UFC Fighters remember Evan Tanner

UFC tribute for Evan Tanner. Some UFC fighters (Eric Schafer, Ed Herman, Alan Belcher) say a few words about Evan.

Evan Tanner Tribute Video

Evan Tanner Tribute Video by Machinemen

Epic Evan Tanner Tribute Video

An epic Evan Tanner video tribute by Machinemen which traces Evan’s entire career.

Evan Tanner’s Death on AP News

Military.com has far and away the most detailed report about what happened to Evan. He didn’t run out of gas, and in contradiction to what Five Ounces of Pain quoted from the Imperial Valley Press, Tanner did have water at his base campsite:

Tanner arrived at his campsite on Sept. 3 and set out to Clapp Spring, about five miles away, the next morning, based on the GPS retrieved from his body, said Jeff Green, De Anza Rescue commander.

“Tanner had sent a friend a phone text message on Thursday afternoon stating that he was at Clapp Spring and had run out of water,” said Green. “Tanner told his friend he would travel back to his camp at night, when it’s the coldest, and to contact authorities if he wasn’t heard from by 8 a.m. Friday.”

The campsite was found abandoned, with Tanner’s motorcycle and additional provisions and water, at noon on Sept. 6.

“De Anza Rescue found Tanner’s tracks at Clapp Spring early Saturday, confirming that he reached the area,” said Keck. “We followed the trail until they lost it at the base of a mountain.”

SAR Marines picked up the trail later that afternoon, before ending the day’s search at nightfall, said Keck.

De Anza Rescue and station SAR continued to search the area on Sept. 7.

Imperial County Sherriff’s Office called SAR Marines out again on Sept. 8. Yuma Marines spotted Tanner’s body 1.2 miles away from his campsite at about 12:30 p.m., said Keck.

After the body was found, station SAR flew a coroner to the scene once he arrived from El Centro, Calif.

SAR Marines then airlifted the body to the nearby town of Palo Verde, Calif., where the body was released to the coroner.

The coroner determined the time of death to be between late night on Sept. 4 and the morning of Sept. 5, and the cause of death to be heat exposure, said Green.

Foxnews covers the death of Evan Tanner

Foxnews covers the death of Evan Tanner.

Evan Tanner Highlight Tribute Video

Evan Tanner Highlight Tribute Video

Evan Tanner Dead

Former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner has been found dead in the Palo Verde mountain area of the southern California desert. The news was confirmed with Tanner’s manager, John Hayner, who said he learned just an hour ago that the body found was indeed Tanner. He was thirty-seven years old.

“He was in a real positive state of mind, he wasn’t having any drinking problems or any of those types of problems. He was really feeling good about his life,” Hayner told CagePotato.com.

Hayner said that Tanner had gone into the desert on a motorcycle expedition and had run out of gas. Tanner was attempting to walk out of the desert, Hayner said, but apparently didn’t realize how far away from civilization he was and died of exposure in the triple-digit heat. Tanner’s empty campsite was spotted Sunday, and an aerial search located his body earlier this afternoon.

A post written by Tanner on his Spike TV blog told of his planning for the trip, and emphasized his desire to bring only essentials in his escape to the solitude of the desert:

I’ve been gathering my gear for this adventure for over a month, not a long time by most standards, but far too long for my impatient nature. Being a minimalist by nature, wanting to carry only the essentials, and being extremely particular, it has been a little difficult to find just the right equipment. I plan on going so deep into the desert, that any failure of my equipment, could cost me my life. I’ve been doing a great deal of research and study. I want to know all I can about where I’m going, and I want to make sure I have the best equipment.

Hayner told of a man who “marched to a beat only he could hear,” but maintained a positive outlook on life.

“Here was a famous UFC fighter who didn’t have enough food to eat at times. I’d call him just to make sure he had food in his fridge, but he never let it get him down. Starting over was kind of a theme in his life. He hardly ever lived in the same place more than six months,” Hayner said. “He moved out to Vegas and then found it too shallow for him, so he moved out to Oceanside and had a great place, he was learning to surf, and he was really enjoying his day-to-day life.”

Here’s a highlight video of Evan Tanner in his honor:

Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale: Kendall Grove v Evan Tanner

Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale: Kendall Grove v Evan Tanner

Evan Tanner on TUF 7 Finale

Evan Tanner on The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale

Evan Tanner Interview

Evan Tanner on his future, training, upcoming Kendall Grove fight and more.