On September 8, 2008 the world lost a great human being. The body of former UFC Middleweight and USWF Heavyweight champion Evan Tanner was discovered by a Marine helicopter in the desert-like region north of Brawley, California. According to the Imperial County sheriff’s office heat exposure was the preliminary cause of death due to temperatures that day reaching 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48C). According to www.military.com Tanner called his manager that afternoon to say that his bike had run out of gas, and that he would accordingly walk back to his camp at nightfall when the temperatures would be much lower.
This isn’t just a loss to the MMA world, it is a loss to everyone. Evan was a stand up guy that pretty much everyone liked. One of the few whom stayed a down to earth person even in the spotlight. He was an underrated fighter and sometimes seen differently than others when he didn’t fit into the confines of societies rules but whether you remember him as this guy:
Or this guy:
He will be remembered, he will be missed.
Tanner always had a way with words. He spoke with passion and kindness even in the face of adversity. From upcoming wars of will in the cage to possible battles with depression he always had something to say, even if it was a little “out there” to some. He lived life, many people forget just what that means.
Evan wasn’t your typical fighter, his reason for fighting wasn’t the money or the fame, he wanted to be heard. If you want to learn something, to take something with you from his life and let him be heard….just watch these two videos:
On Youtube you an find tribute video after tribute video, his death has hit MMA fans hard all around the world. The odd keyboard warrior such as cardicianman in the comments on this video do pop up but overall those of us who love this sport understand the gap that is left by Evan’s death. I do however wonder why these wanna-be keyboard warriors say the things they do, as if they are somehow better than former champions and all around nice guys.
I just hope Mr. Tanner is now at peace, you will be missed brother.
So Elite XC Street Certified on February 16, 2008 was yet again another event designed for those who know next to nothing about MMA. For a long time everyone has heard talk of a Kimbo Slice Vs. David “Tank” Abbott fight but most of us already knew the outcome without ever seeing the fight happen. Tank is old, out of shape and generally washed up. Suffice it to say the fight was a short one with Kimbo beating Tank like a child in “protective custody”.
Otherwise the night was filled with stand up battles just like this one such as Brett Rogers Vs. James Thompson where Rogers KO’d Thompson to start off the night. The Yves Edwards vs. Edson Berto was possibly the most impressive KO of the night with Edwards landing a jumping knee while resisting a single leg takedown for the KO.
Scott Smith looked rather tentative in the first round of his fight against Kyle Noke allowing Noke to land jab after jab with very little counter punching. As round two started however they engage in an exchange where smith hands a hard right hand which knocks out Noke.
The Antonio Silva vs. Ricco Rodriguez which was the last fight leading up to the Tank and Kimbo battle was a boring one. Ricco is one of these guys that I feel is an amazing ground specialist but has not really taken MMA seriously in many years. Overall the fight was a disappointment. Rodriguez looked rather sloppy the whole fight and couldn’t seem to get in a rhythm. The fight ended with Silva taking a split decision which was the right call.
Not much ground game happened that night as I really think the card was designed for those fans who don’t understand or like the ground. In the Ricco/Antonio fight their was some sloppy takedowns and 1 or two submission attempts but overall the event was what I expected. They used an over the hill fighter to promote a match no true MMA fan really cared about.
Why has MMA came to this? Is it a side effect of the growth in popularity and the sport going mainstream?
The Ultimate Fighter reality show has been a hit season after season, being someone who is involved in the world of MMA I have enjoyed the show even when the content is obviously cut and re-mastered to portray a specific character (like all reality TV). On Episode two of season 6 that I just finished watching there was an interesting theme, or sub-plot. Coach Matt Hughes, a believer in the Christian faith brought bibles for each member of his team to practice and asked if each member would read The Book of Esther. Now, I’m not Christian and Hughes isn’t my favorite fighter by any means but I can see both a fair and a not so fair side to this. Hughes tells everyone reading The Book of Esther is an option, which they do not have to do so. He also mentions that it’s “just a story” when Mac Danzig opts not to read it, he does seem pushy at this point but I will give him the benefit of the doubt on that.
The not so fair side of things was pointed out by Matt Serra when he asked if their were any Jewish members on the team, implying that it would be insulting to people not of the Christian religion and that religion and training are two different entities which do not need to collide (I think the Jewish celebration of Purim has something to do with this area of the bible though correct me if I’m wrong please). On the other hand when you are really interested in anything be it Christianity, MMA or any other topic you tend to want to share it with others. This is where I feel people get edgy because beliefs are such a touchy subject. If he had brought in a bunch of fly fishing mags would people have been so touchy about it (those on the show and on the net)? I don’t think they would have, I think he would just get laughed at.
Personally it seems like a lot of editing to make Hughes seem like an inconsiderate ass and people are overstating the meaning of the whole thing just because it was a bunch of bibles. As you can see from Mac Danzig’s blog their was a reason he brought in those bibles, it wasn’t out of the blue, it was however probably a poor decision image wise as it is not hard to see why people may think he was taking advantage of the situation. We have all met others who try to push their religion onto other people. As for him saying he would be the queen in The Book of Esther, you guys can play with that all you want, I will keep my trap shut because if he’s the queen and he can beat my ass what would that make me?
Overall I think Hughes may have just been eager to share another passion he has with people who already have something in common with him. Trying to open new doors maybe, I’m not sure. What do you guys think?
PS. For those of you who misspelled “The Book of Esther”, you may want to correct it. It is not “The Book of Ester” as was printed on many other MMA lovers’ blogs I frequent.
I didn’t report on UFC 75 on Sept. 8th because it sucked to the point I didn’t feel motivated to write but I’m here to report on UFC 76 now. Also The Ultimate Fighter is back and UFC Fight Night was decent but more to come on TUF in the coming weeks, the 1st episode never is that interesting.
When I 1st thought about the fight card for UFC 76, there was one fight maybe 2 I thought were worth watching, I wrote the rest of the card off as typical UFC hype. Last night however as I watched the event I had a rather abrupt reminder that such thinking was an error in judgment. The entire event was one of the best I have seen from the UFC. I have never been so happy when so many fights have gone to the judges. I was happy because of the excellent skill level shown and my desire to see more.
The 1st 3 televised fights were extremely technical battles; the third between Jon Fitch and. Diego Sanchez was amazing. At one point late in the round Diego sunk in a DEEP triangle choke but Fitch escaped it. For those of you whom have never heard of Jon Fitch, this fight will amaze you. Then there was the fight I was looking forward to, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua Vs. Forrest Griffin. Shogun showed he had acclimated to the cage by opening up a new cut above Griffin’s eye with an elbow but Griffin dominated him and ended up choking his ass out with a RNC. I should have bet on this fight, I would have won big.
Now the last fight was Chuck Liddell vs. Keith Jardine, damn did The Dean of Mean ever land some deadly leg and body kicks. Chuck was outclassed. This one really surprised me I mean it’s the Iceman after all, how could he lose two in a row like that at this stage in the game. To give chuck credit he did land some good punches but it just looked like Jardine had him a little frustrated with his movement and style. It went to a decision but it was obvious who was taking that W with them to the after party.
One of the things that helps define who I am is my love of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), I never miss watching a UFC or WEC event if possible. I train (or trained, I don’t know, call it a hiatus) in BJJ and MT and just generally love the community and close knit feel of it all. My favorite fighter is probably Randy Couture or GSP. Now with that being said you can probably see why I watched UFC 74 last night when considering both men were fighting on the card (Couture vs. Gonzaga and GSP vs. Koscheck).
Overall it was a great event, one of the better UFC events as of late. I don’t want to spoil it for anybody but Randy and GSP both did well and the other fights on the card were just as exciting. If you haven’t seen it go find yourself a copy somewhere…you all know how to get ahold of a copy.
