37-year old Evan Tanner, who is now a recovering alcoholic, is on his way back to the octagon after what will be a roughly two-year layoff. Tanner last fought at UFC 59: Reality Check, scoring a submission victory over Justin Levens. The former middleweight champion had a tremendous run in the UFC which included ten victories over the likes of Phil Baroni, Dave Terrell, Robbie Lawler, and everyone's favourite punching bag Elvis Sinosic. After a memorable win over The Soul Assassin (Terrell), Tanner had two consecutive losses: one to Rich Franklin, the second loss to Ace during his UFC tenure, and one to David "The Crow" Loiseau. During this period alcohol supposedly became a major part of Tanner's private life and eventually led to his unofficial retirement from the sport of mixed martial arts. Tanner is perhaps best known for the knockout he suffered against a prime Tito Ortiz, who picked up Tanner and slammed him thirty seconds into their bout, flattening out Tanner on the canvas and forcing the referee to come to his rescue. Tanner will face wrestler Yushin Okami at UFC 82. Okami is 5-1 in the UFC with a loss to Franklin and wins over Jason MacDonald, Mike Swick, and Alan Belcher. If Dan Henderson isn't able to defeat Anderson Silva in their upcoming title fight, Okami is arguably next in line for a shot at Spider's middleweight crown. A win over Tanner would solidify Okami's place in the top three or five in the generally thin UFC middleweight division.
