UFC Fight Night 15 To Be Dedicated To Evan Tanner
By: Kris Karkoski (admin) | Sep 16, 2008
Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 15 Spike TV event in Omaha, Nebraska will be dedicated to former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner.
Tanner passed away last week in California due to heat exhaustion.
UFC President Dana White revealed the news to Dave Meltzer on Monday:
Dana White said this morning that they will be dedicating Wednesday night’s live show on Spike from Omaha, headlined by Houston Alexander vs. Eric Schafer, to Evan Tanner and that they will be airing an Evan Tanner TV tribute show on Spike. White said they’ve also put together 30 second tribute spots for Tanner that will be airing soon.
For more on UFC Fight Night 15 check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.
Thats good. The Hall of Fame would be a good follow up.
Good. I expected them to do this.
Agreed on both accounts.
Damn good. They should induct him in to the Hall of Fame wed. at the event.
Only thing better is dedicate a pay per view event to Evan. And I agree about the hall of fame. He’s one of the guys that truly took MMA from an unknown and misunderstood sport to what it is today.
This is very cool of the UFC. They had to do something. This works for now.
Nice the UFC is doing this and perhaps soon they could induct Evan into the HOF…..
thats great… but i thought it was headlined by diaz and neer…
Very nice i’m glad that the UFC are doing something for his fans and memory.
But since was Alexander vs Schafer the main event ?
Have they pulled the Diaz vs Neer fight ?
It’s good that they are using UFN to remember Tanner. But in all seriousness their are other fighters that deserve induction in the hall first.
Sorry i forgot to include his family in the fans & memory comment it was a mistake i can assure you i was typing too fast and forgot.
Matt Hughes comes to mind.
agree with timcat about the HOF,think using the UFN is best way to remember tanner!
Totally agree timcat. There are lots of others that are definitely worthy of the HOF as well. Most of them are still active though, and its a lot cooler to look back on an entire career before the induction.
nice way to be remembered for tanner .
I am just not sure about the hall of fame though…… he was a good guy it seemed but his career just doesnt have enough to it . Upsetting fighters is good , a title is better but there just wasnt qite enough to it to put him in a hall of fame .
I am not trying to be a dick but we have to be real otherwise the hall loses credit . just look at roger maris– he had the homerun record for a single season yet he aint in the hall .you see where i am coming from ?
Totally see where you are coming from Doom. And it’s a total rip off that Maris isn’t in the hall of fame. I’m not sure at this stage how the HOF can lose credibility though. We currently have what, five members in the HOF? I think that honoring the individuals that took MMA from an unknown fight club to a legitimate sport deserve the honor. I’d also include Frank Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, and Vitor Belfort in the same category.
Yea…I agree with doom….people are in a melancholy state of mind still…. I have no prob saying Tanner was a GREAT guy and an embassodor to the sport…not having sponsors, having his fans be involved was very cool…but to say he was a hall of fame fighter is a stretch… if he makes it to the hall, then great…but I wouldnt be upset if he didnt make it either. He deserves to go to the hall of fame of “great human beings”, thats for sure…sucks when the world loses great people like him…
Again, not to be a dick - but people tend to jump on the bandwagon of the deceased…all i know is that people HATED dale earnhart…then he passed.. now he was this great person and driver? the best ever? Sorry…or Derrick Thomas - was a very good linebacker….then he died, and all of a sudden people say he was the best ever…bc of the amount of time he played…etc….those can be bad examples for some…but where I am from, this is all I hear….and same with Tanner… now all I hear was he was one of, if not the best middleweight ever….come on….dont go crazy… but regardless, Tanner was a great man and will be missed…
Great move and I agree with the Hall of Fame. Not only a champion (albeit brief) he was a pioneer and that deserves to be recognized.
LMAO! Who said he was the best middleweight ever??? Now that is someone that doesn’t know much MMA!!! His HOF is deserved by his overall contribution to the sport, not from being a long standing dominant champion.
Yea, some people I talk to about MMA isnt the brightest…and when you look at the list of people he has beat…no one impressive.. except MAYBE lawler…but im not impressed with that.. he was a great guy, but not a hall of famer… but again..if he makes it, then great…i wont be mad…if anything, id be mad if Tito made it
I used to like the guy, but now…I cant stand him…he is his #1 fan…he thinks he is MMA.. and I dont remember when he was good…2006 maybe? I hope NO ONE signs him…
Wait a minute… is Lidell even in the hall of fame yet? If he isn’t I take back my opinion about Tanner getting in.
I just broke into the top ten guys –its a historical moment for me hehehe
Well congrats to you DR.DOOM
Well looks like I started a great HOF debate. If you look at it, Couture is in and still active, Shamrock is still active, Coleman, Gracie somewhat still active. The only one retired is Dan Severn. Until Liddell, Hughes, and Wanderlei are in,Tanner should be out. I’m not saying he don’t deserve it,I’m saying there are others that need to go in first.
will the tribute programme dedicated to Tanner be shown in the UK on Setanta aswell as the UFN event itself?
does anyone know of this at all?
Sums it up nicely timcat! I think he deserves it, but there are others that need to come first. I’d add Ortiz to your list as well. But Wanderlei is debatable. Not taking anything away from him at all. He is and has been one of the best for a very long time. But the HOF is for th UFC and his esposure there is pretty limited.
Liddell, Hughes absolutely….. Wanderlei could be but it would be because of his domination of PRIDE which ZUFFA owns soo I could see him getting in on that (his UFC record isn’t the best), as far as Evan getting in I do believe he should before the names mentioned above for the simple fact it would be post~mordum out of respect for his life and fighting carrer the type of person he was I could see Evan getting in…
I agree Timcat, but Lidell and hughes are a sure thing for the hall of fame. It shouldn’t stop the ufc from inducting tanner just because lidell and hughes aren’t on there yet. I also agree about tito being inducted, but dana white’s feud with him will probably prevent that from ever happening(which i think would be gay).
Thought it was DIAZ vs NEER who were headliners
Matt Hughes, Pat Miletich, Frank Shamrock, Don Frye (old school UFC’s he owned sh*t, UFC 8 and Ultimate Ultimate 96 Champ and holds record for fastest KO = 8 sec), Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and eventually BJ Penn all should be put into the hall of fame.
I really don’t know why Pat and Frank aren’t there now to be honest.
Other notables to be mentioned; Jens Pulver and Vitor Belfort.
I agree there are more worthy careers I just think you put him in for the journey from tape trainer to titleholder. His story gave the sport (ughh I have to use a word I hate) gravitas…