Oh, how the mighty have...sunk

One-time UFC MW Champion of the World Evan Tanner, who has long been rumored to be building a comeback to the currently weakest UFC division, will not be making a return to the Octagon anytime soon. That's because he has just 30 days to figure out what to do about his grounded sailboat.

According to The Log, "SoCal's #1 Boating and Fishing Newspaper," Tanner ran his quickly sinking classic 1939 Tahiti 30-foot wooden ketch aground while trying desperately to dock it.

“We were miles out, desperately bailing out water. We made it into Mission Bay as night fell. Being unfamiliar with the bay, and finding it difficult to navigate in the dark, we ran aground. I stayed up all night, much of it spent down in the hold in the cold water, trying to save her. I tried, but I couldn’t do it. She was hurt too much.”

Tanner now has 30 days to move the craft, otherwise it will be deemed abandoned and legally removed by Mission Bay lifeguards

While this alone might not keep some UFC legends from making a comeback, the booze Tanner was likely ingesting at the time of the crash certainly will. According to Tanner's own website, he's been on a bizarre booze binge for months.

“I quit drinking for a while. I was doing so well. I thought I was in control of that vice. I went out with some friends and decided to have a beer. It’s been downhill since…. I’ve been on the road for almost two years. I’m tired. I’m tired of drinking, I’m tired of living out of bags, I’m tired of not feeling home. And where is home? I imagine being in the gym again. I imagine stepping into the Octagon again, and in some strange way, those thoughts bring me comfort. That is my home. I know it’s time to come home. I have not been training at all, despite what the rumors say. I’ve signed no fights. I’m so far gone, living on the road, drinking myself into oblivion, that in moments of weakness, I wonder if I can make it back. It’s going to be a long road.”

A long road indeed. Interestingly enough, his blog, while hopelessly awash in inspirational messages seemingly directed at convincing himself (e.g., "I choose to Believe. I'm setting a date," repeat ad infinitum) and...egads!...self-pitying poetry set next to lyrics to Metallica's "Master of Puppets," also includes some detailed blogposts and pictures documenting Tanner and his friend finding, purchasing and restoring the boat over the last several months. Perhaps most interesting are the photographs of the boat in dry storage, where Tanner patched numerous holes and repainted the boat before putting it back in the drink...no pun intended.

But perhaps the most insight into the sinking of Tanner's career...er...BOAT (sorry, stay on track) is this, straight from the mouth of Tanner himself:

“She had been sitting in dry storage, up in the yard for four months. Some say that a wooden boat will never be the same if it is on the hard that long. The planks of a wooden hull soak up water and expand, sealing all the cracks. When it sits out on land, the wood dries out and contracts, opening up cracks all over the hull. When she was put back in the water, we were all really worried about how watertight she was going to be. They lowered her down partly in the water and looked everywhere inside for leaks, lowered her some more and checked again. She was holding surprisingly well. There were only a few small leaks that are expected to stop once the wood absorbs a little water.”

Guess four months IS too long for a wooden boat to be in dry storage after all.

The rumored December match-up between Tanner and Dean Lister has been officially de-rumored, as Dave Meltzer from WrestlingObserver.com reported, "Tanner is not under contract to UFC nor are there any matches scheduled for him at this point.

While we hope to see him back in the Octagon, we're going to remove Tanner from the SteelSkins Power Rankings for now. No telling what to expect.