Over the course of his submission-fighting career, Terrell has beaten many big names including Dean Lister, Ricardo Almeida, Scott Adams, Vernon White and Akira Shoji.
The man referred to as “America’s No. 1 grappler” has out-grappled Saulo Ribeiro, David Avellan and Fernando “Margarida” Pontes. Terrell battled Lion’s Den fighter Vernon White in the IFC and lost a decision in his pro MMA debut, but he has been on a terror since that defeat.
“The Soul Assassin,” as he’s known, submitted Joey Villasenor and forced Marcos de Silva to quit in the IFC. David moved onto Pancrase, defeating veterans Yuki Sasaki by knockout and Osami Shibuya by submission.
Terrell made his Octagon debut in the middleweight division (he walks around at 205 pounds) against top contender Matt Lindland at UFC 49, winning by a stunning knockout in less than 30 seconds to earn a shot at the vacant middleweight title.
TANNER: American freestyle fighter Evan Tanner is 30-4 in MMA competition. Until recently, Tanner trained with current UFC light heavyweight champion Randy Couture, middleweight contender Matt Lindland, PRIDE middleweight contender Dan Henderson and the rest of Team Quest.
A conflict over management and money led to Tanner leaving the team and once again becoming a “Ronin” warrior in a sport dominated by strong camps. Of late he has been training with Dennis Hallman of ATT and UFC veteran Benji Radach.
Tanner started training martial arts from books and tapes and is one of the few fighters in the sport to be successful despite being originally self-taught.
He won the Texas State Championships in wrestling as a junior and senior and fought well in smaller shows like the PSDA and USWF (which he eventually bought) before turning to the Japan’s Pancrase circuit.
Evan defeated UFC veteran Ikuhisa Minowa, American Justin McCully and Pancrase star Kousei Kubota to win the ’98 Neo Blood tournament title in his debut tournament in 1998. He debuted in the UFC in 1999 (the same year he contemplated leaving the sport to follow Buddha) and beat Darrell Gholar at UFC 18 and then defeated Lance Gibson at UFC 29.
His first Octagon loss was to Tito Ortiz for the light heavyweight title at UFC 30. Ortiz applied a body-lock and slammed Tanner to the mat, but he caught the top of Tito’s head and was knocked out.
Evan went on to defeat Homer Moore, Elvis Sinosic and Chris Haseman before meeting Rich Franklin at UFC 42. Rich landed a series of right hands that dropped Tanner to his knees and the referee stepped in before things got worse. Evan has defeated Phil Baroni twice, albeit the first time by controversial stoppage, and submitted Robbie Lawler at UFC 50 leading up to this title shot.
MY PICK: I’d like to see Tanner claim a UFC title after all this time but I think he made a mistake leaving the tutelage of Randy, Matt and Dan right before one of the biggest fights in his life. I imagine things were getting uncomfortable around there but if he were to win the title, a lot of things may have fallen into place.
Terrell is one of the most hyped fighters to walk into the Octagon in years. His pedigree is undeniable, yet he still has a lot to prove in the UFC, as he has not faced anywhere near the caliber of athletes Tanner has in MMA.
On the ground, Tanner could be in serious trouble but his experience could be the difference maker. If Tanner doesn’t take Terrell out with elbows in the clinch, I don’t see it happening. Terrell by submission in the second round.