Evan Tanner
For a long time Evan Tanner dealt with what he described as “incredible, crushing, debilitating anxiety,” and like his mother struggled with depression, leaving him feeling, “unbearable pain and emptiness.”
Even as the UFC’s middleweight champion in 2005 he was still a troubled soul, and soon lost the title while sinking to new depths in his personal life, becoming a full blown alcoholic.
Eventually Tanner broke free from his addiction and returned to the UFC, eager to spread a positive message about believing in yourself, or as he put it, ‘The Power Of 1,’ seeing his sobriety as a major victory even though he lost his next two fights.
A few months later Tanner revealed he was planning an “adventure” camping by himself in the Southern Californian desert for several days. Some fans expressed concern, and though he insisted he would be fine, he sadly ran out of drinking water during the trip and died before help arrived.
