 Tanner won the UFC Middleweight Championship at "UFC 51", stopping David Terrell with strikes in the first round.He is considered a pioneer in the sport of MMA and one of the first fighters to use elbows as an effective striking method in the ground and pound position.Tanner is considered to be somewhat of an anomaly in MMA as he began his professional career with a large degree of success despite primarily learning the sport via instructional videotape.