UFC Fight Night 15 To Be Dedicated To Evan Tanner
Posted by Kris Karkoski on Sep 16, 2008 at 10:00 am ET60 Comments
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.
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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…
Love the list of old school guys ya mentioned Alfred. I almost mentioned Frank Shamrock and Vitor Belfort in an earlier post. Tank Abbot, love him or hate him (I’m in the hating him camp), deserves considartion also.
Names like Rutten, Frank (will never happen) Tank & Miletich should be in one day
You have to consider Jeremy Horn too.
Ok in the UFC he has been hit & miss but in the world of MMA his achievements are fantastic.
Its good to see that the UFC are doing something for Evan Tanner
Tape Trainer all the way
Tanner completely deserves to be in the UFC Hall of fame…
Tanner was a SELF taught grappler, he bought “how-to” videos and learned a ground game, he also had no real training in the striking department and with this he entered the UFC and claimed the Middleweight title! Thats impressive, but he also was an old school figher.
his win list not being very impressive isn’t exactly an issue.. name anybody of substance that Ken Shamrock beat, or really for that matter name anybody you concider an elite fighter than Royce Gracie beat, but we all agree they deserve to be in the Hall of Fame for what they accomplished for the sport. Evan Tanner WAS the middle weight division prior to Franklin and then Silva. Where those two better fighters than Tanner? you bet! but Hughes and many others are better fighters than Royce Gracie, and Ken Shamrock has proved to not be a challenge to anybody at 205, Mark Coleman… need I say more? Tanner deserves to be in there.
As far as Liddell, Hughes, Franklin, Penn, all these guys who deserve the honor also are still active fighters. Mark Coleman is the only person I know that was an active fighter introducted into the HOF.
hey brandon ,
Thee’s no way that hughes and “a bunch of others” were better than Royce in the UFC that he competed in . If they held that same competition today with the royce of yesterday he’d still win hands down . The reason the origional rules were put into play was to disrupt the gracie way of fighting . watch the hughes/gracie fight again .When they go to the mat ,royce was going to drive an elbow thru the top of hughes head as he normally would have done but couldnt due to the new rules .That fight would have been over right then and there for hughes . dont be fooled .. we watch fights nowadays that seem brutal yet pale to what we used to see .
Brandon, Randy Couture is now again active….
Dr. Doom, I thought “rules” and “time limits” ie rounds were put into effect to get governing athletic commisions to sanction events not to screw over the Gracie clan… Now if the UFC was still “oldschool” it wouldn’t be sanctioned by many athletic commissions imo but hey I miss the early UFC but the product since ZUFFA has bought it has grown so well and MMA has grown world wide since the early years
O and Brandon, Royce beat quite a few legandary fighters remember that guy Dan Severn that was by far one of the greatest triangle chokes of all time after getting beat on for what seemed to be forever
evan was a great fighter and should definatly get a tribute for him.
and royce was awesome
yes ufcfan , those rules wre put in for safety by the different commisions ….but… even before the rules of today there were rules added in the early years ie time limits/rounds that were to hinder Royces performance .this is noted in the first superfight —- gracie vs shamrock where there was a time limit and eventually the overtime allowed which ended in a draw .Now if there had been no time limit Royce would have outlasted him . the fights you see on the origional UFC tapes were edited for time content , one match lasted an hour and a half .
I know my Sh!t ………
,,,,,,,and smoke it too hahahah
Doom, you do know your sh!t forsure yet you aren’t the only one, smoking and drinking can lead to misconseptions of womens beauty just fyi (and there is nothing wrong with that) ha, its just simply a different game now yet I truly enjoy it but without the Gracies this would never have been started in North America and without the Brothers Fertitta and Dana White MMa would be as “popular” as it is today imo…. Not saying the UFC is the endall organization but the are clearly #1
When it comes to the Hall of Fame, there’s more to consider than just wins and losses. Was Evan Tanner good for the sport? Did he promote the sport well by his actions and in the ring? Is he partly resposible for the growth and well being of MMA and the UFC? He did charitable work and he was gracious to the fans and let’s not forget that he was a one-time champion. There are men in the baseball Hall of Fame that didn’t have big numbers and they’re men in the football Hall of Fame that weren’t ultimate standouts on the field, but they were good for the game. The game is better off because people like them were in it. I think MMA and the UFC is better off because a man that taught himself how to fight by watching videos and untilmately won the championship was in it. I think it’s fitting and proper to make room in the Hall of Fame for Evan Tanner.
You can’t really compare fighters today with today’s rules to fighters of yesteryear with their rules. Look at the hughes/Gracie fight… Gracie could have rammed his elbow down on Hughes head, but he couldn’t… right? Maybe… I’m just saying MAYBE Hughes didn’t try to defend against that because he knew it was illegal. I don’t know… I just don’t think you can compare them. Gracie fought Hughes and was outclassed. That’s all I know about that.
Sorry Dolfang,
I just cant agree with you on Evan tanner . Although i do agree with the nfl-mlb hall of fame point you made . however ,Evan tanner needed another five or six big wins in those stats -ones he could have gotten years ago but he didnt and lost those all important ones . its not that he sucked , he was a good fighter —-just not a great fighter .
Does a person have to be great at baseball to be in the Hall of Fame? or football? Believe me that there are some in there that didn’t have big numbers, but they were good ambasadores for the game. I think Evan Tanner was a good ambassadore for the game. I read a story about a guy that went to a fight and met Evan Tanner. Tanner had some T-shirts with him and the guy asked he could buy one of them. Tanner said he was sorry, but he couldn’t sell the guy any of those T-shirts. So he took the shirt off his back and gave it to the guy. That’s what being a good ambassadore is. That’s being good for the game. Was he the best fighter in the UFC… nope… but he was one of the best men in it. Ther… I’ve had my say… I’ll let y’all decide his fate.
my spelling stinx
I think tanner should be put into the hall of fame..maybe its because i can relate to him alot…i started training with videos and internet jiu jitsu teaching sites like submissions101.com…I guarentee that if you ask any fighter in the ufc the majority or more will say yes he should be in there
Gracie in the first UFC’s was amazing because there where no true mixed martial artists, no one knew how to counter BJJ and it proved to be the most dominant martial arts. Gracie took on guys twice his size and beat them all, he was amazing no doubt.
My point is that Tanner not beating anybody of significance in todays world of MMa should have no barring on his entry to the Hall of Fame because Gracie beat nobody of significance in MMA today. Would gracie of the first UFC beat George St Peirre of today? no. Not even a chance, because GSP has studied BJJ, Wrestling, Boxing, Muay Thai, he knows how to defend submissions and how to counter takedowns. He can box and he can do it all. Can Tanner be defined by his loses to Rich Franklin/Grove/Okami? no – in like manner Tanner was one of the first to be considered a hybrid fighter. Tanner for his time was a great fighter and a champion. Will GSP, Anderson Silva, BJ Penn always be the top fighters? no. Someone is goign to come along bigger, stronger, faster and better.
Tanner belongs in the Hall of fame.
And Randy Couture is active and fighting now, but when he was inducted into the HOF he was retired and not fighting, Mark Coleman is the only active fighter I know of to be introduce to the hall of fame while still holding a contract. Although no one has even heard of him since his injury, but thats not the point.
And as far as the rules being changed to protect fighters from the gracie style of fighting is by far the dummest thing i’ve ever heard.
The rules where changed because 1) it’s not safe and 2) the UFC wanted to be a sanctioned sport, and Nevada would not sanction it without a set of rules and guidlines, gloves, restrictions and the such. There was no rule against groin shots until Keith Hackney punched a guy probably 50 times in the groin and caused sever damage, after UFC 3 the rules where changed to include no groin damage, not because of a gracie. Also with the rule to no kidney attacks. That was not because of the Gracie was of fighting but to protect all fighters from kidney damage and long term affects…
Protecting people from the gracies.. lol!
Also his triangle on Dan Severn was great! Dan also had a total of 8 days fighting training before he entered the UFC. He was a purely one dementional wrestler who lasted 30 mins against a Gracie due to his size and strength. That triangle choke was a thing of beauty for sure, but Dan Severn is a legend because of the time frame he entered the sport, not because he is a true mixed martial artist (even though he still fights today which is impressive in itself)
I think that Tanner will likely go into the hall of fame more for his character, how he got to the sport, and what he did outside of the cage than what he did inside. That being said, I think it would be good for the people that really do decide these things to do so in a few months, not now while his death is so fresh on everyone’s mind to jade the decision.
Its funny how there is suddenly “along time ago” in mma . What are we talking about here 15 years ?Way back when is not that long ago .Bernard hopkins has been around longer than the UFC so dont tell me about “new ” vs “old” . it’s not like Jiu Jitsu is a new invention .. just grab a helio gracie video and its all there .
As for the old rules not being safe …I agree but it’s not like what they do is safe either . It would be like saying let’s fight just no hitting in the face or stomach .A true fight has no rules PERIOD …its you and him until its over .The best UFC fighter is not truely the best in the world , just the best at the UFC/MMA way to fight . You even had a proper finger joint lock applied ? thats why that was one move banned from the first UFC’s…. the fights would have been over in a minute . Its purely a life or death kinda move .picture an arm bar but one hand on the wrist the other bends your middle two fingers backwards until they break or submission
Even still it’s not even an issue. Even UFC 1 had rules about biting, eye gouging and fish hooking.
And there is an ‘old’ vs ‘new’ in MMA. Yes boxing and Bernard Hopkins have been around a long time. But look at boxing pre and post Muhammad Ali, Are you going to tell me that Lenux Lewis or Roy Jones Jr would have been killed by such boxers as jack dempsey or joe lewis, or rocky marsiano? No way and simply because fighting and fighters evolve.
Every fighter in the UFC today would have ran through the fighters of UFC 1, they simply know more about a broad range of styles and that is what separates them and makes an old v young mentality. The time frame isn’t as important as the evolution of the fighter.
Also if you look into the history of the first UFC’s. It was a product of a person who wanted to promote BJJ in america. Royce was personally asked to participate in the event. He was informed about what the event would be and he even has videos of his training against strikers to prepare him for the event. The grand reward was $50,000 which the family that sponsored the event all but knew was going to be rewarded to Royce barring some freak accident. Royce had the time to prepare for who he would face and his opponents did not even know that this 160lb guy would be so dangerous until the following UFC’s. Royce himself admitted that he entered the UFC as a personal favor to the people putting the show on as a way to bring BJJ to the states. So if you really want to get nit picky about the event Royce was the only one with really a training regiment to prepare him for the event.
I think Tanner may have been one of the first ones to actually claim to be an MMA fighter. Up until that point everyone was an expert in some form of martial arts that “cross trained” to learn other disciplines. I’m sure there were a few others, but Tanner is the first one that comes to mind for me as being the one that didn’t claim a special primary style of fighting. That says a lot about his role in the development of MMA.
As far as Royce not beating anyone… Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock, Pat Smith, Kimo. I know it was 15 years ago and the fighters are entirely different today than they were then. But don’t try to say that guys like Shamrock, Smith, and Kimo were insignificant.
It was Rorion Gracie that Invented The First Ultimate Fighting Championship. It was his family’s money that Royce won. So to say he did it as a favor is wrong. They were going to put Helio in there but said it would be better if someone smaller could beat these guys, and It worked big time.
im just surprized that tanner wast already in the HOF, prior to his death…. what he did in the sport was no small feat… and what he did to get into the sport wasnt easy either…
if tanner were to have started his carrer today using the same methods he wouldnt have made it into the UFC let alone a championship, but thats because of the diversity of the sport now…
if he had as much training as “the greats” the only people who say he doesnt deserve to be in the HOF would be people who didnt like him because he beat there fav fighter… because with that training he would have been, no question, one of the greats….
and someone mentioned j.horn…. he deserves it too
The point of the original UFCs was to 1. See what fighting style was the best. 2. promote Gracie Jiujitsu (since the Gracie’s started it, and presumed that their fighting style would win).
I doubt that the rules were created to hinder Royce’s performance. At the time of the superfight, the Gracies still ran the show, why would they intentionally try to handicap their fighter? I remember in either the second of third UFC they stated that the Gracie family was undefeated in fighting for decades, if that was the case, why would the Gracie family make a decision with the goal of jeopardizing that record. If my family had that kind of claim, and I ran the organization in which that record was being put on the line, I would do everything I could to keep that record in tact, not put it into more jeopardy.
Dude it wasn’t the gracie family’s money that Royce won, The event wasn’t even sponsored by the Gracie’s. It was first thought up by a guy named Art Davie, who was a Gracie student but it was completely sponsored from outside funds and PPV buys.
And when I said that Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock, Kimo, Keith Hackney, and all the rest that Royce beat weren’t significant I mean that as far as a record of who’s who in the world of MMA the only reason those guys were significant is because of their time frame. I personally think that all of them (except Kimo) played a huge part in bringing the UFC to what it is today. I remember watching them all fight. Severn was my fav but followed closely by Keith Hackney, I loved that fight with him and the sumo guy that he pretty much karate chopped to a victory! was great. But all of them were completely one dimentional, thats why I mean they weren’t anybody of significance, and when multi dimentional fighters came into play , Hughes beat Gracie, Tito beat Shamrock, Severn is still out there but he’s not really fighting anybody of significane, Tank gets beat by everybody, and even Oleg Taktarov is losing fights to new breads. Yes there age plays a factor for sure, but also the fact that the sport has evolved.
Timcat – it wasnt helio they first wanted to fight , it was Rickson …. helio was about 73 when the first UFC took place.
Secondly – I would still like to see hughes vs gracie but inside a ring this time .I believe a true BJJ practitioner would be a force inside any arena today . I see most of the guys lately using the techniques but in poor fashion . Most just have the locks but really dont have the smooth transition game . Just ask jiu jitsuman he probably see’s the same thing I do .the setups are there they just concentrate too much on the obvious and dont go for the off guard sub .
no response ?