The UFC rang in 1999 with UFC 18 – The Road to the Heavyweight Championship.  The underrated New Orleans, LA, event featured a fight of the year candidate in Bas Rutten vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka and a controversial decision in Mark Coleman vs Pedro Rizzo, both semi-finals in a mini tournament to crown a new heavyweight champ in the wake of Randy Couture’s absence due to (wait for it) a contract dispute.  A then-lightweight title fight pitted 170lb champ Pat Miletich against Jorge Patino.  Lion’s Den vet Jerry Bohlander took on MMA rookie Tito Ortiz. 

It’s the curtain-jerker on that stacked card that is our subject today, though – the UFC debuts of top wrestler Darrell Gohlar and Pancrase vet Evan Tanner.  Gholar was a two-time national Greco-Roman champ; Tanner a high school wrestler who’d learned submissions via instructional videos.  Despite being eight years the elder, Gholar was justifiably regarded as the superior athlete and the favorite going in to this bout, despite Tanner’s 16-1 MMA record.   

Gholar opens the contest with some decent boxing; Tanner attempted to counter with leg kicks.  As one would expect against a wrestler of Gholar’s caliber, this quickly led to a caught kick and a leg sweep into Tanner’s guard.  Tanner went to the triangle, which Gholar tried to defend with a slam.  Tanner took the opportunity to try an arm bar.  The two spent several minutes with Gholar repeatedly passing to side and Tanner putting him back in the guard just as often.  Gholar stayed busy with punches, but wasn’t able to do much damage from either position.  At the six minute mark, Tanner rolls to his knees, escapes a front headlock, and gets back to his feet.  A few ugly leg kicks let Tanner get into the clinch against the tiring Gholar.  From there Tanner unleashed the knees and elbows which would become his trademark, while Gholar fades rapidly before our eyes.  Finally, just before eight minutes, Tanner takes his back and locks on a standing choke hold, then drags Gholar to the mat for the finish.   

Gholar would never be seen in the Octagon again, eventually becoming the wrestling trainer for Brazilian Top Team.  For Tanner, it was the first of eleven wins in the UFC.  He would go on to challenge Tito Ortiz for the then-middleweight (200lbs) title and eventually win the modern middleweight (185lb) belt with a dominating win over talented but inconsistent David Terrell. 

-Lee Casebolt

Phil Baroni vs. Evan Tanner I (UFC 45)

Part of what made Evan Tanner a great fighter was that he always gave his all in every fight, even when it seemed like he was outmatched, outweighed or being out-struck. Tanner had a never say die attitude to go along with his brutal flurry of elbows he was known for. Even when you think of Tanner’s later fights, where you could tell he really wasn’t over his demons yet, Tanner still went out there to fight. The Tanner that I like to remember is the Evan Tanner that fought Phil Baroni at UFC 45 in 2003.

I was destined to love this fight, as Phil Baroni, for all of his flaws, was at one time an incredibly exciting brawler and has always been a larger than life character. Phil Baroni is one of those guys that you love to hate. On the other side of the ring was the man that you love to cheer for, Evan Tanner. Tanner, coming off of his fourth career loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 43 had something to prove in this fight against Phil Baroni. It was no surprise right after the opening bell that both men engaged right away, or that Tanner went for a leg kick to set up a takedown, just like it was no surprise that Baroni was there to greet him with one of his patented bomb-of-a-right-hands he throws.

“Oh! Oh! He’s rocked,” Joe Rogan chides as Tanner takes the defensive stance of ducking and covering as the NY Bad Ass rains down blows on him. Tanner quickly fights for a takedown to protect himself, pushing
Baroni up against the cage, only to open himself up to some short punches from Baroni. A half-hearted knee by Tanner only angers Baroni into throwing a few body blows of his own, distracting Tanner just
enough to open up for a patented overhand right from Baroni. Your average fighter would have crumbled, while Tanner grabs Baroni’s legs and gets him back onto his feet up against the cage.

Baroni is able to push Tanner away and then effectively swat at Tanner’s head like it was a pinata of the neighbor kid’s at his birthday party and Phil was there to break it up because the kids were making too much damned noise. The ref stops the fight to check Tanner’s cut. Tanner paces as blood streaks down his face, Joe Rogan proclaiming that Tanner’s eyes are glazed over. Tanner continues, not
phased by the cut or Baroni’s barrage of right hands, walking right back to the center of the ring staring down Baroni. Baroni catches him with another few rights that stun Tanner, but Tanner doesn’t stop his
advance, as he secures the clinch and starts throwing knees like they are pistons. Baroni able to push Tanner back with some more right hands and keep him distanced with that hand.

Tanner pushes Baroni back up against the cage, where it is a struggle between them, leading to more distance and more right hands by Baroni. At this point, Baroni is exhausted, his fists are flying but without
the reckless abandon they had a mere few moments ago, and against the cage he simply looks worn down. When Tanner places Baroni on the ground, you can tell that the tide of the fight has turned. With his first elbow, it seems like a different fight entirely, Tanner is exactly where he wants this to be. From the half guard Tanner rains down some decisive right hands, the damage not being as important as the message he is sending to Baroni. Tanner passes Baroni’s guard with ease, and then the elbows start. The elbows start and no matter what Baroni tries to deflect with his hands, he can’t stop them as the come left and right down onto his face.

Baroni, of course, protested the stoppage, claiming he was fine, which led to their meeting at UFC 48, but for now, Tanner was victorious. This fight still holds up as a testament to Phil Baroni’s ridiculous character, Tanner’s toughness, his heart and his will to apply and stick to a game plan, even if it means getting hit in the face a lot by an angry dude from New York. It is rather depressing that we won’t see Baroni/Tanner 3 or ever see Tanner get himself into shape to challenge Rich Franklin again and hopefully beat him, but at least we are left with Tanner’s 40 professional fights. What I do know is that we are all going to miss Evan Tanner and his eccentric fighting methods and lifestyle that he would unravel in his blogs.

-Dave Walsh

Evan Tanner vs. Phil Baroni II (UFC 48)

Baroni/Tanner II!  Mike Goldberg introduces this bout by saying that “their first match was one of the most controversial fights in UFC history.”  He also said that “the hand speed of Phil Baroni is  ridiculously excessive,” so who knows?  I kid Mike Goldberg.  And Phil Baroni.  That first fight was a gong show, and so here we are.  I haven’t seen this fight in years, so I don’t remember if this happens, but I’m really hoping for those Tanner knees from the clinch that look like he’s doing the running man.  I mean, knees from the clinch often look a little like the running man, but Tanner elevated it to an art.

Tanner and “a slimmed-down” Phil Baroni circle to start the first round.  Baroni is naturally looking to stand and trade, but Tanner clinches and trips Baroni, shuffling him up towards the fence.  Baroni slides up against the cage, grabs the fence to momentarily prevent the takedown, but ends up on his back, eating elbows.  For awhile anyway.  Baroni manages to use the cage to find his feet, and he fights off a high crotch.

Running man knees!  There they are!  Yes!

Round one is easily Tanner’s, despite Baroni’s super cheap punch after the horn.  Stray thought: did the UFC used to sweeten the crowd noise on their old DVD releases?  Because the crowd is outrageously amped
up, according to the audio here, but every crowd shot shows a pretty sedate room.  Hmmm.

Round two is underway and oh man, AGAIN with the running man knees! Those are too much.  “Evan throws them like he’s riding a bicycle, just bang bang.” Joe Rogan observes.  Or perhaps like he is doing… the running man?  Baroni really has very little to offer in the second round, a round spent almost entirely standing.  Rogan suggests that Baroni might be playing possum, but that is perhaps giving the man too much credit — it looks like he’s just being outclassed here by the better fighter (no shame in that).  Baroni’s out of gas with a minute to go in the second, and is taken down at will, despite Marc Laimon yelling for Baroni to secure underhooks to stop the takedown. Baroni holds on to Tanner’s left arm in something vaguely resembling a kimura grip, but mostly he’s taking gross-sounding shots to the body. It’s just a mess for Baroni, this fight.

Baroni came into this fight resolving to win every second of every round, but it’s just not happening.  Tanner does that thing he does, throwing the right and then just sort of turns away.  Baroni smiles at
Tanner, to show him he’s not in trouble, one supposes.  “Smiles don’t win rounds,” Rogan says.  No they don’t, Joe, but they do win hearts. Goldberg and Rogan speculate that Baroni is about to explode any
minute here, and I’m inclined to call that wishful thinking, but sure enough, with about three and a half minutes to go, Tanner does that right-hand, turn-out thing, and he gets caught.  Baroni lands the best
punches in the fight for the next minute, and has Tanner on the run. But Tanner regains his composure, forces Baroni up against the cage, and works for the takedown.  Baroni had a great minute there, but it was only a minute. With ninety seconds left in the match, the two are separated and restarted in the middle of the ring.

And Evan Tanner again throws the right and then turns completely around.  That is a seriously strange thing.  But he’s been doing it all fight, and only got hit once, so who am I to judge?  No one at all.  Baroni is as tired as can be with a minute to go, and Tanner takes him down and finishes the match inside Baroni’s guard. Goldberg suggests Baroni was not himself this evening, which I would dispute.  The bout is scored a unanimous decision for Evan Tanner, which I would not dispute.

-Kendall Shields

Evan Tanner vs. David Terrell, Vacant UFC Middleweight Title (UFC 51)

This is for the vacant UFC Middleweight Title, which had laid dormant since Murilo Bustamante decided to leave the promotion.  Why the UFC went for so long without a middleweight champion is beyond me.  The initial plan was to match Tanner vs Matt Lindland, but that all changed when the chronically injured David Terrell blasted Lindland in twenty-six seconds at UFC 49.  Tanner had walked through Robbie Lawler and Phil Baroni to earn his shot.  Terrell sounds massively confident in the build-up.

Great staredown as Evan has a confident little smile on his face while rubbing his hands.  Terrell just looks focused and mean.  Terrell smacks Tanner’s arm with a left high kick within five seconds, which only causes Evan’s smile to widen as he bounces around.  A low kick by Terrell finds the mark as both guys look to feel each other out.  The Vegas crowd begins to boo at the relative lack of inactivity right before Terrell misses with a superman punch.  Said miss backs Tanner up against the cage, allowing Terrell to dive in and fight for a double-leg takedown which he gets after a little struggle.

Tanner loses his mouthpiece while fighting his way to his feet as Terrell can’t really improve his position despite dragging Tanner to the mat.  Terrell shoves Tanner away while just missing with another high kick which Evan ducks under.  Another high kick hits Tanner square and backs him up against the cage as Terrell begins to smell blood.  An awkward thai clinch by Terrell sees him land a grazing knee before he misses with a wild right hand.

Tanner’s backpedaling as Terrell lands a left before shooting in for a takedown.  The attempt looks like it’ll be stuffed at first, but Terrell eventually grabs a single leg and drives Evan away from the cage before finally getting him back down.  Things on the mat go about as well as they did earlier for Terrell as Tanner hops back up after a few seconds.

Tanner’s first piece of offense in the entire fight is a knee to the midsection in the clinch after working back to his feet.  Terrell grabs a guillotine and tries to pull guard with his back to the fence to sink it in.  Tanner shakes, shimmies, and wiggles for dear life as Terrell works to squeeze for all he’s worth.  But once it hits the ground, Tanner snaps his head out and starts battering Terrell with right hands from half-guard!  Elbows!  Knees to the side!  Terrell tries to hold on for dear life, but  Tanner is relentless in holding him against the cage and pounding him.  Herb Dean gives Terrell every chance to fight back and defend himself, but with about thirty seconds left saves the Soul Assassin from a severe battering.  Evan Tanner is the UFC Middleweight Champion!

An excellent performance in what would go down as the high point of Tanner’s fighting career.  Sadly, the much talked about fight with Matt Lindland never materialized for various reasons, leaving Tanner to fight a relatively unknown Rich Franklin…

-Chris Henderson