be sadly missed by his fans and friends. Evan Tanner Feb 11th 1971 - Sept 8th 2008 http://evantanner.net/ -----------------------------------------------------------