http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/8 ... -with-fansThe news of Evan Tanner's death was heartbreaking. It was only this past June that Tanner last stepped into the ring as a part of The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale main event with Kendall Grove, and just the other week he was in Milwaukee, Wis. with other UFC and WEC fighters doing something he loved — meeting fans.
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Tanner was only 37 years old but accomplished much in his life. Part of that was his body of work in the wrestling and mixed martial arts worlds.
Spanning 11 years with 40 fights in three different weight classes (heavyweight, light heavyweight and middleweight), Tanner's MMA career was marked by a high level of activity and an even higher level of competition. In his typical yeoman-like fashion, Tanner worked his way up from fighting in a three-fights-in-one-night tournament in Amarillo,Texas in 1997, which he won, to the UFC and national television.
But perhaps Tanner's biggest accomplishment wasn't what he did inside the ring but how he connected with people. From writing his "Tanner Chronicles" for InsideFighting to his MySpace blogs and his writing for Spike.com, Tanner brought fans into the intimate details of his life in truly remarkable ways.
He may not have been the most famous fighter in the world but he was one of the most loved and those who did know of him never forgot him. Tanner spent time with fans. He ate with them, drank with them, and hung out with them.
And those out of his immediate range found themselves caring about him after reading his diary-like writing. It was likely not his historically long winning streaks — at one point, spanning 13 fights and two years — or title fight performances that made fans love Tanner but rather the way he shared his life with them.
In a day and age when some pro stars charge fans for autographs, Tanner was more likely to invite one of them along for a ride and tell them a story. Speaking with him before his last fight, Tanner's closing words to me were that he wanted to "thank all the fans for making it possible and making this sport real."
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Photos: Evan Tanner 1971-2008
And fans have plenty to thank Evan Tanner for. By bringing them in, Evan made himself and the sport he represented more real.
From his relationships to travels to business ideas to his struggles with alcohol to philosophy, nothing seemed out of bounds for Tanner as he wrote and made each reader feel close to him. Tanner was beyond tough inside the ring and didn't know the word quit, but he was a true warrior because he wasn't afraid to be vulnerable outside of it.
Tanner's life was filled with great joy and disappointment, depression and jubilation, hurdles and opportunities for love. But he was always intent on taking the journey, often times by jeep, his motorcycle and even on foot. Excursions into nature were not uncommon for Tanner and it was on one such trip in the desert that he died.
But we don't need to know how he died to know about Evan Tanner's life and how he chose to live it. He was a person, like all of us, who didn't have all the answers but was honest enough to acknowledge it.
And he had the courage to follow his heart's compass even if he wasn't sure where it was leading. Tanner was his own man, a unique and good soul.
Someone like that, a life lived that way, can always be celebrated, even on the saddest of days.
Our thoughts, prayers and condolences are with his family, friends and fellow admirers.
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