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UFC 82: Evan Tanner to fight in Columbus, Ohio (Exclusive)

Evan TannerMMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) recently learned that former middleweight champion Evan Tanner (32-6) will return to the Octagon at UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio, at the Nationwide Arena on March 2.

No opponent has been named.

Tanner -- who will be 37 years old on fight night -- has not competed since a submission win (triangle choke) over Justin Levens at UFC 59: "Reality Check" in April 2006. He recently signed a four-fight contract extension to return to action and provide some much-needed depth and experience to a relatively talent-shallow 185-pound division.

It's been a long strange trip for Tanner outside the cage during his almost two-year self-imposed fight hiatus.There's no telling if he can recapture his old form and become a middleweight contender.

Either way it's going to be fun to watch -- Tanner fights rarely go the distance. In fact, he has only been in involved in three decisions in nearly 40 professional mixed martial arts bouts.

It's important to note that Tanner will fight on the same card as current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. Tanner has mentioned numerous times that he feels he matches up well with "The Spider" and is eager to give it a shot.

Two things would more than likely have to happen for that to occur: Silva needs to defeat -- or lose to -- Dan Henderson (no sure thing) and Tanner would have to rattle off at least two wins (no sure thing, either.)

Again, it should be fun to watch regardless of the results.

For the latest rumored UFC 82 fight card click here. For more on Tanner hit up this archive.

(Thanks to MMAmania.com reader "Mr. NC-17" for the assist.)

0 recs  |  Comment 40 comments

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Tanner vs Leban or Tanner vs Okami

by Lucas on Dec 15, 2007 11:58 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

I think they might give him a less of a fighter than that.

by Griffinfan05 on Dec 15, 2007 12:04 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

i think maybe tanner vs leban also or maybe even lutter if franklin doesn’t fight him

by bryant on Dec 15, 2007 12:06 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

I’m not gonna hold my breath for Tanner vs Silva… He’s really gotta get in there and shine right off the bat for that to even be considered match worthy. Lotta ring rust, plus the fight game has evolved alot while he’s been under a rock.

by Gene on Dec 15, 2007 12:10 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

he could’nt even do anything in the franklin fights,
completely outmuscled, outsmarted, and outstruck.

i think it would be a very bad fight for tanner should he fight silva because he can take punishment and anderson can dish it out.

by dsi_chameleon on Dec 15, 2007 12:16 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Tanner Vs Bisping

by JimmieGreens on Dec 15, 2007 12:45 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

I’m behind Tanner win, lose, or early unfair stoppage!

by Hoodlum on Dec 15, 2007 12:52 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Bisping is moving to middleweight & needs a “Big Name/Former Champ” opponent.
They probably want Tanner as a stepping stone for Bisping.
Basically a “Ken Shamrock”….

Make sense or am I completely off? I do think Tanner would whoop him if they fought.

by JimmieGreens on Dec 15, 2007 12:52 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

I can’t wait to see his head swollen up again… that’s some good party tricks he got in the bag!

by JonnyBoy on Dec 15, 2007 1:17 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

If he can get any where close to his old form, he will be tough and at the very least extremely entertaining. I am curious to see how much ring rust he actusally has and how he will fight with no liver.

by john on Dec 15, 2007 1:27 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

I’m not gonna hold my breath for Tanner vs Silva… He’s really gotta get in there and shine right off the bat for that to even be considered match worthy. Lotta ring rust, plus the fight game has evolved alot while he’s been under a rock.

you dont half to hold your breath because it wil be tanner vs anderson silva in late 08 as a three rounder after silva gets dethrowned viciously by Dan Henderson.

by dia mette on Dec 15, 2007 1:40 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

any guy whose introduction to mma came via instruction videos and fights at the level Evan Tanner does is awesome.

by suspiria on Dec 15, 2007 1:48 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Tanner Vs Bisping

im with that.let Tanner welcome bisping to mw with good ole fashion ass whipping

by jdawg on Dec 15, 2007 3:43 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

I hope Tanner doesnt lose his first match back. Middle weight needs him so bad, it would be a huge dissapointment.

by c-war on Dec 15, 2007 3:50 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Tanner and Franklin would be good. If Tanner can overcome his personal demons he could be a top ten middleweight.

by Muscle Dolphin on Dec 15, 2007 4:27 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

They should give him a couple of B-level fighters like leban and bisping. Not to make it easy for him, but to show those younger guys what its all about, plus he hasnt fought in two years so he cant really be considered an A-level fighter. Then he should fight the loser of the Hendo/Silva match, and then the winner for the title.

by Plinko on Dec 15, 2007 5:20 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

tanner vs leban or bisping,either one would be an awesome fight

by box91 on Dec 15, 2007 5:59 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Tanner and Franklin would be good. If Tanner can overcome his personal demons he could be a top ten middleweight.

Tanner wants to fight Franklin..

There was a great one on one interview with Evan Tanner on fighthype.com last week…

Tanner talks about his MMa career, and how he does not consider this a huge comeback…

MANIA you should post something on Evan’s new idea of “Team Tanner”…..he mentions it in his fighthype interview aswell.

by Cruzito on Dec 15, 2007 6:07 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

whoever Tanner fights in his 1st fight back doesn’t matter..

IMO- Tanner could handle any MW right now with ease" the only exception’s are Silva, and Hendo….and Tanners first fight back wont be one of these two…

IMO- Tanner will most likely win his first fight back and have to fight the loser of Hendo/Silva and agian IMO
Tanner will end up fighting Hendo after Andy beats him…

by Stagger-Lee on Dec 15, 2007 6:19 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

www.evantanner.net enter the site and click on journal/blog

check this out-i hope the after picture is a lot better than the before picture!

by trav-dog on Dec 15, 2007 6:27 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Im glad to see tanner back, but Id have to go with Silva cmon he handled Rich twice. But regardless im glad to see him back and fighting again and all the luck in the world to him

by Short Swole Al on Dec 15, 2007 7:49 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

They aren’t going to do that to Bisping. The UFC needs him to succeed and progress, and a fight with Tanner is not likely to advance his career. Both of them will get relatively easy opponents for their first fight at 185.

by PW on Dec 15, 2007 8:58 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

I hope Tanner doesnt lose his first match back. Middle weight needs him so bad, it would be a huge dissapointment.

I’d bet 2 year off Tanner could beat leben and bisbing at the same time. With leben’s eye’s closed swingin & bis runnin, maybe bis will get knocked out by Leben’s swingin. Tanner wins without even throwing a punch!!

by snoman on Dec 15, 2007 10:46 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Who actually thinks this washup is gonna be able to come even close to anderson silva…. silva is next level right now and the middle weight is trying to catch up to his talent…. he’s untouchable until they bring someone who can come close

by Ricky on Dec 15, 2007 11:15 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Tanner wants to fight Franklin..

There was a great one on one interview with Evan Tanner on fighthype.com last week…

Tanner talks about his MMa career, and how he does not consider this a huge comeback…

MANIA you should post something on Evan’s new idea of “Team Tanner”…..he mentions it in his fighthype interview aswell.

Well, just a little something something you did not know.

I actually had an interview set up with Evan Tanner on the 1st of this month. But Evan never returned my e-mails or phone calls.

We were going to talk about his comeback and his Team Tanner vision. Then I go to 2 websites and I see that he conducted interviews with them. Let’s just say I was not too happy.

by "Mr. NC-17" on Dec 16, 2007 10:32 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

They aren’t going to do that to Bisping. The UFC needs him to succeed and progress, and a fight with Tanner is not likely to advance his career. Both of them will get relatively easy opponents for their first fight at 185.

PW: I completely agree. The UFC has invested a lot of resources in Bisping, and he is coming off a loss, and a shaky decision win, so his next fight will be against a b-level fighter whom he should beat. I am thinking Alan Belcher would be a real good next opponent for either Bisping or Tanner. Belcher is exciting but he is very beatable.

Tanner is a wildcard. No one can predict how effective he will be in his return to the octagon. But Tanner has shown one of the bigest Hearts in the business. Heart can not be afected by ring rust, so heart alone should help him compete against anyone except Silva, and Hendo.

I can not really predict what type of opponent he will get in his 1st fight back in the cage. Will he face a young, relitevely inexperienced fighter like Kalib Starnes or a Jason McDonald? or they might give him a can making his octagon Debut. There is really no way to predict his quality of opponent but it will be really interesting to see who Joe Silva matches him up with.

by john on Dec 16, 2007 11:11 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

I would like to see Tanner vs. Marquardt or Tales leites. Tanner will put them through the fire and we will get to see what level they are truly on by seeing how they match up with Tanner who turns most of his fights into a brutal altercation.

or Maybe Tanner vs. Martin Kampman (who I hear is close to making a full recovery from his injury)

by john on Dec 16, 2007 11:15 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

I would like to see Tanner vs. Marquardt or Tales leites. Tanner will put them through the fire and we will get to see what level they are truly on by seeing how they match up with Tanner who turns most of his fights into a brutal altercation.

or Maybe Tanner vs. Martin Kampman (who I hear is close to making a full recovery from his injury)

As much as I would love to see an Evan Tanner vs. Martin Kampmann, it will not happen yet. Evan still is not in 100%fighting shape and who knows if Martin is as well.

I think they give Evan a giveme (if there is such a thing) possibly a Ross Pointon fighter or something of that caliber.

I would like to see Evan vs. Patrick Cote, but once again that wont happen for Evan’s first fight.

by "Mr. NC-17" on Dec 16, 2007 12:16 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Evan Tanner vs Pisping..give the Brit a reality Check.

by PhilQNY on Dec 17, 2007 8:40 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

The middles need some contenders. Putting two possible top guys together wouldn’t make sense; that was the issue with Franklin vs. McDonald (that fight shouldn’t have happened). When contenders fight each other, you eliminate someone’s potential title shot. Tanner will probably get someone lower than Cote: Kendall Grove or Rory Singer or something.

by JB on Dec 17, 2007 11:22 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

The middles need some contenders. Putting two possible top guys together wouldn’t make sense; that was the issue with Franklin vs. McDonald (that fight shouldn’t have happened). When contenders fight each other, you eliminate someone’s potential title shot. Tanner will probably get someone lower than Cote: Kendall Grove or Rory Singer or something.

Contenders have to fight each other at some point. You should have to earn your shot at the title. They certainly don’t need to beat every other top contender out there, but if you use the WW division as an example, Karo should have to fight Fitch to see who would get a title shot after the Serra/Hughes/GSP mess is straightened out.

I think Kendall Grove is more like a 2nd fight for either Tanner or Bisping. I think they still want to market him along with these two guys. Then again, Lesnar is getting Mir in his first UFC fight, so who knows. My guess for the Bisping and Tanner opponents are Belcher and Starnes.

by Sacto on Dec 17, 2007 12:40 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Tanner Vs Bisping

  Good fight. NEVER rule Tanner out :)

by MrAngry on Dec 17, 2007 4:27 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

i thnk the ufc should recruit yoshihiro takayama, i mean who doesnt love the “hawtness”?

by tapps on Dec 18, 2007 9:40 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

They aren’t going to do that to Bisping. The UFC needs him to succeed and progress, and a fight with Tanner is not likely to advance his career. Both of them will get relatively easy opponents for their first fight at 185.

Someone who trains with him in Vegas has said that they already know who his opponent will be but are not allowed to release the name yet. and he said “his opponent is NOT some TUFer, it is a serious, game, opponent.” My guess: OKAMI, MACDONALD, MARQUART…

by AA>RANDY>FEDOR>Chicken Little on Dec 18, 2007 4:21 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

WROCK ON TANNER, WROCK ON.

by AA>RANDY>FEDOR>Chicken Little on Dec 18, 2007 4:22 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Who actually thinks this washup is gonna be able to come even close to anderson silva…. silva is next level right now and the middle weight is trying to catch up to his talent…. he’s untouchable until they bring someone who can come close

When are people gonna learn that no one in MMA is untouchable.No one saw the downfall of Chuck, Cro Cop, or St. Pierre coming, but it happened. Im a huge Silva fan but his star will fall evantually and its most likely going to be against an underdog (just look at recent UFC history). Styles make fights and Tanner is a tough vetran who can take a beating and dish one out.

by Plinko on Dec 18, 2007 10:12 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

any guy whose introduction to mma came via instruction videos and fights at the level Evan Tanner does is awesome.

Yes, he’s pretty amazing, for being self taught.

by Gord on Dec 23, 2007 11:30 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Im glad to see tanner back, but Id have to go with Silva cmon he handled Rich twice. But regardless im glad to see him back and fighting again and all the luck in the world to him

True, but Tanner is better in the clinch then Franklin. Even though he lost to Rich, I think he matches up better with Silva. Tanner has some good knees and brutal GnP, which has won him many of fights.

by Gord on Dec 23, 2007 11:46 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

War Tanner! I’m Team Tanner all the way. Okami should be sent home with the DVD so he can see how Tanner put him to sleep. One more big name then its time for Silva. Someone must squash the spider! lol

by TexasTbag on Jan 24, 2008 1:22 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Ok so I was WRONG about Tanner beating Okami….lol He didn’t look up to his old self and Okami is a beast. I hope Evan really is training as hard as it appears on his website and kick Grove’s ass in June. We shall see. War Tanner!!!!!!

by TexasTbag on Apr 24, 2008 11:42 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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