Once I Was a Champion

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In an outward sense,

I have nothing to show.

I have nothing to show, but what I've

been doing is building a foundation.

Now I can build,

you know, my life.

I can build a great work... you know,

a great work of art with my life.

You know, something with meaning,

something that stands for something.

I see this higher purpose

for my life.

I just...

I had a sense of things.

I had a sense of the flow of my life,

the kinds of things that would happen.

Not exactly what would...

what would happen.

I don't know,

I always saw fighting

as a... just a stepping stone to something

to build me into the kind of man

that's gonna be able

to accomplish...

accomplish this... what I'm supposed

to accomplish later in life.

The greatest... the greatest thing

is coming up later.

It's not yet.

Hello,

everyone around the world.

Once again this is Eddie Goldman

on what is a very sad edition

of no holds barred because

we're doing a tribute

to the late Evan Tanner.

And in breaking MMA news former

UFC champion Mr. Evan Tanner

was found dead

in the deserts of California.

The 37-year-old former UFC fighter

died in the desert east of San Diego.

Police say,

after days of searching...

preliminary reports are heat

exhaustion, according to the autopsy.

He was a puzzle to many,

even those closest to him.

And there is still a puzzle about

the way that Evan Tanner passed.

The motherfucking idiot go

out there without a parachute,

writing a f***ing article

for you,

and people that have sat in a sauna

and have spent time in a sauna

cutting weight

know what it feels like.

It's the worst f***ing feeling

in the world

when your body goes into dehydration

and your muscles cramp.

They pour so much emotion

into Evan Tanner's death.

It was like, you didn't know

that f***ing guy.

You know?

He wrote for you.

He wrote for you.

All these motherfucking fans of his,

all these motherfucking bloggers...

F***. Um... God, that's the

f***ing worst way to die, man.

He died...

Yeah.

That's how.

What are you gauging

when you talk to people?

I mean, was it... I hate to use the word,

but, I mean, might as well talk about it.

It's like the elephant

in the room.

Was it a suicide mission?

Was he going out there to die?

It bums me out that... you know,

that I don't know what happened or...

'cause that ain't like Evan.

I don't belong to this world

or anyone.

I mean, just... for he to just...

just to live my journey.

I don't belong here.

I can feel

like just my body gonna stay,

but my soul wants

to get out of here.

Who knows what really happens?

You know, if he just, like,

got tired of his life,

you know, jump on the motorcycle, no

gas, no battery, no money, no water.

Like, the guy's...

the guy's not a dumb guy.

You know,

he's a pretty smart guy.

And it just...

it wasn't a smart guy way to go.

As far as intentionally going

out to the desert underprepared,

I think it was

just another challenge for him.

Preparing was not his best, I

guess, because he just liked to go.

I knew him so well,

but... but I, you know,

lost touch with him for so long

that it was like... it just... it

seemed... seemed crazy. It was wicked.

He used to go out

into the wilderness

all the time by himself

and, you know,

go out there

and get his head together.

He liked to be out there.

And so I don't think

anybody really thought

it was that big of a deal

at first.

And then after time started to go, and

then they found out that he had passed.

Was he going out there

to test his body?

Was he going out there

to, like, he had said,

you know, man versus the wild, and,

you know, see who was gonna win?

And, you know, I don't know if he had

intentions of coming back or not.

I mean,

that's the big speculation.

No one will ever know but him.

He had been writing a blog for several

months since his return to fighting

after a layoff,

and a lot of what he wrote

turned out

to be eerily prophetic,

as we take a look now at some of the

samples from Evan Tanner's blog.

Way out

on the windswept desert

where nature favors no man

a buffalo found his brother

at rest

on the sun-baked sand

now the buffalo said

to his brother

what sickness

got you this way?

but his brother never said

'cause his brother

had been dead

been dead

since way last may

way out

in the windswept desert

I heard a big Indian moan

I left my tent

for I knew what it meant

and I swear

I'd never more roam

it was early in the morning

and my eyes started turning

and my legs

were tired and sore

I lost 50 pound

on the hot desert ground

and I'd lose that many more

We were all singing this

in unison

right as my brother was packing

his bags to go into the desert.

There was a time

when... when Evan was missing.

He didn't like... we didn't think

he was kidnapped or ran away.

He just went, like,

on an adventure, went exploring.

And we just thought

that he was gone in...

you know, in the backyard playing in

the tree house or something like that.

And then I guess a

neighbor had called us,

saying, "we found Evan

by himself in the next county. "

He's in another zip code and just,

like, this ten-year-old off exploring.

Evan Tanner, of course, was known

as the UFC champ that he was.

He was a man that just took

to this sport,

starting back in his sophomore

days down in high school in Texas.

He got into wrestling and within a

year was already a state champion.

A lot of people called

him the king of Caprock

'cause Caprock

was his high school.

And a lot of people called him

the king of Caprock

because he was such a nice,

smart, and tough individual

when he left the place.

He was well-respected

and well-known.

I had a computer science class

the beginning

of the semester, and I go,

and everybody sits down,

and, you know, this big guy...

I was the kid

that always liked to sit

in the back of the class.

I was the littlest kid.

I had braces.

I had glasses.

You know.

So I sat

in the back of the class,

and this big guy sits

in front of me with a buzz cut

and a denim jacket, and I kept

hearing the teacher say,

"Evan, Evan,"

and I kept looking up, going,

"is she talking

about Evan Tanner?"

And, all of a sudden,

in the middle of nowhere,

he turns around and says,

"hi, I'm Evan.

Who are you?"

And just starts talking

to me out of the blue,

and the first couple of days,

I was scared to death.

I was, like, just waiting

for the shoe to drop.

Just like, "okay, this guy's

gonna start giving me grief. "

And it never happened.

I mean, from that point on...

then I ended up joining up

with wrestling that year,

and he insisted

I walk to practice with him.

Our high school wrestling coach

was a guy named Jerome Stewart.

Coach Stewart

was this bowtie-wearing,

Clark Kent-glasses guy,

but, you know, he'd get you

out on the mat,

and he could just tear you up.

I mean,

the guy was a great wrestler.

And, you know, it became a drive

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