Issue 074

April 2011

Former Marine captain Brian Stann is back in the front lines after a headline-grabbing KO victory over Chris Leben. But who is the man behind the emotional victory speeches?

An officer, and a gentleman: Brian Stann fits the mold perfectly. Yet behind the clean-cut image and that jutting chiseled Roger Ramjet jawline, he reveals himself to be a man of many parts. Stann remains the epitome of the home-grown all-action American hero. Yet there’s a sneaking sensitivity to him, more in theory than in practice until recently, and not apparent until you scratch below the surface. Stann admits that Teressa, his wife, and his two young daughters whom he dotes on, are gradually making him a more relaxed man. “My earliest sporting memory is actually playing soccer,” explains the UFC middleweight and former US Marine Corps captain, now 30 years old.

“I played for a couple of years, and baseball. I was put in goal in my first game and I let two bad ones in, and had all the moms screaming at me on the sidelines,” he laughs, recalling it. “We were losing 2-1, but then I was put up front as a striker in the second half and scored two goals, so we won 3-2. Redemption – and the first time I realized that I was ultra-competitive.”

Stann grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. No silver spoon, just grit and determination. And he was the type of kid we all envied in school. Brain and brawn, coupled with bucketfuls of ambition. If he’d picked on a piano, he’d be tickling tunes today. He was certainly a studious character: “I was the serious one – worked hard, I did go ‘all out.’ It was the way I was made. I could have been a bit more relaxed looking back. My wife and kids have helped me a lot on that front. But I did develop a lifetime joy of learning at school. I think a respect for study and knowledge can be a great thing. We have to accept that we never stop learning.” Stann – I constantly want to call him ‘Stann The Man’ in the interview, though refrain from doing so as he may not comprehend that nuance of English humor – graduated from Scranton Preparatory School and enrolled in the United States Naval Academy in 1999. Graduation followed in the class of 2003. He played football for the US Navy as a middle linebacker in his time at the naval academy, and on graduating, was assigned as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. He distinguished himself in the US military. 

War hero story time, and this one will be a tale for his grandchildren around the fireplace, long after his fighting days are done. On May 8, 2005, then a lieutenant, Stann was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, commanding the 2nd Mobile Assault Platoon in Iraq. The unit was ambushed by insurgents en route to an attempt to secure Ramana Bridge, near Karabilah, on high ground close to the Syrian border. Pinned down, they held out for six days, under heavy attack, while Stann oversaw the coordination of air and tank support. All 42 Marines under his command reached safety. He was awarded the Silver Star, America’s third highest award for bravery in combat, drawing mention from US President Bush during one of his speeches. He left active duty in the Marine Corps in May 2008, but his fighting career as a mixed martial artist had already begun that year, defeating Aaron Stark at SportFight 14 in Portland, Oregon, by first-round TKO. “I made the choice to get out of the military because of my children [his daughters are aged one and three], and wanting to be around them more. It helped having the challenge of professional fighting when I left the military. I’m not ready to be ‘normal’. When you’re in the military you are deploying six to seven months of the year and when you’re not at home you’re on the training ground or sleeping rough in the woods. The whole time you are developing tremendous bonds with your brothers and in combat, you lose some of them. You are so close it is like losing a family member. That doesn’t happen in the commercial fight world… although fighting is still a dangerous sport.”

Whether the impetus is his or his paymasters’, the UFCs, Stann’s military credentials have certainly become part of his in-cage identity. “I do want to use my notoriety, or fame, as a fighter to bestow credit on the people I worked with in the military to make people aware of the sacrifices they all make. And I will continue to do that throughout my fighting career. Six weeks after leaving the military I had my first WEC fight. Training for a fight consumes your physical and mental energy. You have to think about what you are doing tomorrow because you are pushing yourself to the limit, motivated in the knowledge that in another place, another guy is preparing just as hard to kick your butt.” 

Stann was added to the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster in April 2009, having won the light-heavyweight World Extreme Cagefighting organization title, in March 2008, with a victory over Doug Marshall. At that point, he was 6-0, with five career victories in World Extreme Cagefighting. Was the UFC always the ultimate goal? “Absolutely. Not just for me, but for all the guys in the WEC there was a moment when you were wondering if you’d ever be able to fight in the UFC. If you are in this sport, you want to fight in the UFC, because it is the major leagues.” 

UFC owners Zuffa bought out World Extreme Cagefighting in 2006. In 2008 after Stann took the light heavyweight championship belt from Doug Marshall he lost it to Steve Cantwell in his first defense a few months later. Zuffa soon announced their intentions to subsume WEC’s 185lb and 205lb weight classes into the UFC itself. Now trained by Greg Jackson, Stann’s debut was delayed by a foot injury but he eventually met formidable TUF alumni Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 97 in Montreal. In the first round, Soszynski forced Stann to tap out to a kimura. Undaunted, he bounced back at UFC Fight Night: Diaz vs. Guillard in September 2009, earning a unanimous points decision victory in a re-match with Cantwell. Another triumph followed over UFC newcomer Rodney Wallace at The Ultimate Fighter 10 finale three months later, but a second UFC loss, this time on points to the stunning Phil Davis in February 2010, made him consider dropping to middleweight. The move has proved auspicious. 

He made his middleweight debut against Mike Massenzio at UFC on Versus 2 (Aug 2010) claiming his first-ever submission victory, catching Massenzio in a triangle choke midway through the final round. For his efforts, he was awarded ‘Fight of the Night’ honors. Stann has looked a force since he moved down a division to middleweight. He signaled himself prominently with an impressive KO victory over a surging Chris Leben at UFC 125, on New Year’s Day – the only man besides Anderson Silva to go toe to toe with Leben and dispatch him in such a decisive manner. The manner of Stann’s victory, against a proven puncher and an opponent renowned for his awkwardness, earned him serious plaudits. “My greatest accomplishment may have been the last fight,” he says. “It was my first KO in the UFC, in a fight where most people picked me to lose in the fashion I won. 

My camp knew it was on the cards. I have been trying to become more rounded and we knew at this stage I could start to be a legitimate threat

at 185.”

Stann has designs on heading to the summit of the division. Why shouldn’t he? But does have the armory to undo the likes of long-standing champion Anderson Silva and other top middleweights? “Absolutely. Yes, I think I could compete with Anderson. He is a few levels above the rest of the division, but I think I’m a fight or two away from that moment. People wonder if I have a ground game, too. I do. It’s just that a lot of fans haven’t seen it.” Stann, who combines the unarmed combat skills of the Marine Corps martial arts program, kickboxing, and submission wrestling has a style which matches well with many top-ten 185lb’ers. “There are a lot of amazing match-ups in the middleweight division right now. It’s a very deep division. A couple of years ago, I was in the WEC and watching the rest of these guys fight. It’s an honor to now be in the mix and fighting them.” The former soldier has identified some targets though. “Hopefully, my next fight will be Wanderlei Silva, who is obviously a legend in the sport, and it would be an honor to fight Michael Bisping, who I think is an amazing fighter who has truly distinguished himself in the weight class. I think Bisping will get a title shot at some point soon. He has proved himself to be an exciting, all-round fighter and has the ranking. Guys like Michael Bisping and Wanderlei have what I want in the sport – the respect and the rankings – and that’s where I want to be. They always put on exciting fights, and that’s very important to the UFC.” Stann also has strong words for a certain Brazilian jiu-jitsu aficionado: “The only middleweight I wouldn’t want to go to the ground with is Demian Maia, who, by the way, is a great guy for the sport. So respectful, so honorable.” There has been talk of welterweight champion Georges St Pierre stepping up to fight Anderson Silva this year, too. How would Stann fare against St Pierre? “Me against GSP? I’d knock him out, before he puts me on my butt three times,” he says with a long, loud cackle. “I’ve trained with GSP, and he’s a great guy and great for the sport.” 

Stann impressed recently as a pundit on ESPN’s weekly MMA Live show, both with fans and with the show’s producers. “I loved doing it – it’s an honor, a fortunate thing to be asked to come on and speak about your sport. Look, MMA is growing, we are in a paradigm shift and the sport is becoming a global power. To be asked to go on the premier MMA show in the world was a great honor.” What does he think about the masses’ perception of MMA? “To be honest, the negative comments never surprise me. Fighting has always been something that a large section of society frowns upon. Most people can’t do it, and only a very small percentage of people have it in them to compete in the sport. However negative people are about it, or the stigma it might have, it will always be around while man is living and breathing. We are doing a job and we have to keep educating people about it. It’s much more exciting than many other sports, and probably not as dangerous as football.”

Stann has a novel, yet brilliant, notion on how judging in MMA could be improved. “I’m one who believes it needs to be better. I think the judges should be out of earshot of any commentary, and all they should watch is the fight itself. I think they should have the use of a monitor, or monitors, and judge from a room looking on the action. You can’t see every punch and kick landed when you are sitting on the edge of the Octagon.”

The sporting motto which underpins Stann’s daily regime as a mixed martial artist says so much about his warrior spirit: “‘The slightest thought of defeat brings you a step away from its reality’ …I heard it early in my life in an old martial arts movie, and I’ve never forgotten it. Having said that, I can’t remember which movie it was.” Behind the scenes, and away from the fight game, Stann reveals intriguing sides to his character. He has just finished ploughing through Ronald Reagan’s Diaries. And Son of Hamas,

the true story of the oldest son of one of the founding members of Hamas. In it, Mosab Yousef makes his newfound faith public and risks everything to expose the secrets of the extremist Islamic organization, revealing the double life he lived trying to prevent the killing of innocents by working with Hamas’s enemies. Ronald Reagan remains his greatest hero away from sport: “As a leader, he didn’t compromise very much, but the way he treated people was amazing. The reason he was able to get so much done was that he treated people with respect and dignity. It’s why he was such a charismatic leader. As for Son of Hamas, I came away from the Middle East wanting to understand the culture more. Terrorism is a great problem, and we need to learn more how to deal with it.” What many fight fans will not know about is his life-love of animals, and tropical fish. “Tropical fish are my greatest extravagance. I have a blue-faced angel fish, a moray eel, and some other violent gladiator fish my living room. I’m pretty frugal really. My other big extravagance is my wife, because of her shopping habits.”

Stann tells Fighters Only that his pet hate is people indulging in the misfortune of others, and bizarrely, how he was left devastated and distraught as a young child when he unintentionally “rear naked choked a pet guinea pig to death” because he was cuddling it too tight. “It is the most embarrassing moment of my life. I was a young child and my Aunt Posie was babysitting me. I loved animals, still do, and she had a pet guinea pig. I loved it. But I was cuddling it so hard when she was out of the room, I rear naked choked it to death. It should have tapped out. She was so angry she screamed at me and I peed myself there and then.”

Just as we are finishing our time together, it seems germane to ask him what he would be doing if he weren’t an MMA fighter now. “That would be tough… Probably in the CIA, FBI, or DEA… Taking drugs from the cartels down on the Mexican border. You are born a warrior, or not. It’s in my blood, and I’d need that adventure.”

Brian Stann – he’s the man.