If Tanner could emerge from this fight as the winner, it would be huge for the UFC middleweight division. After this Unification title bout, the middleweight division will suffer a shortage of title contenders. Tanner winning this fight and looking impressive would be HUGE for the division, and I think it would grant him an immediate title shot against the winner of the Hendo/Silva fight.

Like tanner as a fighter always thought he was pretty good. Think coming straight in against yushin will be a little much. Guess maybe because I am a fan of the sport I now have a hard time with someone (tanner) who says they are not a fan of the sport. He just needs something to compete in. That kinda burst my bubble with his return. Raises questions about commitment and heart too.

Terrible interview. Tanner is a class act but that interviewer was an ass clown. Spent half the time rehashing Evan’s worst LOSSES and the other half talking about a guy who he’s not even fighting. Who does that?

I’m a fan of Tanner, but I worry about his preparation for Okami, who is probably in the top 5 in the UFC middleweight class. From what I can tell from Evan’s blog, he’s been training primarily in a Muay Thai gym. Is that going to be enough to defend against Okami’s takedowns? He alluded to past fights when he didn’t have a proper training camp, I hope this is not another one of those times.

I think Evan is going to do just fine. He has been training his ass of and is 100% focused. I agree with John up there, if Evan comes out and does what WE KNOW he can do its going to be huge for the MW division. I know he will get the victory!! WAR TANNER!!

for me tanner is just too old to be able to make an impact long term. however he is a great fighter. but he weighs about 200lbs walking around. at his age cutting weight is harder and his speed will have considerably dwindled.( i know randy defies logic but does tanner?)i dont know if he can pull off the win. okami is a very talented fighter. he may be tentative but he is very good. i think if okami wins this fight they have to give him the title shot. the division is getting better at the moment. marvin eastman looks good and wandy was talking bout dropping and bisping fighting at this weight makes me think the division will get better

i’m getting this pay-per-view for the Tanner fight alone! (of course I can’t wait to see the others). Evan has come a long way. I saw the pictures of him 4 months ago and looking at him now is amazing. Two years is a long time to be away from something. Hopefully you don’t forget a lot of what you had learned? He has heart and grit, I would love to see his hand raised at the end of the night.