Evan Tanner is Not a Hall of Famer
While he had a long career and was once the UFC Middleweight Champion, Keyboard Kimura feels there are others far more deserving of a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame than the late Evan Tanner.
over 2 years ago
E. Spencer Kyte
12 comments
0 recs |
Email
PrintComments
Evan Tanner: Tanner was another man that represented himself, the sport and the UFC as well as anyone could throughout the course of his short lived time on this earth. Tanner put it all on the line for the UFC for a staggering seventeen bouts over what ended up being nearly a decade. It was UFC 18, way back in 1999 when Tanner first showed his smug mug with his trademark smile on the scene of the UFC as he submitted Darrel Gholar with a rear-naked choke in the very first round. Evan went on to claim the UFC’s middleweight championship at UFC 51 where he beat the tar out of Dave Terrell for the first round TKO stoppage. Tanner finished out his career with the UFC with an impressive 11-6 record racking up wins over dangerous fighters such as Phil Baroni and Robbie Lawler along the way. (five ounces of pain article)
17 fights in 9 years in the octagon is impressive, hes got my vote
I’ve read the article and I don’t try to challenge any of the things that are factual from Tanner’s career.
All I’m saying – and evidently not very well since all anyone wants to do is remind me of what Tanner accomplished in his career – is that the guy was a good fighter, not a great fighter and if he was still getting beat up by Kendall Grove we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
In death, Evan Tanner became some kind of UFC Superstar that he just wasn’t in my opinion.
by E. Spencer Kyte on Jun 26, 2009 2:51 PM EDT reply actions
I won’t even go on about how bad this article is and how I dislike your sensationalist headlines.
There is no set limit of how many people per period of time can be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame and having Tanner in it would not diminish the prestige of being in the UFC Hall of Fame because he was a great person and had extraordinary talent for the amount of time he actually spent fighting and training. He was also one of the first fighters to successfully blend a good wrestling background with good bjj skills.
Also in comparison to other current hall of famers, Dan Severn fought in only 5 or 6 events. Tanner fought in 17.
by dumbwhiteguy on Jun 26, 2009 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions
HEADLINES BRING READERS!
With that out of the way, how can an opinion be bad or wrong?
Evan Tanner was not – in my books – an EXTRAORDINARY talent and being a great person shouldn’t get you into the UFC Hall of Fame either.
He was a pioneer at blending techniques, but while Tanner fought in 17 UFC events (11-6 record) he wasn’t main eventing those cards and no one was talking about how outstanding and innovative he was when he was losing four of his last five fights…
Meanwhile, Dan Severn lost in the finals of UFC 4, won UFC 5, Ultimate Ultimate ’95 and the UFC superfight title while fighting the likes of Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Oleg Taktarov and Tank Abbott.
Stop romanticizing Evan Tanner… it makes you come off like an Evan Tanner zombie!
by E. Spencer Kyte on Jun 26, 2009 6:13 PM EDT reply actions
I could really give a fuck if he’s in the UFC Hall of Fame or not. I just thought your article was dumb because it’s based mostly on how you feel.
Instead of having that retarded headline and spouting what you THINK, you should evaluate both sides. I could write an article called “E. Spencer Kyte is a douchebag!” and talk about your retarded headlines and your shitty writing style and how dumb it is that you’re attempting to write a book about marriage despite probably not having been married that long. I could also write an article called “Is E. Spencer Kyle a douchebag?” and list all of the former reasons but also give you some credit since you are at least attempting to write for MMA.
by dumbwhiteguy on Jun 26, 2009 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Also I should mention that in my opinion it’s now a contest between you and Maggie Hendricks on who is the worst MMA writer on the internet.
by dumbwhiteguy on Jun 26, 2009 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions
I Do Love Competition...
I’ll do my best to keep up with Ms. Hendricks and appreciate your support.
That being said, this is clearly an opinion piece, so why get so fired up about what I think, especially if you think I’m such a douchebag?
I don’t have any obligation to evaluate both sides – no one asked me to write this piece or weigh the pros and cons; I just decided to give my two cents…
The beauty of this world is that guys like me and write things like this just as freely and equally as people like you can call me a douchebag and think my book idea is retarded. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind when it’s on the shelf at your local bookstore and you’re still rolling with the “dumbwhiteguy” handle getting all pissy about what one guy on the Internet thinks about Evan Tanner.
But that’s just me…
by E. Spencer Kyte on Jun 27, 2009 3:05 AM EDT up reply actions
A Note from E. Spencer Kyte
The above request to leave myself and Ms. Hendricks alone was unsolicited and while appreciated, it should be noted that Mr. Kyte is more than willing to fight his own battles and welcomes the juvenile gems like “You suck” and “E. Spencer Kyte is a douchebag” as much as he enjoys high praise.
Either way, you’re reading my articles… I really don’t care if you like them or not!
by E. Spencer Kyte on Jun 27, 2009 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Evan Tanner was a mediocre fighter at best, and had he not been killed [by some foolish decision that he made] he would not only not even be considered for the Hall of Fame, he wouldn’t have accomplished anything with the exception of garnering some fans and maintaining his reputation as a big name. To be honest, he’d probably be fighting in Strikeforce or Ultimate Chaos by now.
Those elected into the HoF should have a profound, unmatched impact on the sport, as well as not only being a world-class MMA fighter. Somebody might argue otherwise and I don’t mean to bash other peoples’ opinions like others in this thread, but the fact remains that Tanner hasn’t done any of those things.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
