Just days after Rashad Evans would shock UFC viewers with his knockout of Chuck Liddell at UFC 88, a bigger and much more important moment of silence would fall over the MMA world as former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner was found dead in the mountains of Palo Verde, California at the age of 37.
According to UFC.com, Tanner was an avid outdoorsman and camping in the mountains was something he did often and never posed as a threat. Tanner most recently posted on his personal Spike TV web blog the possibility on how faulty equipment could pose fatal but quickly followed that by quoting, “I’m not going out into the desert with a pair of shorts and a bowie knife, to try to live off the land. I’m going fully geared up, and I’m planning on having some fun.”
He had not answered his friend’s texts and calls since Wednesday, Sept. 3 and was found by an Imperial County Sheriff’s Department Deputy on Monday.
Some of Tanners Career Highlights, Listed On UFC’s Website Include:
• Former UFC Middleweight Champion
• Formerly fought at heavyweight against the likes of Heath Herring,
Justin McCully, and Paul Buentello,
beating all three and losing to Herring in their rematch
• 11 year veteran of pro MMA
• Fought Tito Ortiz for the UFC title in 2001, getting knocked out by a slam in the first round
• 22 wins, including his first seven, have come by submission
• Won 13 in a row in a stretch from 1998 to 1999
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