EVAN TANNER IS A TRUE WINNER

Posted on | March 5, 2008 | 1 Comment

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Evan Tanner Wins!!

by Jack Bratcher (bruceleesreincarnation) on Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:49 pm
Evan Tanner won this past weekend.

“That’s odd bruceleesreincarnation…..why would you say that? Everyone knows he lost his fight against Yushin Okami.” And that is true. He did lose his mixed martial-arts fight against one of the best fighters in the world at UFC 82 but Evan still won an even bigger battle this past weekend.

I and alot of other people were anxiously waiting for Evan to update his very personal blog after the fight with Okami. He had been very good about blogging a journal of his road back into the Octagon. He has been chronicling his journey coming back, really from a place so deep and dark most people will never ever know. He also has alot of pictures he’s taken of this journey along the way, even up to the weigh-ins for UFC 82. He has been battling the demons of alcoholism and addiction and put in a ton of work to get in shape for the Okami fight, so alot of people became very worried when there was no update on Evan’s blog the following Sunday after his loss at UFC 82. Then again on Monday no blog entry. I and others were worried that this loss could have sent him back into a depression where he would pick up that bottle again. It would have been so easy, so tempting, and with suffering a defeat in the cage like that after put in so much work, many may not even blame him if he did pick up that drink to drown the sorrow. But evidently and thankfully that did not happen. Evan said the loss was humiliating and embarrassing and he could have turned to that drink so easily. Alcoholics and addicts often turn to their drink or drugs of choice during times of extreme loss or perceived failure. But also anyone who knows about addiction will tell you that a day or two or even a few weeks of abstinance from their drug or drink does not mean they’ve won the war. But Evan definitely won a huge battle in that war this past weekend. Let’s wish him the best and continued success in the WAR that is life.

I really encourage you to check out Evan Tanner’s website. Read his blog entries and look at this very personal story of one man’s journey inside and outside the Octagon. It’s so personal and so honest and it really has given me a much deeper understanding of who Evan Tanner is and I actually see alot of myself in his story as I’m sure many of you will too. It’s fascinating, sad, encouraging, and inspirational all at once. For people who don’t care or are too lazy to read the whole blog for March 4th, which is his first blog post written after his UFC 82 defeat, here’s a summary of that entry in Evan’s own words:

” QUICK SUMMARY – Five months ago I was struggling with a severe drinking problem. I quit cold turkey, suffered through the detox, moved to Vegas to get back into training and get my life back together. I stayed away from the drinking, worked my ass off, and everything was coming together. I knew though that as well as it seemed things were going, it would be easy to fall back into the drinking. I knew that taking such a huge fight at UFC 82, after such a long lay off was a huge risk, and if I lost, it would be a disappointment that might easily cause me to take up drinking again. I lost the fight, and I really feel bad about that, but I didn’t break down and start drinking again. I haven’t been away from it long, and it would have been easy to fall back into it. That was the big test, and I passed it. I’m solid. I’m back into full time training this week. The fight was a setback, but I’m not done. There’s still a belt to win.”

Here’s the link to Evan Tanner’s website where you can read the whole story and learn all about Evan. I think his sponsorship by the fans is the coolest thing ever. He has a very unique outlook and point of view on sponsorships and it says alot about they type of guy Tanner is. You can actually get some very cool perks if you become a sponsor of Evan Tanner. It’s on a per-fight basis also. Depending on the dollar amount that you sponsor you get better and better perks. I think if you sponsor Evan for 4,000 dollars for a fight, you get to personally workout with Evan as he’s training, you get tickets to the actual UFC event that he will be fighting in, and alot of other cool stuff. It’s a cool opportunity to help out a great fighter and be involved in the sport. Here’s the website with the direct link to the whole March 4th(post UFC 82) blog entry: EVAN TANNER JOURNAL

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