More than a Marine

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Villasenor has been fighting at middleweight since his MMA career began, but Stann’s proficiency at the weight class has the Strikeforce veteran contemplating a weight cut of his own in the near future.

“Brian and a couple of our other 85ers are really making me feel like dropping down to 170,” he says. “It’s a new world. The sport keeps advancing and athletes keep getting bigger and stronger. Brian’s one of those guys.”

No Offense Taken

In the aftermath of his upset win over Leben, Stann requested Wanderlei Silva as his next opponent. The Brazilian legend was reluctant to face “The All-American,” in part, because Silva believed that fighting someone with Stann’s heroic background could turn fans against him. When the former Pride Fighting Championships standout informed the UFC that he would not be healthy enough to compete at the Memorial Day weekend event, Stann was matched up with Santiago instead.

Stann accepted the situation, acknowledging that “The Axe Murder” has been on a lot of fighter’s hit lists in recent months.

“When you get to the level of Wanderlei Silva, you can say no to whatever fight you want. I wasn’t insulted, and I didn’t boost my ego trying to tell people he’s afraid of me, because Wanderlei Silva’s not afraid of anybody,” Stann says. “It just wasn’t the fight he was interested in. There’s a lot of guys that were asking to fight him, so no big deal.”

Santiago has finished 21 of his 23 victories via knockout, technical knockout or submission. The Brazilian recently left American Top Team for another Florida-based camp, Imperial Athletics. His training partners there include Antonio Silva, Vitor Miranda and Carlos Augusto Inocente Filho, as well as Rashad Evans, who split from Jackson’s camp after Jon Jones became UFC light heavyweight champion in March.

Stann, while pointing out that he is developing all parts of his game, does not disguise his desire to stand and bang against the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.

“I definitely think I would like to keep the fight striking. He’s not a real big takedown guy. He may very well come out and try to strike and use his muay Thai and his knees against me,” Stann says. “I don’t think he’s gonna try and force a takedown on me. I think he’s gonna fight smart, and when the opportunity presents itself, he’s gonna try and take me down and use his world class jiu-jitsu on me. I think he’s gonna find me much harder to deal with on the ground than he expects.”

Best Yet to Come

It seems fitting that Stann occupies a main card slot at the UFC’s traditional Memorial Day weekend event. While the holiday is known for ushering in the summer with cookouts and parties, its main purpose is to honor those who have served their country. Though Stann was once hesitant to use his military exploits to boost his fighting career, being a Marine is still a major part of his identity.

This was never more evident than when Osama bin Laden was killed on May 2 in Pakistan. Stann was in the middle of his camp for Santiago when news broke of the death of the Al-Qaeda terrorist mastermind; he was deluged with interview requests the next day. As someone who had seen the war firsthand, Stann managed to relish the triumph while remaining conscious of the situation in the Middle East.

“It’s a great morale builder for our United States military. It’s a success by our intelligence and our special operations community to find him,” he says. “For me, this war has been about helping the people who live there. When you spend time in Iraq and Afghanistan, you see children that live there and how little opportunity they have in comparison to children that live here in America. It makes you feel sorry, because they didn’t choose to be born to that culture ... Little girls in Afghanistan who can’t go to school, and they get acid thrown on their face. That kind of stuff happens.

“I hope that the death of Osama bin Laden and the War on Terror and the things that are happening in this generation continue to move forward in the Middle East,” Stann adds. “The young people are protesting, and they’re demanding more freedoms. I think when that happens, our governments, our societies, will see eye to eye. We won’t see as much conflict.”

Trainer Greg Jackson, who has a close relationship with Stann, says his student’s desire to help others translates to the gym, as well.

“He’s as big a team player that we have,” Jackson says. “He’s always watching out for everybody, making sure everybody’s OK, asking where they are if they’re not at practice, texting them. He’s just one of those guys.”

Stann has said that fighting is something that he does, not who he is. He is also the director of a nonprofit organization, Hire Heroes USA, which helps retired military personnel integrate into the workforce. Stann’s fulltime job seems to be going better by the day, and though winning fights is not life and death, he does not plan on slowing down any time soon. In fact, the best may be yet to come.

“Certainly, beating Chris Lebenwas a big highlight for me,” Stann says. “I expected to win that fight, and I won that fight, so I wouldn’t say it was the biggest highlight of my career yet.”