“…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.
UPDATE: Tanner clarifies the particulars of his casino play, saying “So, basically, I paid off my bills, and spent three hundred dollars playing Blackjack on my vacation. It’s really not a big deal. It would be great if everyone would just chill out, and quit overreacting.”
67 Comments »
this guy needs to shutnup allready and just jick some ass
interesting way of approaching life
That’s what I’m talking about..go for broke.
Live outside the comfort zone. I live a not on the safe side and take alot of chances and get burned almost at every corner..but I’m not going to gamble my food $ away at blackjack..I’m just not the gambling type. Be hungry really sucks..if he had another chance…I wonder if he would gamble it again?
Thats too bad I wish it would have worked out for him he’s on the road to recovery.
jesus here we go again, this guy is a mess
i’m a Tanner fan, but i wouldn’t exactly call what he’s doing healthy. it’s almost as if he’s boasting about living life recklessly. “hey i gambled everything away; i don’t want your sympathy or your advice; this is how i roll.” cool. i’ll stick to my 401K, but whatever works for you, man.
[quote post=”5418″]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.”[/quote]
Good plan Evan, because what you’re doing now is working out so well for you.
I had sympathy for his struggle with alcohol, but now I’m beginning to think he’s kind of a jackass. Glad he isn’t my friend. He’s that loser we all know who borrows your money and goes and blows it on whatever he feels like indulging himself with for that week. Don’t really see a whole lot of contrition out of him either. I guess he’s proud of being a dumbass.
What a loser.
I love Evan Tanner, but he isn’t the best decision maker in the world. He is a very nice guy with a great outlook on life, but he really needs to get himself togeather if he ever wants to be a competitor again. He’s an adict, plane and symple.
How poetic.
*cough* emo bitch *cough*
Thats a shame
[quote comment=”377369″]jesus here we go again, this guy is a mess[/quote]
hahaha
This guy cracks me up! Not because of where he is right now, that’s real crappy, but his attitude if it is geniune is great! It’s just a shame he seems to go way over the edge! But surely Evan could make some money out of commercials or something…I don’t know… BUD LIGHT?? to throw one out there
DUMBASS!!!!!!!
[quote comment=”377402″][quote comment=”377369″]jesus here we go again, this guy is a mess[/quote]
hahaha
This guy cracks me up! Not because of where he is right now, that’s real crappy, but his attitude if it is geniune is great! It’s just a shame he seems to go way over the edge! But surely Evan could make some money out of commercials or something…I don’t know… BUD LIGHT?? to throw one out there[/quote]
ya thats what i was thinking. do that tim sylvia bs where u charge people $30 for an autographed pic or something, give some classes, hell i dont know, id probably donate a little money to him, and if none of that works, i guess he could go under a bridge and give out hand***s for $5 a pop
[quote comment=”377391″][quote post=”5418″]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.”[/quote]
Good plan Evan, because what you’re doing now is working out so well for you.
I had sympathy for his struggle with alcohol, but now I’m beginning to think he’s kind of a jackass. Glad he isn’t my friend. He’s that loser we all know who borrows your money and goes and blows it on whatever he feels like indulging himself with for that week. Don’t really see a whole lot of contrition out of him either. I guess he’s proud of being a dumbass.
What a loser.[/quote]
I knew a guy like that too. He dies in his mid-20s. Apparently he had an “accident” while cleaning his gun.
Wow… I was just thinking I might see him on a corner one day with a sign that says… “Will fight for food”. Eeeh~! that will be a damn shame.
sad
In other interesting news, Forrest Griffin cut his hair today.
I was being sarcastic but you see what I mean. Who cares what you did with your money, Evan?! You could’ve bought 500 boxes of Twinkies and made a replica of the Eiffel Tower with them for all anyone cares.
You’re a fighter. You do well in fights. Good. You do poorly in fights. Bad. I for one is not particularly interested in your personal finance habits.
Also, nobody would go to an Evan Tanner seminar. Has anybody seen this guy’s technique? He is a glorified brawler at best. He took advantage when mma was at it’s infancy. No way can he hang with the athletes in mma today. His UFC “comeback” is going nowhere.
I respect Tanner and all. But airing out your dirty laundry is best done after you are dead. He should write a couple of books instead of these journal entries and have them released when he is on his death bed. When you let people know your problems it just makes them think you are weak, even though we all may share them.
i agree with a lot of the damning comments on the board. I agree with Evan that living life on the edge and taking risks is an exciting and sometimes rewarding way to live, but ultimately it winds up being really hard on the people in life who care about you.
Its a really selfish way to be.
In the end you will have f@#$ed up all your relationships and you will be broke and alone wondering why all this shit “happened to you”
Sorry to preach, Evan.
Now maybe he must do some 8 am to 5 pm for eating something…
SO SAD!
let’s just hope this guy doesn’t spiral into some suicidal train wreck…sure sounds like he is heading that way…
I don’t know what everybody is so upset about. You missed the important part. He paid his bills and debts first. The little that was left he blew gambling. Not a big deal. He emphasizes that it was the little bit that was left over. Leaving yourself broke is dumb, but I’m sure he’ll be fine, as long as he stays off the bottle.
This isn’t like Ricco Rodriguez dropping his whole 25K check on Red - winning - letting it ride - and then losing it.
The end does kind of sound like he’s rationalizing though.
I was a big Tanner fan until I read this piece. No more. I can’t pull for someone that puts others that care for him in this type of situation of bailing him out every couple months.
The “that’s ashame, too bad, terrible to hear” comments need to be directed to his family and friends. The ones that chuck out time, money, energy, emotions to help get this guy up on his feet just because he wants to take life to the edge, because life is boring. You know what? Life is pretty freaking boring for 99.1% of us living! We work, we make money, we pay bills, we watch UFC once a month, drink a few beers, and start all over the next month. Not too many have the ability to live like a Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan (not that we would want too, they are a trainwreck too) with the money and the clubs and the dinners and the cars.
This guy is an idiot!
if he wrote a book i would definately buy it
a fool and his money are easily parted
i really hate to see a dude in a desperate situation. a couple things if i were him is put together a resume, call up a couple recruiters, look in the classified ads, monster.com, call tapout, call xtreme coutour to see if they need an instructor, network with celebreties like Tito (i had to add that one hahaha), go fight Kala Hose (in icon), call Branden Vera’s old agent even though he’ll jack you, call Vince McMan (WWE), be a sparring partner to an up and coming contender, call up elitexc since Gary Shaw cares about his fighters so much, fight Ken Shamrock (he’s down I’m sure). the possibilities are endless with a name like evan tanner! plus how is this guy going to gamble with his bottom dollar?! he needs to watch some Suzy Orman if you ask me. TANNER!! IF YOURE OUT THERE!! CUT THE CRAP AND GET ON IT!!!
lmao funniest thread I’ve ever read on here.
See the UFC doesn’t pay their fighters enough money to gamble with!! I always knew Dana was a cheap ass!
I thought Evan already gambled his money away when he bought and quickly there after sunk that P.O.S boat on his blog!
I know with this name alone he could be an MMA instructor somewhere, hell I would pay him to train my fat ass so I could kick ass down at the local pub on Fri and Sat nights.
Evan
Life sucks when you have to eat and pay for it, now go out and get a job. Training MMA isn’t a bad job and I am sure you could make a buck or two to eat with.
Sucks for you!
[quote comment=”377446″][quote comment=”377391″][quote post=”5418″]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.”[/quote]
Good plan Evan, because what you’re doing now is working out so well for you.
I had sympathy for his struggle with alcohol, but now I’m beginning to think he’s kind of a jackass. Glad he isn’t my friend. He’s that loser we all know who borrows your money and goes and blows it on whatever he feels like indulging himself with for that week. Don’t really see a whole lot of contrition out of him either. I guess he’s proud of being a dumbass.
What a loser.[/quote]
I knew a guy like that too. He dies in his mid-20s. Apparently he had an “accident” while cleaning his gun.[/quote]
exactly. he sounds suicidal
I don’t know why people are so hard on him. He’s not posting these on this site, they’re on his site, his blog. So the people who read them off that are wanting to read them, it’s a way for him to vent. He’s most likely not asking mania to quote him on this site, so either tell mania to stop posting it or don’t bitch about it at all.
Sounds like this guy needs help….Feel sorry for him.
he’s kicking his drinking but not his other addictions it appears
Leave Evan alone. The guy’s life is a total trainwreck partly for the purposes of permitting you and I can to get 10 minutes of amusement reading all about it. I don’t know if its a fair exchange but I sure don’t mind, I enjoyed the 10 minutes of comic relief.
[quote comment=”377541″]I was a big Tanner fan until I read this piece. No more. I can’t pull for someone that puts others that care for him in this type of situation of bailing him out every couple months.
The “that’s ashame, too bad, terrible to hear” comments need to be directed to his family and friends. The ones that chuck out time, money, energy, emotions to help get this guy up on his feet just because he wants to take life to the edge, because life is boring. You know what? Life is pretty freaking boring for 99.1% of us living! We work, we make money, we pay bills, we watch UFC once a month, drink a few beers, and start all over the next month. Not too many have the ability to live like a Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan (not that we would want too, they are a trainwreck too) with the money and the clubs and the dinners and the cars.
This guy is an idiot![/quote]
Very well said
I would suggest to everyone to go on his site and read the post there.
The trimmed down version makes him sound like a douche.
” Glad he isn’t my friend. He’s that loser we all know who borrows your money and goes and blows it on whatever he feels like indulging himself with for that week. ”
He used his pay packet to pay back his friends.
The way this has been put on the site makes him look like a douche.
Read the actual blog post.
He paid back all his friends and outstandings, the money owed, then blew the left over cash he had.
Tanner, just a big lug’ big heart, no brain… he save a little money, get into construction or something when MMAS is all said n’ done, cause he won’t last… I wish him well.
What a turd.
Take it from me, you won’t make money gambling if you do it long enough, save your money and stay the hell away from gambling. I invest my money in real estate now and it payed off very nicely, intelligent risk.
[quote comment=”377723″]The way this has been put on the site makes him look like a douche.
Read the actual blog post.
He paid back all his friends and outstandings, the money owed, then blew the left over cash he had.[/quote]
So he is broke yet again. Guess who he will be hitting up for some help?
[quote comment=”377398″]Thats a shame[/quote]
You a seinfeld fan John?
From one addition to another it seems.
A&E here comes Tanner.
what an idiot
stop your crying and fight i dont care about your financial problems nobody cares about your financial problems so shut the fuck up and fight but dont fucking cry about it like that fat fuck tim sylvia
Wow, what a bum.
I’m going to gamble and bet this guy loses every fight.
I wish one of his so-called friends helping him to finance his self-sabotaging life would let him in on a little secret; it’s possible to live a full life full of risks and courage without sabotaging yourself into self-destruction.
“I haven’t accomplished anything in this life worth remembering by playing it safe.”
I agree. In fact, I’d take that one step further and say that you probably haven’t accomplished anything in this life worth remembering playing it risky either.
Who’s he fighting!! That’s all I want to know.
Hey Mania… CHeck this link to Tanners Blog
Holy FUck.
http://evantanner.net/journal?news_id=59&uniqid=1015
He blew $150 000 playing black Jack.
Also doesnt have funds to train to fight this summer.
[quote comment=”377800″][quote comment=”377398″]Thats a shame[/quote]
You a seinfeld fan John?[/quote]
No, so I dont really get the joke.
[quote comment=”378707″]Hey Mania… CHeck this link to Tanners Blog
Holy FUck.
http://evantanner.net/journal?news_id=59&uniqid=1015
He blew $150 000 playing black Jack.
Also doesnt have funds to train to fight this summer.[/quote]
If thats the case, then I dont even want to see him fight again. he was given a great opportunity, and now he isnt going to have money to train for his next fight! Go Away Tanner, I was a big fan, but this is too much. Thanks for the memory, but I dont want to see you fight any more!
Damn, I used to really like this guy. I backed him regardless of his vices & always had hoped he would come back and just fight….not exactly win but just get back in there and fight. And now he pulls this crap! Just when everything looked promising again. I am not longer backing this guy. He apparently doesn’t take life seriously. So long Evan Tanner.
Evan, I don’t know you or your situation save for what I read on a few sites. That being said, here’s a little free advice: Those quotes at the end of your blog about great accomplishment only coming with great risk and the sin would be being too afraid to try, walk with the stars and all that utter crap don’t normally apply to vices. Get a financial manager, anything. But grow up. You’re a full grown man for Christ’s sake, stop living like a little boy and all these bad things will ‘magically’ stop happening to you. Take responsibility for yourself and the people who help you. But live your life as you choose I guess. Just don’t keep doing the same hairbrained crap and expecting different results.
Sounds like Evan needs some help from an accountant. Maybe the Iceman will give him a hand.
[quote comment=”378839″]Sounds like Evan needs some help from an accountant. Maybe the Iceman will give him a hand.[/quote]
He says he onl took $300 dollars with him to the table, and he lost all of the $300 dollars.
Everybody needs to chill on Evan..
[quote comment=”378841″][quote comment=”378839″]Sounds like Evan needs some help from an accountant. Maybe the Iceman will give him a hand.[/quote]
He says he onl took $300 dollars with him to the table, and he lost all of the $300 dollars.
Everybody needs to chill on Evan..[/quote]
Whether it’s $300, $3000, $3,000,000 or hell even $3, if it’s all the money you have, it’s not very bright.
What does this mean? “I can’t believe I gambled away $150,000……in six days. “
He says he lost $150,000 in 6 days, not $300.
There are thousands of people that would die to have an opportunity that has been GIVEN to Tanner to make the financial means necessary to take care of your family and your kids for life. I am all about second chances, but when he wrecklessly spits that chance back in your face, I remove myself from hoping, wishing, wanting the best for that person. Time to give someone else that chance.
[quote comment=”377782″]Take it from me, you won’t make money gambling if you do it long enough, save your money and stay the hell away from gambling. I invest my money in real estate now and it payed off very nicely, intelligent risk.[/quote]
Poker disagrees with you. HOLLA!
[quote comment=”378873″]What does this mean? “I can’t believe I gambled away $150,000……in six days. “[/quote]
Scroll down.
He was joking.
Damn, ok…he was just joking…I see it now….there was an awful lot of space between those paragraphs.
[quote comment=”379163″]Damn, ok…he was just joking…I see it now….there was an awful lot of space between those paragraphs.[/quote]
I missed it too until someone pointed it out!
[quote comment=”378841″][quote comment=”378839″]Sounds like Evan needs some help from an accountant. Maybe the Iceman will give him a hand.[/quote]
He says he onl took $300 dollars with him to the table, and he lost all of the $300 dollars.
Everybody needs to chill on Evan..[/quote]
did you get my joke?
lol I see it to now….got me!!! yeah 300 is nothing, go have fun…
if u suck that bad at gambling at least he should start betting some money against him, thats what i do, easy money
[quote comment=”379622″]if u suck that bad at gambling at least he should start betting some money against him, thats what i do, easy money[/quote]
AHHHHHHHHHH what!!!! Read the whole page.
i kept saying the last time we were talking about tanner that i just dont get why hes coming out to say all these things about himself like were supposed to feel sorry for him…im glad some of you who were saying poor tanner etc. have realized how much of a whiner hes turned into. We just dont care evan!