Evan Tanner, a former UFC middleweight champion known for his love of outdoor adventures, went missing last week in the California desert and was found dead today, the UFC confirmed. He was 37.

Tanner, who held the UFC middleweight title in 2005, last fought in June at the Ultimate Fighter finale.

Tanner wrote on his blog last month, “I’m hoping that very soon I’ll be sitting out in the quiet of the desert beneath a deep blue midnight sky, listening to the calm desert breeze. … I want to go to these places, the quiet, timeless, ageless places, and sit, letting silence and solitude be my teachers.”