It seems so strange that my last update to this website was about Evan Tanner and now here I am thinking about him passing away so tragically and suddenly…
So many things could be said about him and they have been elsewhere…His fighting career, his character, his warrior philosophy, his free spirit, how kind he was to his fans and a plethora of other personal attributes that he carried through his journey in life have been stated in other places much more eloquently than I ever could…
I was lucky enough to have spent time with him in Muncie, IN that weekend in May…I remember when we were all sitting at breakfast with him after the fights there, we were chattering away about a whole variety of things…One of the many stories he told that night really sticks in my head…
He had said that at some time in his fight career, I think around when he was wearing the UFC middleweight belt, he was in the VIP section of a very exclusive, very posh club…After a while, he went out a back door or a side door to get some air and noticed a homeless guy standing outside there…So, he promptly pulled this guy into the VIP section of the club, sat him down, ordered him a drink and proceeded to talk with him…Hahahaha…Needless to say, the management of the club was NOT having any of that at all…
But the little I knew personally of Evan was encapsulated in that story…He was the kind of guy that would take someone who had been out on the streets and give them a chance to come inside, warm up, have a seat, and talk a while…
Even if it meant he would get thrown out in the process…
I only wish I could have gotten to know him better and spent more time hearing all the millions of stories I’m sure he had…
I found these pics in my phone today from going out to eat after training that Sunday and the introspective look on his face in the second one almost tells a story in and of itself…
RIP Evan, and as Kyria said, “this sport has lost something today that no one can ever replace…”
