After 15 months of competitive dormancy, Tanner Boser is relieved to get back to business inside the Octagon.
Fifteen months out of the cage at 31 is the kind of layoff that quietly ends heavyweight careers — the sport moves fast, the rankings churn, and a fighter who disappears for over a year usually comes back to find the division has forgotten him entirely, which makes this return bout more important than the record suggests.
Bonnyville, Alta.’s Boser (20-8-1) clashes with Brazil’s Rodrigo Nascimento (8-1) at UFC Fight Night 210 in a heavyweight affair set for the event’s main card tomorrow night.
Bonnyville is one of those small Alberta towns that produces fighters out of proportion to its size — a community of barely six thousand people that has sent talent to the UFC — and Boser carrying that flag onto the biggest stage in the sport is the kind of hometown story that doesn't get old.
Boser, 31, was previously set to fight Nascimento in April but intervening circumstances causing a withdrawal on Nascimento’s end has resulted in the two readying to fight now.
The April booking falling through is the kind of setback that compounds a long layoff — a fighter who's been training for a specific opponent and date has to reset everything when it falls apart, and the fact that the matchup has been rebooked at all says both camps still see it as the right fight.
“I like the matchup,” Boser stated in an interview with MMA Empire.
“He’s well-rounded, he’s good everywhere, but I think I match up well against him. He’s obviously very good on the ground, so I’m going to have to try and avoid his specialty probably. But he’s competent no matter where the fight is. Not a pussy, he’s got heart, he’s tough. But yeah, I’m glad that I got the matchup against him again. But at the same time, I was ready to fight anybody. It’s not really the be-all end-all as to who I’m going to fight. Just as much as when I’m going to fight.”
Nascimento at 8-1 is the kind of prospect the UFC signs on upside — a young Brazilian heavyweight with a finishing record and room to grow — but his relative inexperience is exactly the opening a veteran of nearly 30 professional bouts like Boser should be looking to exploit.
Boser last competed in June 2021 when he garnered a second round striking-based stoppage over Ovince Saint Preux. In the interim, he has been supplementing his income with teaching seminars and security work at Edmonton area bars.
The June 2021 win over Ovince Saint Preux remains the high-water mark of Boser's UFC run to this point — a second-round stoppage of a former title challenger is the kind of win that should have launched a run, and the fact that he's only now getting the follow-up fight makes this one feel like a fresh start more than a continuation.
Boser’s shoutouts
“I would thank my coaches, Jeff Montemurro, Keijro Noda, Roger Alves, and Mitch Clarke. I would thank my sponsors, Axe Monkeys Edmonton, Premier Built Garages, Paul Peddle Services, Element Chiropractic.” Follow Boser on social media: INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, FACEBOOK
