Evan Tanner
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(Just one girl? Must have been a slow week for Chuck.)
- Chuck Liddell makes his case for a title shot after UFC 88. (MMA Weekly)
- Trying to make sense out of Elite XC’s crazy week. (MMA Rated Radio)
- Chris Horodecki-Dan Lauzon officially on for Affliction: Day of Reckoning (Sherdog)
- Evan Tanner is not a big fan of MMA, as this half-assed UFC 87 breakdown reveals. (Spike.com)
- Dana White and Anderson Silva nominated for “Top 49 Men of 2008″ (AskMen.com)
- How MMA saved JoJo Thompson’s life. (AZCentral.com)
- False blood work prompts fighter and trainer suspensions. (MMA Opinion)
- The most marketable names in sports. (Wall Street Fighter)
- Frat boy movie review of “Death Race.” (Screen Junkies)
- A harrowing tale of the days before internet porn, and how Kate Moss almost ruined everything. (Holy Taco)
Written by admin on August 22nd, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Elite XC and fight and General and Affliction and Death Race and Kate Moss and JoJo Thompson and Dan Lauzon and Evan Tanner and Chuck Liddell and UFC and Anderson Silva and Dana White and Chris Horodecki and News and MMA.
(Someone’s excited by Rashad’s performance, and someone else is just very bored.)
The UFC has officially announced the previously-rumored Chuck Liddell-Rashad Evans bout for UFC 88 in Atlanta, Ga. on September 8. In an email blast sent out today they played up the fact that it will be the UFC’s first foray into Atlanta, which will no doubt be referred to as “Hot-lanta” by Mike Goldberg at least twice during the live broadcast of the event.
Call me crazy, but this main event sounds better and better. “The Iceman” may have slowed a step or two, but one thing he can still do is avoid a takedown and get right back up if you do manage to put him down.
If Evans can get Liddell to the mat and beat him there, it will be hard to ignore him in the light heavyweight picture. If he decides to stand and bang with Liddell and somehow manages to win that way, well, then either Liddell will have proven that he’s ready for retirement or the world as we know it will have changed forever. There’s a good chance to laws of gravity might even fail if that happens, so you might want to tie down some your valuables, just in case.
- In other UFC news, Evan Tanner tells Thomas Gerbasi from UFC.com that he’s a poet or artist or something:
“I always thought of myself as the poet, the writer, or the philosopher – I never thought of myself as a fighter,” he chuckles. “But here I am. I always had an idea of the flow of my life, but not exactly what I would be doing day to day. And fighting definitely wasn’t something I thought I’d be doing.”
…
“It sounds contradictory because I’m a free spirit and I’ve kinda bounced around, but I always had an overall plan or idea of the flow of my life,” he said. “Let’s say your life’s a work of art, a great picture; everything I’ve done has been a brush stroke on what will hopefully be a great work of art. Even the bad times, the crazy times, I don’t regret a thing. – it’s all absolutely necessary to create this masterpiece.”
Behold, the Tao of Tanner. It’s great to compare your life to a brilliant work of art, but what about the people whose lives are obviously horrible? Are they just like really bad pieces of art that no one enjoys, even the artist?
Actually, I guess that makes sense. There are way more terrible works of art than there are great ones, and there are probably more people who hate their lives than love them. I guess what I’m saying here is that Tanner’s art-life analogy holds up. I’m as shocked as you are.
Written by admin on June 16th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on General and fight and UFC 88 and Atlanta and Evan Tanner and News and UFC and Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans and MMA.
Props: EvanTanner.net
(Former middleweight champion Evan Tanner supports his training through donations from fans — not major corporate sponsors. He’s rumored to be fighting Kendall Grove at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 Finale on June 21 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Help a brother out … buy some gear. Thanks to FiveOuncesOfPain.com for the assist.)
Written by admin on April 9th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on team tanner shirt and team tanner sponsorship and TUF 7 Finale and Evan Tanner and UFC The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and MMA.
(Unfortunately, his fight with “Da Spyder” won’t be a pick-axe death-match.)
— Fedor Emelianenko recently carried the Olympic torch in St. Petersburg. There were no survivors.
— In a match where the loser may have to re-think their current career path, Kendall Grove and Evan Tanner have been booked to face each other at the Ultimate Fighter 7 finale on June 21st in Las Vegas. Grove, the middleweight winner from the third season of TUF, has dropped back-to-back contests against Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera, while Tanner has lost three of his last four UFC matches, most recently a second-round KO loss to Yushin Okami at UFC 82. By the way, Tanner’s blog is back up, after being taken down temporarily in the wake of his gambling bender post.
— Kenny Florian will join Mike Goldberg in the broadcast booth at UFC 83 (April 19th, Montreal), filling in for Joe Rogan, who will be unable to attend due to previous obligations. We look forward to a new voice constantly correcting Goldberg, as well as less references to the “rape choke.”
— Kim Couture won her first MMA match on Saturday in Portland, Oregon, taking care of Jessica Cruz via ground-and-pound TKO at 1:43 of the third round. “It was a good fight for Kim because Cruz was scrappy,” Randy Couture said. “You don’t want your first fight to be too easy, but you don’t want to be over your head either. It was a perfect first fight.” Speaking of Randy, he addressed his future in a new interview with MMAMadness, saying “More than likely, I will end up signing with HDNet and Affliction. Realistically, that is the best option.”
— In his first match since his back exploded during Strikeforce at the Dome in February, Joe Riggs will headline Phoenix Fight: Street Justice on April 26 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, facing Mike Gates (5-3-1). Gates is a natural welterweight, and the match will be fought at a catchweight of 180 lbs.
— You know that skinny, nerdy looking new UFC ref who handled the Hamill/Boetsch and Maynard/Edgar fights at UFN 13? Well, apparently he has an open marriage.
Written by admin on April 7th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Joe Rogan and Evan Tanner and Kim Couture and Russia and Olympics and Joe Riggs and News and UFC and Randy Couture and Kendall Grove and Fedor Emelianenko and MMA.
“…you may wonder why a former world champion, a man who has fought in front of millions, a man who just weeks ago fought in front of millions, and man who is recognized on the street every time he leaves his house, a man whom you would think had plenty of money, had to resort to scraping together change to buy food. I’ll tell you the story. I’m completely broke. My bank account is negative. I got myself into a pretty deep hole in more ways than one, in the two years I took away from fighting. I started getting my life straightened out about five months ago. I signed the March 1st fight and began training. I had some very good friends help me out with some money and help me get settled down in Vegas so I could focus on training…. I feel a little worn out physically. It does suck to have to scrape together pocket change to buy food. But I wouldn’t take anything back. I went for it. I put [what money he had left] all on the line [at the casino]. I always will. I knew what the consequences would be if I failed, and I was willing to accept them. So any of you reading who might be feeling a twinge of sympathy, don’t. I made my decisions, and I accept the consequences. I’m no victim. And to those who are thinking about preaching at me, don’t bother. I won’t hear you. I haven’t accomplished anything in this life worth remembering by playing it safe. That’s boring to me anyway.”
– Former middleweight champion Evan Tanner talks about gambling for a week straight in an attempt to make more money to pay off his bills in a recent blog post. His plan didn’t work. Tanner lost his most recent comeback fight to Yushin Okami at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” via knockout earlier this month.
Written by admin on March 20th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Evan Tanner and UFC Quick Quotes and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and MMA.
(“The picture above was taken at the end of a week and a half of hardcore Blackjack.” Ed. note: [*shakes head*])
Cue Debbie Downer. Evan Tanner posted another journal entry today about how he’s already lost all the money he earned from UFC 82, and is now completely broke. Like, broke to the point of digging through dirty laundry and storage boxes to find enough change to buy a can of off-brand tuna, which is all he’s been consisting on for days. Hungry, and without money to buy food. Like, homeless person broke. And why? Because he spent a week and a half in a casino trying to win enough cash to pay his bills and other debts, and ended up losing what little he actually had. And also? He’d do it all over again if he could.
The subtext here is that Evan Tanner has replaced the delusions and denials of an alcohol addiction for the delusions and denials of a gambling addiction, but I’m not sure if he’s made the connection yet. I’m tempted to just copy+paste his entire heartbreaking/infuriating story, but here’s the meat of it:
For those of you who don’t know, when a fighter competes in the UFC, the purse is usually broken into two equal parts. There is a guaranteed purse the fighter receives just for showing up, and then there is the bonus purse, the other half, the fighter receives if he wins the fight. I knew that if I won the fight, I would be able to get everyone paid back, pay off the invoices I owed for the Team Tanner gear, pay my web designer, and have enough left over to get me to my next fight. Well, as we all know, the fight didn’t go as well as I had hoped. I only got the guaranteed purse, minus the medicals and other deductions. Considering the amount of money I owed, this didn’t really leave me much money to work with.
What was most important to me, more important than my own comfort, was paying back the people that had helped me out, and paying off my obligations. It is nothing more than a man should do.
But then it hit me, the thought that I could take what I had left down to the casino, and that maybe, just maybe I would get lucky, and make enough money to pay the last of my bills. That’s what I did. I took my money down to the casino……And I did get lucky, lucky enough to think I was going to get it done. I played hard. I don’t do anything halfway. I put my time in. I was so deep into it that I lost reference. I went at is for a week and a half, staying up all night, playing blackjack for 24 hours straight sometimes, forgetting to eat, not wanting to sleep…
In the end, I lost not only what I had won, but the little bit I had started out with as well. So I spent a week and a half gambling, staying up all night, not eating, dealing with all of the emotional ups and down of winning and losing, and I don’t have much to show for it, except that now I’m broke, I’m feeling really worn out, I’m a little depressed, and my sleep scedule is backwards.
Now you may ask if I regret it, if I would do it differently if I could, if I would take it back. NOT A CHANCE!!!!! … I went for it. I put it all on the line. I always will. I knew what the consequences would be if I failed, and I was willing to accept them. So any of you reading who might be feeling a twinge of sympathy, don’t. I made my decisions, and I accept the consequences. I’m no victim. And to those who are thinking about preaching at me, don’t bother. I won’t hear you. I haven’t accomplished anything in this life worth remembering by playing it safe. That’s boring to me anyway.
Great accomplishment only comes with great risk. I’ll accept the crippling, gut wrenching disappointment of risking all, and failing, but only by putting my whole heart and soul, my whole being into something, will I have the chance to walk among the stars. Those who risk nothing, those who live their lives in fear, will never have that chance. Failure is not a sin. It’s being too afraid to even try, that is a sin.
…which I guess is a noble attitude, if we were talking about anything other than gambling in Vegas. Failure, according to my definition, is putting up your tuna money against the turn of a card, and for an addict, success means avoiding risky behavior altogether. Evan will undoubtedly relapse unless he gets into a program, with a sponsor, somewhere far away from his current situation. We hope he realizes that those who are “preaching” at him only want to save his life.
Written by admin on March 20th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on gambling and addict and broke and Insanity and Evan Tanner and UFC and News and MMA.
(Evan Tanner, eating what appear to be testicles.)
While you were watching Cro Cop beat up a helpless Japanese boy…
— Evan Tanner announced that he’ll be returning to the Octagon this summer, but hasn’t revealed the date or his opponent yet. Tanner was most recently knocked out by Yushin Okami at UFC 82, but then defeated the urge to drink that came immediately afterward.
— Pancrase/PRIDE vet Kazuo “Grabaka Hitman” Misaki signed a two-fight deal with the San Jose-based Strikeforce organization; his first fight is expected to happen this summer. Since he’ll be fighting as a middleweight, Misaki could potentially face Frank Shamrock, Cung Le, or Joe Riggs. Misaki’s last two fights ended in a guillotine choke victory over Shooto champ Siyar Bahadurzada at Sengoku 1 (3/5/08), and a soccer-kick KO victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama at Yarennoka! (12/31/07) that was later ruled a no contest.
— Tito Ortiz sent Takanori Gomi a bunch of garbage in honor of his victory at Sengoku 1. Also, Rumina Sato just became a father.
— Dan Severn won his 106th match on March 9th, against Colin Robinson. JarryPark has an audio interview with the living legend about his “Kiss My Ass” retirement tour, YAMMA Pit Fighting, and his MMA legacy.
— Seven participating fighters in DREAM’s upcoming middleweight grand prix were announced on Saturday, including Kazushi Sakuraba, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Ikuhisa “The Manboob Hunter” Minowa. Kiyoshi Tamura and Denis Kang are on the event poster, so they’ll likely be fighting as well. The first round of the DREAM middleweight tourney goes down April 29th at the Saitama Super Arena.
Written by admin on March 17th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on "Sengoku" and Kazuo Misaki and Japan and DREAM and Strikeforce and News and Takanori Gomi and Evan Tanner and MMA.
Props: EvanTanner.net
Quoteworthy:
“Just talked with Joe Silva, the UFC matchmaker. He gave me a date and an opponent. Looks like I’ll be back in the Octagon this summer. It’s good to have a fight scheduled. The last two weeks have been really rough. I’ll tell the story on that in the next few days.”
Former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner is ready to get back in the saddle in the next few months after a knockout loss to Yushin Okami at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” earlier this month. Should be interesting to see who he’s matched up against — the list of notables is short with 12 185-pound fighters slated to compete in April alone.
(Thanks to MMAmania.com reader “Lucas” for the assist.)
Written by admin on March 17th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Evan Tanner and UFC Middleweight Division and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and MMA.
“My fight at UFC 82 could arguably be considered the most important of my “fight” career. I was an aging former world champion trying to break into the scene again after a long layoff. I sat out as the sport evolved, and it was said that I was too old, and the sport had passed me by, that my day was done. I could be said that there was so much riding on that fight, that there was so much to prove … and there was. I sat alone with my coach in the dressing room after the fight. No words, nothing to say, both just sitting there staring at the floor. It was an unbearably heavy sadness. We sat there without words, as the tears came to my eyes. I had to stand up and walk away as they rolled down my face. I didn’t want to bother my coach with them. They were mine, mine to deal with. I had just stepped out of the Octagon where I had stood face to face with one of the top fighters in the world, but it was there, in the dressing room behind the scenes after the fight that night, that I waged my greatest battle. It would have been so easy to have picked up the bottle again in that moment, to have made the decision to go back to it. I could have thought “I tried so hard, I did everything right, and this is my reward?” I could have cursed the heavens and gone back to the bottle. My addiction was still fresh with me. It would have been so easy. And the thought was there, tempting me, teasing me. That moment, in the silence of the dressing room, faced with crushing disappointment, numbing embarrassment, and that heavy sadness, I faced the old demons. I felt so low, as if everything had been lost. I wanted to drink. I faced those old demons again, and I beat them down. I won the battle, and I won the war. I didn’t drink, and I won’t. That was my great test, one I had to face before I could really move on. I passed it. I stand triumphant, solid, UNSHAKEABLE. The loss at UFC 82 was a setback, and I am very disappointed in that, but considering what I just came out of, the fact that I was near collapsing just months ago, that I was almost on the streets, I feel it was huge that I was even able to step into the ring again. I faced my fears, and my greatest weakness, and won. Despite the loss, I’m feeling very good, and highly motivated. There is still a belt out there to win. Now it’s time to get to work. I’m not going anywhere. I’m back in training this week.”
– Former middleweight champion, Evan Tanner, reflects on his loss to Yushin Okami at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” via his
official Web site after a two-year self-imposed hiatus from competition. He also reveals his intense struggles and experiences battling alcohol, the severity of which are downright remarkable. Read the entire entry if at all possible … it’s well worth the five minutes.
Written by admin on March 5th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on UFC 82 and Evan Tanner and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and MMA.
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