Evan
Tanner always walked to the beat of his own drum, and it was
that trait that endeared him to mixed martial arts fans across the
globe.
More than 13 years after his untimely death, the eccentric
Amarillo, Texas, native remains a respected figure in hardcore
circles as a former
Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder and the first
American to win a Pancrase Neo-Blood tournament. Tanner finished
his career with a 32-8 record that included 29 finishes, 28 of them
inside one round. He made his final appearance at “The Ultimate
Fighter 7” Finale, where he dropped a unanimous decision to
Kendall
Grove on June 21, 2008.
As Tanner’s memory becomes more and more blurred by the passage of
time, a look at some of the numbers that accompanied him throughout
his life and career:
37: Years of age when Tanner died from heat exposure in Palo Verde,
California, on Sept. 5, 2008.
17: Tanner wins by submission, accounting for 53% of his career
total (32). His methods of choice: five triangle chokes, four
arm-triangle chokes, three rear-naked chokes, two keylocks, one
Ezekiel choke, one kimura and one armbar.
119: Days spent by Tanner as undisputed UFC middleweight champion.
He captured the 185-pound title with a first-round technical
knockout of
David
Terrell at UFC 50 on Feb. 5, 2005, then surrendered it in a
fourth-round stoppage loss to
Rich
Franklin at UFC 53 on June 4, 2005.
15: Rounds completed by Tanner as a professional mixed martial
artist. He went the distance on four different occasions and
carried a 3-1 record in those bouts.
4: UFC appearances in which Tanner executed multiple takedowns. He
landed a personal-best five of them in a unanimous decision over
Phil
Baroni in their UFC 48 rematch in June 2004.
56: Seconds needed for Tanner to punch
Joe Frailey
into submission at a PSDA show on Nov. 22, 1997. It was the fastest
finish of his 40-fight career.
6: Organizations in which Tanner plied his MMA trade. He went 11-6
in the UFC, 11-0 in the United Shoot Wrestling Federation, 5-1 in
Pancrase,
2-1 in PSDA, 2-0 in Gladiators and 1-0 in the Full Contact Fighting
Federation.
1: Submission defeat on the Tanner resume.
Heath Herring
was the perpetrator, and he did the deed with a rear-naked
choke.
11: Different calendar years in which Tanner competed as a mixed
martial artist. He went 6-1 in 1997, 10-0 in 1998, 4-1 in 1999, 3-0
in 2000, 1-1 in 2001, 2-0 in 2002, 2-1 in 2003, 2-0 in 2004, 1-2 in
2005, 1-0 in 2006 and 0-2 in 2008.
.647: Cumulative winning percentage between the seven men—Franklin
(twice), Grove, Herring,
Yushin
Okami,
David
Loiseau,
Tito Ortiz and
Leon van
Dijk—who defeated Tanner. They sport a combined record of
167-89-2.
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The MMA Hall of F@#$%^g Awesome:
Evan Tanner