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<h3><a href="/go=news.detail&gid=214670" target="_blank">
Brian Stann - War Hero
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<a href="/go=news.detail&gid=214670" ><img class="photo" src="http://img.mixedmartialarts.com/method=get&rs=70&q=75&x=48&y=-1&w=310&h=165&ro=0&s=84E5B729-1D09-6BFC-E580E67F181EA179.jpg" /></a>
<strong class="ArticleSource">[ufc.com]</strong>
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Brian Stann: The Reluctant Hero
One word that will never be used to describe Brian Stann is “selfish”.
To the retired United States Marine Corps Captain, who now runs a non-profit agency that finds employment for former military personnel, guts have always outweighed glory by tenfold. As such, it’s no surprise that heading into his fourth UFC fight, the former WEC light heavyweight champion is as busy making sure his men are looked after as he is planning for the imminent battle.
“There’s a Marine named Josh Glover who was wounded by an RPG in Afghanistan. He is in a wheelchair and could possibly lose his legs, and our organization, Hired Heroes USA, is flying him and his wife out to the Mandalay Bay for the show next week. We’re putting them up in a hotel and the UFC is giving him cageside tickets,” Stann explains with pride in his voice. “It’s just a little thing but it’s giving back to the military and that’s something I can’t do enough of. I satisfy my thirst for leading Marines and to be involved in the military by running my non-profit [organization].”
Reflecting the spotlight back onto his fellow soldiers is nothing new for Stann.
Awarded the Silver Star in 2006 for his exceptional leadership in seeing his platoon of 42 through seemingly insurmountable odds during a May 2005 Iraqi insurgent ambush and subsequent six day ground fight near Karabilah, Stann utilized artillery and air strikes to help ensure that each of his charge made it out alive despite being heavily outnumbered and in the middle of constant enemy crossfire.
Humbly accepting his citation, Stann added a caveat to his acceptance speech, diverting his praise for his part in the battle to his men he worked so valiantly to protect during that week as well as his whole career as a Marine.
“This award represents my guys. It's an insight to what my men did over there. There were a lot of our guys who received awards from our group when we were out there, not just me,” Stann pointed out to those on hand for the ceremony.
When he first started fighting in MMA, the 29-year-old former hand-to-hand combat instructor admits he had no formal fight training besides what the military taught him, which you could say proved the methods they are using are effective as he strung together a 6-0 record in his first two years competing as a pro between tours of duty. At the invite of the renowned trainer, Stann joined Greg Jackson’s camp in Albuquerque and immediately realized the merits of training day in and day out with top-tier training partners.
“I was jumping around from gym to gym to find decent training partners to train with and I remember thinking, ‘This is no way to do things,’” Stann recalls. “Hooking up with Greg has been incredible. He’s a lot like me in a lot of ways when it comes to analyzing fighting, as he has studied military tactics and philosophies at length.”
To prepare for his bouts, Stann says he and Jackson spend a great deal of time strategically planning for every scenario that might come up in the fight, good or bad – a tactic he credits the Marines for helping him master. Approaching his fight against Octagon newcomer Phil Davis (4-0) at UFC 109 on February 6, he feels that this meticulous mode of preparation will give him the edge, no matter what plan of attack the undefeated former NCAA Division I National Wrestling Champion tries to employ.
One glaring difference Stann, who is 2-1 in the UFC and 8-2 overall, recognizes between his former and current careers is that losing a fight has far less dire consequences than they used to. Granted, putting that into perspective is decidedly easier to do for a guy who has been to war on several occasions, but some fighters might do well to adopt Stann’s approach to MMA.
“A lot of fighters think that if you lose a fight you need to be embarrassed because everyone is going to be laughing at you, but there’s no shame in it. Someone’s got to lose and no matter how good you are, every night isn’t going to be your night,” he says. “I’m really confident heading into my fight next weekend, but to me it’s more about having fun than being worried about winning. If you’re training all day and you’re not having fun, you’re in it for the wrong reasons.”
Whether it’s in life or a fight, it’s tough not to root for a guy like that.