More than 13 years after his untimely death, the eccentric Amarillo, Texas, native remains a respected figure in hardcore circles as a former Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder and the first American to win a Pancrase Neo-Blood tournament. Tanner finished his career with a 32-8 record that included 29 finishes, 28 of them inside one round. He made his final appearance at “The Ultimate Fighter 7” Finale, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Kendall Grove on June 21, 2008.
As Tanner’s memory becomes more and more blurred by the passage of time, a look at some of the numbers that accompanied him throughout his life and career:
37: Years of age when Tanner died from heat exposure in Palo Verde, California, on Sept. 5, 2008.
17: Tanner wins by submission, accounting for 53% of his career total (32). His methods of choice: five triangle chokes, four arm-triangle chokes, three rear-naked chokes, two keylocks, one Ezekiel choke, one kimura and one armbar.
119: Days spent by Tanner as undisputed UFC middleweight champion. He captured the 185-pound title with a first-round technical knockout of David Terrell at UFC 50 on Feb. 5, 2005, then surrendered it in a fourth-round stoppage loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 53 on June 4, 2005.
15: Rounds completed by Tanner as a professional mixed martial artist. He went the distance on four different occasions and carried a 3-1 record in those bouts.
4: UFC appearances in which Tanner executed multiple takedowns. He landed a personal-best five of them in a unanimous decision over Phil Baroni in their UFC 48 rematch in June 2004.
56: Seconds needed for Tanner to punch Joe Frailey into submission at a PSDA show on Nov. 22, 1997. It was the fastest finish of his 40-fight career.
6: Organizations in which Tanner plied his MMA trade. He went 11-6 in the UFC, 11-0 in the United Shoot Wrestling Federation, 5-1 in Pancrase, 2-1 in PSDA, 2-0 in Gladiators and 1-0 in the Full Contact Fighting Federation.
1: Submission defeat on the Tanner resume. Heath Herring was the perpetrator, and he did the deed with a rear-naked choke.
11: Different calendar years in which Tanner competed as a mixed martial artist. He went 6-1 in 1997, 10-0 in 1998, 4-1 in 1999, 3-0 in 2000, 1-1 in 2001, 2-0 in 2002, 2-1 in 2003, 2-0 in 2004, 1-2 in 2005, 1-0 in 2006 and 0-2 in 2008.
.647: Cumulative winning percentage between the seven men—Franklin (twice), Grove, Herring, Yushin Okami, David Loiseau, Tito Ortiz and Leon van Dijk—who defeated Tanner. They sport a combined record of 167-89-2.
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