Former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner is ready to make a run at the 185-pound title one more time, according to a recent message on his Web site.
For the last few months, Tanner has provided detailed accounts about his dream to start a foundation that provides disadvantaged fighters with the tools and resources to become competitive.
To read more about that cause click here.
However, things haven’t gone as planned. And Tanner feels that he — and the foundation — would be better off if he regained his title.
Here’s a snip:
“Although I still plan on setting up the foundation, I’m going to be putting it’s further development on hold for a little while. There is something I want to do first and I want no distractions. I think I’d be in a much better position to make things happen for the foundation as the UFC Middleweight Champion. I’ve been fighting for a long time and I may be getting a little older, but I’m not too old to still kick a little ass.”
At 36 years old, some might argue that the sport has passed him by. But look no further than current Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture (43) and Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell (37) for proof that “old” dudes can indeed still “kick a little ass.”
Tanner hasn’t fought in more than a year — a submission win over Justin Levens at UFC 59 in April 2006.
Without a doubt, it’ll be a challenge for him to get back into form and compete with the top guys in the division.
But it’ll be great to watch if he can work his way back up the ladder. If nothing else, Tanner is known to leave everything he has inside the Octagon.
And that’s got to count for something.
44 Comments »
he’s def a good fighter and pretty exciting to watch, but i’m not sure he’s got what it takes to win the belt, i can see him beating guys like kampmann and leban and mcdonald and them maybe, but franklin, def not, thats proven, silva, def not, okami, maybe, marquardt or lutter, maybe, i’m sure he’s still good enough to be competitive in a weak division, but i doubt he’ll ever win the belt…
I don’t mind seeing Evan Tanner comeback. If he wants to take another run at the title then all the power to him. I don’t see him winning the middleweight title or even getting a shot at fighting for it but i’ll definately support him.
i think he will do just fine,as long as he gets his personal issues in order. i like seeing the old guys do well.
The 185lb division isnt far off from what the heavyweight division was this time last year… sparce.
Tanner can still win against almost anyone you put him in there with, unfortunately for Tanner, two of those ‘almost’ fighters are Franklin and Silva. Still a great thing to see him back in the UFC though.
Well, I gave the guy $20 for a foundation that didnt happen. I hope he uses the money to win his title back. Listen Evan, I wanna see MTU on your left butt cheek for my sponsorship.
Tanner if anything else will give some depth to the lack luster division. Just the mention of him fighting someone makes the fight interesting. So, he’ll definately be good for business, but I doubt he’ll win the belt.
“The winner and the new middleweight champion of the world…. Evan Tanner!”
He can do it, it’s a matter of if he really wants to.
Tanner vs Silva will be a great fight. and unlike alot of doubters, I see him not only earning this shot, but also winning! He’s like a middleweight Couture. very intelligent fighter with a knack for putting together a good gameplan. I think he will take the fight to Silva in a different way than what we’ve seen. Bottom line is he is an exciting addition to the weakest division in the ufc.
RUMOR **** RUMOR **** RUMOR
One fight IS left on his contract, and Kendall Grove at 74 is being tossed around.
RUMOR **** RUMOR **** RUMOR
oohh Grove vs Tanner, I’m hoping thats not all rumor…
that would be awesome…im sure evan has lossed a step or two, but hes still gonna be a force, grove is improving daily, i would love to see it
would evan train with anyone from team quest, or even randys team….or would he train himself in oregon???
FINALLY, the middleweight division needed some love bad, and Tanner may just be the one to do that. Besides Okami, Silva, Swick and Franklin, there just aint that much excitement there. C’mon old man, you can do it!
I say send him a message via MySpace and see if he’ll give UFCMania an exclusive.
[quote comment="53451"]FINALLY, the middleweight division needed some love bad, and Tanner may just be the one to do that. Besides Okami, Silva, Swick and Franklin, there just aint that much excitement there. C’mon old man, you can do it![/quote]
Marquardt? Damn, no one knows him. Screw the UFC and their great marketing machine. Sorry, just still pissed they bury Fitch and Nate like this.
[quote comment="53453"][quote comment="53451"]FINALLY, the middleweight division needed some love bad, and Tanner may just be the one to do that. Besides Okami, Silva, Swick and Franklin, there just aint that much excitement there. C’mon old man, you can do it![/quote]
Marquardt? Damn, no one knows him. Screw the UFC and their great marketing machine. Sorry, just still pissed they bury Fitch and Nate like this.[/quote]
I was waiting for someone to say that. I like Marquardt, I just dont feel as if he would come to mind as the others do when you think about the Greats of the Middleweight division.
Only two other guys are even close to him and that’s RF and AS in that division. Swick and Okami are good, but not on Nate’s level.
oh I could totally see Tanner v- Grove. Grove wins, Dana has another lil golden boy to protect… Tanner wins, they can say he is back, and the young bucks got nothing onhim.
HE HASNT GOT A SNOWFLAKES HOPE IN HELL OF GETTING THAT BELT NOT IN A MILLION YEARS MABY HIS ONLY CHANCE IS IF JESUS IS RESURECTED AS AN MMA COACH AND TRAINS HIM,BUT EVEN THEN HE PROBABLY STILL WOULDNT GET THE BELT
THERE IS A VERY DANGEROUS GUY CALLED ANDERSON SILVA IN THE MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION AND I CANT SEE ANYONE TAKING HIS BELT FOR A LONG TIME.
Evans tough but he’s also tough to watch. He has a style like Lindland’s and it’s tough and hard to counter and overcome because of their strength and skill, but it still a grind fight that can turn hard to watch more times then not. Yet Tanner will get in there and fight and bleed so I say more power to him. At least he can really fight and does have some talent. More then I can say for alot of people lately.
[quote comment="53439"]would evan train with anyone from team quest, or even randys team….or would he train himself in oregon???[/quote]
He’s mentioned an invite to train with the American Chute Box team. He’ll need a good crew to kick his ass back into shape. I’d love to see him tear through the competition, but I don’t know… Even in his prime he just couldn’t beat the best. I hope something about the layoff will help him turn the corner.
Couldn’t Beat the best?!?!?
Look him up on Sherdog, he beat the best.
Who in the 185lb division was ‘the best?’ to be honest… it was just Tanner. The 185lb division has ALWAYS been very inconsistant in the UFC. Lots of 1-2 and done champs. Hence why Im really REALLY surprised GSP, Hughes, and a few other top teir 170s dont go to 185. The division isnt chalked full of heavy competition…
Finaly I’ve been waiting for Tanner to come back. The guy has to be one of the most well rounded fighters in the sport. I think not only is he gonna get the title shot he’s gonna win.
[quote comment="53373"]Well, I gave the guy $20 for a foundation that didnt happen. I hope he uses the money to win his title back. Listen Evan, I wanna see MTU on your left butt cheek for my sponsorship.[/quote]
hey i’ll get the tatoo for 40
He would always be one of those fighters who is constantly a top contender but never gets past that top guy,I feel sorry for those type of guys it must be very frustrating.
I hope he comes back but being out of a sport at top level is hard to comeback from.
I would love nothing more than to see Tanner come back strong and go all the way. He’s “good people” as my Mom would say and that counts for a lot in my book. If you look at how well he fought when he was still partying, who knows what he’s capable of now.
[quote comment="53638"]He would always be one of those fighters who is constantly a top contender but never gets past that top guy,I feel sorry for those type of guys it must be very frustrating.[/quote]
Haha, when you said that I thought of none other than Tito Ortiz.
[quote comment="53510"][quote comment="53439"]would evan train with anyone from team quest, or even randys team….or would he train himself in oregon???[/quote]
He’s mentioned an invite to train with the American Chute Box team. He’ll need a good crew to kick his ass back into shape. I’d love to see him tear through the competition, but I don’t know… Even in his prime he just couldn’t beat the best. I hope something about the layoff will help him turn the corner.[/quote]
franklin and who else? kicked everyone elses ass. the crow got lucky
[quote comment="53493"]HE HASNT GOT A SNOWFLAKES HOPE IN HELL OF GETTING THAT BELT NOT IN A MILLION YEARS MABY HIS ONLY CHANCE IS IF JESUS IS RESURECTED AS AN MMA COACH AND TRAINS HIM,BUT EVEN THEN HE PROBABLY STILL WOULDNT GET THE BELT
THERE IS A VERY DANGEROUS GUY CALLED ANDERSON SILVA IN THE MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION AND I CANT SEE ANYONE TAKING HIS BELT FOR A LONG TIME.[/quote]
Really?
http://2.upload.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/ryo+chonan/video/x8buh_ryo-chonan-vs-anderson-silva
[quote post="2079"]He’s mentioned an invite to train with the American Chute Box team. He’ll need a good crew to kick his ass back into shape. I’d love to see him tear through the competition, but I don’t know… Even in his prime he just couldn’t beat the best. I hope something about the layoff will help him turn the corner.
franklin and who else? kicked everyone elses ass. the crow got lucky [/quote]
Yup. The Crow won on cuts ( elbows as usual ).
http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=212
I wouldn’t say he got lucky, those rocked him aswell. Sure it did get stopped with the cut, but the crow would have finished tanner via tko
[quote comment="53806"][quote comment="53493"]HE HASNT GOT A SNOWFLAKES HOPE IN HELL OF GETTING THAT BELT NOT IN A MILLION YEARS MABY HIS ONLY CHANCE IS IF JESUS IS RESURECTED AS AN MMA COACH AND TRAINS HIM,BUT EVEN THEN HE PROBABLY STILL WOULDNT GET THE BELT
THERE IS A VERY DANGEROUS GUY CALLED ANDERSON SILVA IN THE MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION AND I CANT SEE ANYONE TAKING HIS BELT FOR A LONG TIME.[/quote]
Really?
http://2.upload.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/ryo chonan/video/x8buh_ryo-chonan-vs-anderson-silva[/quote]
that fight was quite a while back now but granted he looked pretty awful in every aspect of it but there can be no denying how talented a fighter Silva is and I dont think Tanner could hang with him,but Tanner is himself a good fighter but I just dont think a great fighter.
[quote comment="53415"]RUMOR **** RUMOR **** RUMOR
One fight IS left on his contract, and Kendall Grove at 74 is being tossed around.
RUMOR **** RUMOR **** RUMOR[/quote]
that would be cool, a real test for grove…
[quote post="2079"]that fight was quite a while back now but granted he looked pretty awful in every aspect of it but there can be no denying how talented a fighter Silva is and I dont think Tanner could hang with him,but Tanner is himself a good fighter but I just dont think a great fighter. [/quote]
It was only 2 years ago. AS is a stud, plain and simple, but statements like
“I CANT SEE ANYONE TAKING HIS BELT FOR A LONG TIME” smatters of nuthugging. After all the recent upsets in the UFC and elsewhere, it’s a reminder that in MMA, anything can happen. I personally didnt see anyone head kicking Crocop or KOing GSP, but when fighters dont prepare correctly ( again, we’ve seen a lot of this lately ), you never know what’s gonna happen. I do agree that Anderson has always prepared for his fights, it’s the Brazilian way, but he does have weaknesses and a smart fighter could exploit them. ( NM, maybe? )
Sorry about the double posts lately, no idea what the heck is going on.
“The winner and the new middleweight champion of the world…. Evan Tanner!”
He can do it, it’s a matter of if he really wants to.
I’d love to see Evan win the belt, but unless he’s improved a hell of a lot I can’t see him beating Franklin. I think he would match up well with Silva though because he’s strong in the clinch and I think he could get Silva to the ground witch would negate Andersons superior striking.
HE HASNT GOT A SNOWFLAKES HOPE IN HELL OF GETTING THAT BELT NOT IN A MILLION YEARS MABY HIS ONLY CHANCE IS IF JESUS IS RESURECTED AS AN MMA COACH AND TRAINS HIM,BUT EVEN THEN HE PROBABLY STILL WOULDNT GET THE BELT
THERE IS A VERY DANGEROUS GUY CALLED ANDERSON SILVA IN THE MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION AND I CANT SEE ANYONE TAKING HIS BELT FOR A LONG TIME.
A Guy named Nate is going to take his belt next time he fights. A weak and dehydrated Lutter showed some of Silva’s weaknesses and Nate (7 times king of pancras) is bigger, stonger and a better striker than lutter.
the only thing on his side is experience, and all the other fighters in Middleweight have gained heaps more, He will try but fail.
evan tanner can chop wood and drink beer at the same time. what more could you want in a fighter?
I’d like to see him re-match Ortiz.also is his dad a coal miner or something?
[quote comment="53326"]he’s def a good fighter and pretty exciting to watch, but i’m not sure he’s got what it takes to win the belt, i can see him beating guys like kampmann and leban and mcdonald and them maybe, but franklin, def not, thats proven, silva, def not, okami, maybe, marquardt or lutter, maybe, i’m sure he’s still good enough to be competitive in a weak division, but i doubt he’ll ever win the belt…[/quote]
True…True…True….very true
[quote post="2079"]I’d like to see him re-match Ortiz.also is his dad a coal miner or something?[/quote]
Suspiria, I’m with you on this. Let’s see a rematch of the fight that was’nt really a “fight” but more of a lucky win by Ortiz. I’ve been saying I wanted this rematch since I saw their 1st encounter.