The following comes from FoxNews.com:

A body was found Monday near the remote desert campsite where former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner vanished days before.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship said on its Web site late Monday that the body was indeed that of Tanner. But authorities have not confirmed the identity of the dead man, according to sheriff’s Lt. George Moreno.

A helicopter pilot spotted the corpse in a rugged area of Imperial County near the California-Arizona border, Moreno said.

Tanner, a former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight and a United States Wrestling Federation heavyweight champion, has been missing since last week.

The 37-year-old had planned to take a trip to the desert since last month. On his weblog on Spike.com, Tanner described his fascination with the desert and his preparations for the trip.

UFC’s Evan Tanner “I plan on going so deep into the desert that any failure of my equipment could cost me my life,” he wrote on Aug. 16.

Sheriff’s officials said family members kept in touch with Tanner through text messages since he left on Wednesday, and became concerned when he stopped responding.

Crews have been searching for Tanner since Friday.

Temperatures in the area were very high during the weekend, topping out at 114 on Sunday, Moreno said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.