Once I Was a Champion: Official Trailer - The Evan Tanner Documentary

I don’t think amped is the correct word, but I want to see this film. I remember what Evan’s death did to Ryan over at Fightlinker. Sad day.

Am I mishearing, or does Chael Sonnen state that Evan Tanner was not an intelligent person?

holds back tears

A sad panda + /wrists

That, and me.

comments and a few others are to bring more credibility maybe? So it doesn’t seem like they’re just deifying Tanner the whole time. He had his demons and I think Chael is just expressing himself. Maybe we’d think a little different of his comments if we hadn’t been subjected to all his absurdity over the last year.

I can’t wait to watch this. I liked Tanner and remember being very sad when he died. He was a very interesting guy and there are some great interviews with him on youtube. I’ve been anticipating this for what feels like forever.

If this trailer is anything close to what the full film will be like, it will be the best MMA documentary to date.

I got physically sick when Evan died, it really hit me. I could really identify with the man, and him leaving so suddenly was a shock. It’s incredibly sad, and amazing, how his life played out almost as a theatrical tragedy.

I’m such a pussy.

Wow. I’m not sure what else to say. I want to see this so bad. But a small part of me really doesn’t, because I’m not a big fan of being sad.

Powerful quotes above from an interesting man. He did make a mark on this world, at least with me.

Is the music in the trailer Austin’s Explosions in the Sky or is it Mogwai or Godspeed? Too tired to hunt for it.

I can tell right now. Driven made me a mess cause I’m a Pulver fan, but this just seems more raw with the interviews.

Man this is so fucking sad. I can relate to Evan, I don’t have an alcohol problem but I know what its like to never really be happy or comfortable. Evan was a troubled man who accomplished a lot of things despite his shortcomings. I hope he knows how many ppls lives he touched. :(

Still miss Tanner so much.

… and he came across as a complete dick. There is a time and place for you to express your feelings. If you really felt this way about Tanner, decline the interview. I think it is the director’s job to put the feelings out there in the documentary, since he shouldn’t be hiding what others have said. But Sonnen should be man enough to not talk ill of a dead man.

To talk of things like Tanner lacking responsibility and intellect as he did is a joke (especially when you look back at Sonnen’s recent legal troubles and steroid scandal). Granted, it makes you take what the fool said with a few truckloads of salt, at least.

I have no problem with Sonnen not liking Tanner. I’m sure tons of people hated the guy, as tons of people hate anyone for various reasons. But decline the interview and don’t speak ill of a dead man. Keep it to yourself or issue something out on paper if you REALLY feel the need to get your digs in.

Didn’t he turn his home into a giant training facility where it housed those who wanted to train and become fighters…for FREE?

I watched a video where someone said — I think it was Matt Hume or Pat Militech — Evan would help out people who didn’t have places to sleep and offer them food and shelter, once again, for FREE.

Dude was an angel in disguise. Yet, you got other giant pieces of shit, like Chael, still alive.

For the record: Not saying Chael should (or deserves to) die, just meant that there are very sinister, vile humans on this Earth that deserve far worse.

2008 is the year Evan died. I can’t believe it’s been that long. It feels like only yesterday. He wore his fragility with a certain pride. Still sadly missed.

:(

Can’t wait to see this. Evan Tanner was one of my favorite fighters. It’s going to be nice to put some closure on his life with this documentary. I most certainly will be buying.

But as someone else stated, they probably should have either cut out Chael’s comments or included more opinions that better transitioned into Chael’s beliefs. Chael’s comments kind of came out of left field in the trailer, because they didn’t appropriately connect Evan crying out for help with Chael’s comments. I didn’t know him personally, but his public persona and fights were both great. How couldn’t you like him after watching his title run? He seemed like the kind of guy who was intelligent enough to question our belief systems and the structure of the world around us. More people could benefit from these types of thought exercises.

And I agree with Steve4192 for the most part on everything. I think it’s hard for his fans to truly have an objective opinion on his life and while what chael said may’ve been distasteful, it’s necessary to understand that not everybody liked Tanner’s antics (namely his inability to commit to things for an extended period of time). I don’t understand why the up in arms (especially from Chris-did you know him personally?) When he was such a jekyll/ hyde type of person. I think that because those words are coming from Chael’s mouth that everyone has a problem with them. It’s better to acknowledge his shortcomings but still take the nuggets of awesome truth to heart and understand that if you live life the way Evan did, everyone isn’t going to have an exactly “rosey” view of your indiscretions. It makes him that much more human to me.