He was 37 years old.
A friend of Tanner’s said that authorities have recovered his body. Kyria McBrayer, who also assisted the popular fighter with his “Team Tanner” fan/sponsorship club, said she received the unfortunate news.
Calls to the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office were not immediately returned, but according to a report from the Imperial Valley Press, a campsite, which included Tanner’s motorcycle, was recently discovered. A sheriff’s deputy found Tanner’s body when searching the mountain’s Clapp Springs area, according to the report.
The cause and other details of Tanner’s death were not immediately known.
His friends last heard from him Sept. 3. A search for Tanner began on Saturday, when temperatures in the area reached nearly 115 degrees.
The Palo Verde mountain area is located in southern California near the Arizona border.
Tanner (32-8 MMA, 12-5 UFC), a Texas native who won a state high school wrestling title in 1989, turned an MMA professional in 1997 and began his career with a stellar 19-1 record to earn his way into the UFC.
Tanner, who claimed he learned much of the sport from instructional tapes and DVDs, received his first UFC title shot in 2001 but suffered a quick first-round knockout to then- UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz. However, after going 7-1 in his next eight fights and dropping to the middleweight division, Tanner defeated David Terrell for the organization’s vacant 185-pound title in February 2005.
His championship reign would be a short one, though; Rich Franklin defeated Tanner in his very next fight.
