hope Tanner doesn’t go in to the fight drunk…WAR EVAN!!!

He’s a deep dude… Good luck Tanner nice to see you back, and i think Yushin has brought him some extra support with his comments a few days back…

Feb 8th, 2008 at 14:55… woo hoo 2 hours til the weekend

Can not wait for this fight!!!!! Evan is in shape, focused and ready for battle!!!!

I hope Tanner comes back at his peak. This could be an awesome ground and pound battle. I want Tanner to win but I also want to see Silva vs Okami 2 someday. The first one looks like it was getting ready to be a hell of a fight.

Can’t wait to see Evan get his shit together and get back in there. I’ve always been a fan of his and think he has always been highly underrated. He will have his hands full with Yushin, but it will no doubt be a great fight. Good luck Evan, I look forward to seeing your hand raised once again!

Ah crap…he’s drunk again.

YOU KNOW WHAT IT REALLY WAS??? He was probably got wasted and lost track of his days and was going to the areana to watch the Lesnar event which had already happened. Guarantee u he sat down in his seat and was like “damn i early! Ah well time for a beer”. At that time he looked around and realized he had missed the event. lol

DUDE!!!!! HES FINALLY BACK!!!!! WWWUUUUUUDDDDDUUUUUPPPPP NOW? WAR EVAN…… WAR!!!!!

Tanner was never the greatest fighter…but he is undoubtably one of the greatesr WARRIORS to ever fight in the octagon. This guy is nasty, skilled, and he brings it everytime. Tanner has been involved in so many Classic WARS in the UFC. There was never a dull moment when he fought. He fought with so much Heart, how could u not love the guy. If Okami can manage to have a boring fight against Evann Tanner, then it will be clear that there is no hope for Yushin to ever be an entertaining fighter. Tanner doesnt have boring fights and was always labeled as the fighter that will put his opponents “through the fire”, and hopefully he will do it to Okami as well.

I am a huge fan of Tanner and hopefully he can get back to his winning ways and eventually fight either Hendo or Silva. out of all the other middleweights Tanner would provide us fans with the most entertaining fight if he were to Bang it out againt the middleweight champion (hendo/Silva).

The UFC lacks exciting opponents to challenge for the middleweight title. I wouldnt expect Tanner to defeat Silva or Henderson…but theres no doubt in my mind, that if he is in shape, it will be an extremely entertaining fight for us FANS!

Evan Tanner is Evan Tanner, but I still don’t think that he should be fighting Okami in his first fight back. He hasn’t exactly been staying at the top of his game since he last UFC fight. Most of Okami’s UFC fights went the distance which means that Tanner’s cardio could be a big factor in the third round. Sure he has been training as of late, but it wasn’t too long ago he looked like Yukon Cornelius and was drinking two cases of beer a day living on a boat.

Evan Tanner is Evan Tanner, but I still don’t think that he should be fighting Okami in his first fight back. He hasn’t exactly been staying at the top of his game since he last UFC fight. Most of Okami’s UFC fights went the distance which means that Tanner’s cardio could be a big factor in the third round. Sure he has been training as of late, but it wasn’t too long ago he looked like Yukon Cornelius and was drinking two cases of beer a day living on a boat.

I thought from day 1 that this fight was a bad idea for Tanner. As much as I love Tanner as a fighter, Okami is a tough dude to have your comeback fight against. I would have rather him fought J-mac or someone like that to build him up. Okami is boring but extremely tough to defeat. I will be rooting for Tanner, but to be perfectly honest, Okami scares me…. I hope i am wrong and Tanner destroys him….but I remain skeptical.

I thought from day 1 that this fight was a bad idea for Tanner. As much as I love Tanner as a fighter, Okami is a tough dude to have your comeback fight against. I would have rather him fought J-mac or someone like that to build him up. Okami is boring but extremely tough to defeat. I will be rooting for Tanner, but to be perfectly honest, Okami scares me…. I hope i am wrong and Tanner destroys him….but I remain skeptical.

I think this is a perfect matchup. No more bringing along anyone slowly…I’m glad we finally get to see someone thrown to the wolves and give him that sink or swim mentality. This fight will show whether Tanner was serious or not in his comeback attempt and it will really shake things up in the middleweight division win or lose. If Tanner wins then we might see a Franklin/Tanner 3rd rematch if Franklin wins. If Okami wins then we might see Okami/Silva rematch…if Silva wins. This is just good matchmaking by Joe Silva. I wish we’d see more fighters thrown to the wolves to see what they are really made out of…*cough*cough* Bisping.

I wonder what Tanner’s conditioning is going to be like. He sure looked like he hasn’t hit the gym in a while from a post last November. As Violent Mike said, many of Okami’s matches go the distance so we’ll see if Tanner can handle the 15 minutes. I also agree that he should have fought someone that wasn’t top 10 just yet.

I thought from day 1 that this fight was a bad idea for Tanner. As much as I love Tanner as a fighter, Okami is a tough dude to have your comeback fight against. I would have rather him fought J-mac or someone like that to build him up. Okami is boring but extremely tough to defeat. I will be rooting for Tanner, but to be perfectly honest, Okami scares me…. I hope i am wrong and Tanner destroys him….but I remain skeptical.

I wonder if they would have Tanner be the underdog. I’m guessing so. If for some reason Okami is the underdog I’d bet some cash on him.

with all the fighters writing books nowadays, I think Tanner should write one sometime…he’s poetic and has a hell of a story to tell

Im interested to see which fighter will be next for Tanner if he wins..Any thoughts?

have we ever seen Tanner gas??? i dont think so, and he is very agressive unless he has a specific gameplan like he did with the 2nd baroni fight he would step in the pocket throw a 1,2 or 1 and move away quickly but he was still the agressor. He should be fine and more motivated than ever theres plenty of ppl than he could face after he beats Slowkami, I think he would tear J-mac a new ass hole and we know what happened against Franklin but, hell Marquardt is there, Almeida is back, Hendo, Spider, Cote would be agood one, Leites, a rematch with Terrel if he ever is healthy, etc… many interesting match ups. aaa the future is beatiful

Man is that deep, hope you still got it tanner.

I wonder if they would have Tanner be the underdog. I’m guessing so. If for some reason Okami is the underdog I’d bet some cash on him.

I will probably throw a few bucks on which ever fighter is the underdog in this match up… when its this close…u gotta bet the DOG!

Tanner hasnt looked good in a while. I still remember the Crow busting him up. Okami all the way in this one.

Tanner is sounding epic. I like it. I hope he KO’s Okami.

I SOOOOO want Tanner to ass-whip Okami :)

I think this is a perfect matchup. No more bringing along anyone slowly…I’m glad we finally get to see someone thrown to the wolves and give him that sink or swim mentality. This fight will show whether Tanner was serious or not in his comeback attempt and it will really shake things up in the middleweight division win or lose. If Tanner wins then we might see a Franklin/Tanner 3rd rematch if Franklin wins. If Okami wins then we might see Okami/Silva rematch…if Silva wins. This is just good matchmaking by Joe Silva. I wish we’d see more fighters thrown to the wolves to see what they are really made out of…*cough*cough* Bisping.

Normally, I am all for throwing fighters to the wolves…but in this case I am not so sure. The middleweight division is in a fragile state. It has 2 great fighters who will face off next month for the title, and everyone else is light years behind them. Tanner could emerge as a very exciting contender to the title but he has to win in order to do that. Maybe they should have brought him along a little slower. I wouldnt suggest giving him a “tuppaware” McCarthy, like Bisping is getting, but theres would have been nothing wrong with a match up between Tanner/J-mac. Mcdonald is a top 10 fighter in that weak division but stylistically it would have made for an easier fight. I am not saying that J-mac isnt a good fighter but he doesnt have that grinding style that Okami does. Tanner would have easily defended all J-mac’s submission attempt and he would have beaten J-mac on toughness alone. I would have also liked to see him give Bisping a beating, but after loosing to Rashad, there English GoldenBoy has to be built back up. If they would have signed Paul “SemTex” Daley and brought him along as slowly as they did Bisping, he could have been successful and would have become a much better posterboy for UFC UK then Bisping will ever be.

It will be a big loss for the middleweight division if Tanners comeback is not a success. Lets hope he goes BUCK on Okami and wins it.

Im interested to see which fighter will be next for Tanner if he wins..Any thoughts?

Marquardt, Leites, J-mac….I wish it would be Bisping but we all know he is being babbysitted by Dana white and Joe Silva so that wont happen

I hope tanner destroys okami, but lets be realistic..this is tanner’s firt fight since his drinking binge/retirement. Okami has proven to be a very technical, albeit boring fighter and should hold his own against tanner. neither fighter is going to gas so at least skill will determine the outcome. I hope tanner gets the win so he can fight silva (that is, after silva tko’s henderson).

Tanner is a bleeder. that dude bleeds from getting the vaseline put on his face. He is one tough SOB though so it should be good. We won’t have to worry about Okami not keeping up the pace. Tanner will keep it pushing.

I think this is a perfect matchup. No more bringing along anyone slowly…I’m glad we finally get to see someone thrown to the wolves and give him that sink or swim mentality

LOL – Sink or Swim. How appropriate!

And John, I agree with everything you’ve said since my post.

My favorite Tanner fight was his epic battle against Tito.

Okami did better against Franklin in their fight than Tanner did in two fights with Franklin so do the math and find your winner.

YOU KNOW WHAT IT REALLY WAS??? He was probably got wasted and lost track of his days and was going to the areana to watch the Lesnar event which had already happened. Guarantee u he sat down in his seat and was like “damn i early! Ah well time for a beer”. At that time he looked around and realized he had missed the event. lol

This is funny, I once started drinking heavy on a friday night and when I sobered up and went to play a game of rugby I wondered why no-one was at the park, it was sunday and I missed the game by a day ha ha

Evan tanner win by g n p rnd 2 ref stoppage

Tanner hasnt looked good in a while. I still remember the Crow busting him up. Okami all the way in this one.

you’re joking right? Tanner was owning that fight until he got cut, then he dominated his next opponent! since then he has been out of action, so when exactly did you see him fight and not look good? Tanner is going to push the pace and dominate this fight just like the Tanner of old!

Dude Tanner is the man, he will DEF spice up the MW division better than we have seen in a while.

greatness! i cant wait for his fight

Wow, he sounds like he’s writing a song.

As unlikely as it is, I would love to see him with the belt one day.
He just hope he wins and Franklyn wins his fight so these two can fight eachother again.

you’re joking right? Tanner was owning that fight until he got cut, then he dominated his next opponent! since then he has been out of action, so when exactly did you see him fight and not look good? Tanner is going to push the pace and dominate this fight just like the Tanner of old!

You yourself just said it. The Tanner of old and thats what he is. Against the Crow he may have had the better position for most of the fight but he still lost. By the way the guy with his face busted open was Tanner.

Tanner hasnt looked good in a while. I still remember the Crow busting him up. …

if the crow had have kicked tanners ass that would be true, but he didn’t, he just got caught by an elbow . he was on a 5 fight win streak against the top of the UFC middleweight division, lost to franklin in a good fight, controlled the fight but then got caught by an elbow against Loiseau, and dominated his last fight. so tell me, how can you say that tanner hasn’t looked good in a while?

I’m excited for this fight and for Tanner. It looks as though I’m not the only one. The funny thing about the people talking $hit about his binge drinking are probably the same people who like to get wasted face themselves (I do). Since October he has been training like a mad man, which is a solid 3 months longer than his normal routine. Besides all the nonsense talk this should be one hell of a match up. In the end I hope Tanner has is arm raised high in victory. Step up get swept up! WAR TANNER!!!!!!!!