before being asked to join the UFC. Tanner made his UFC debut in 1999 at UFC 18, submitting fellow Amarillo native Darrell Gholar by rear naked choke in the first round. His next UFC fight was at UFC 19 against Valerie Ignatov, who was known for leg submissions. Because of this, Tanner decided to fight barefoot for the first time in his career. Tanner fought once more in Pancrase and defended his title two more times in the USWF before deciding to take the first of multiple breaks from fighting in his career. He returned in July 2000 and remained undefeated in the USWF, successfully defending his heavyweight belt with wins against Raoul Romero and Vinny Nixon. His next appearance was at UFC 29, where he defeated Lance Gibson by TKO. A new outlook on fighting With three victories in the UFC, Tanner received a title shot against UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz at UFC 30. He was knocked unconscious 32 seconds into the first round by a high level slam by Ortiz. Tanner was invited to compete in the −88 kg division at the 2001 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship April 11–13, 2001 at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He was defeated by Sanae Kikuta on points (6–0) in the first round. Tanner began training with Oregon-based Team Quest. He returned to the Octagon at UFC 34, defeating Homer Moore in the second round with an armbar. At UFC 36, he defeated Elvis Sinosic by TKO (cut). At UFC 38, he won a unanimous decision over Chris Haseman in an undercard bout. At UFC 42, he lost to Rich Franklin by TKO (strikes) in the first round. After his defeat by Franklin, Tanner moved to the middleweight division, where he would be more physically imposing than many of the opponents. Baroni I and II Tanner faced Phil Baroni in consecutive fights at UFC 45 and UFC 48. In the early minutes of their fight at UFC 45, Baroni was in control, but Tanner took Baroni to the ground and landed a series of unanswered punches and elbows. After a brief verbal exchange between Baroni and referee Larry Landless, the fight was stopped and Tanner was awarded the victory. Immediately after the fight, Baroni contended that he did not submit and in the confusion struck Landless twice in the face. Baroni maintained that