Penick's Take
PENICK: Former Marine Brian Stann positioning himself for superstardom following latest TKO win at UFC 130
May 29, 2011 - 8:30:54 PM PENICK: Former Marine Brian Stann positioning himself for superstardom following latest TKO win at UFC 130

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Did anyone forecast this sudden rise of Brian Stann's UFC career? The former Marine Captain and WEC Light Heavyweight Champion entered the UFC in 2009 as just another fighter in the middle of the pack, but after his victory over Jorge Santiago at UFC 130 on Saturday, we're seeing signs of a potential UFC star in the making.

When Zuffa folded the 205 lb. division in from their former sister promotion, Stann came in under the radar after losing the WEC Title to Steve Cantwell in his final bout in that organization. A loss to Krzysztof Soszynski in his first fight in the Octagon didn't help things, and he took decision wins over Cantwell and Rodney Wallace on the preliminary card in his next two fights.

Then, Stann was outworked by up and coming light heavyweight Phil Davis at UFC 109, once again on the preliminary card. The decision loss prompted a drop down to the middleweight division, but he still hadn't done anything to make himself stand out.

In his middleweight debut, Stann once again found himself on the preliminary card, taking on Mike Massenzio at UFC on Versus 2 in August of last year. In his first stand out performance in the UFC, Stann pulled off a triangle choke submission in the third round, not only winning the fight but earning his first UFC bonus for "Fight of the Night."

Still, Stann hadn't received a hard push from the UFC to this point. His military background isn't your average "soldier-turned-fighter" story, and it's the type of story that earns him the respect and admiration of those who are aware of what he's done. From his bio on his official site:

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Brian was the 2nd Mobile Assault Platoon leader with Weapons Company when everything started happening during his very first operation. From May 8-14, 2005, he led his men into battle, where their mission was to seize a bridge near Karabilah, Iraq. Three different times, he negotiated four kilometers to maintain their position from enemy attacks. However, on the third time through, the enemy had set up an ambush for the Marines.

Although ambushed, Brian called in close-air support and direct fire from tanks while taking on over 30 rocket-propelled grenade attacks, multiple machine guns firing, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) detonating.
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His courage and determination under fire led all of his men to safety, and earned him a Silver Star Medal before he had even had his second MMA fight.

Said Stann at the time: "You can forget all the other medals; I just wanted the award that said 42 out of 42 men came home safely. And we all came home, so mission accomplished."

Back to his UFC run; the win over Massenzio opened up the eyes of Joe Silva in the UFC, as he booked him against Chris Leben in his next fight. Taking on the biggest name he had yet fought in his career, Stann didn't have much to lose when he stepped into the cage at UFC 125. Written off by most coming into the fight for a less than stellar run to that point, his knockout win over Leben on New Year's Day became his first major statement to the MMA world.

But despite becoming the only other man outside of Anderson Silva to finish Leben with strikes, Stann hadn't sold everyone on his potential. The move to middleweight was looking like a great decision on his part, and an ever-improving striking game looked to be in the spotlight when the UFC booked him against Santiago at UFC 130.

Putting Stann on the Memorial Day Weekend card may have been a strategic move on the UFC's part, and judging by the crowd's reaction on Saturday it was a good one, with "USA" chants filling the arena during his bout to open the pay-per-view. Taking on another tough challenge in Jorge Santiago, who had won 11 of his last 12 fights, Stann showed extreme confidence in his striking, putting the pressure on the Brazilian and making the fight take place at his pace.

With his second straight knockout win, Stann showed that he's beginning to come into his own in the middleweight division. Commenting after the fight about competing on this of all weekends, Stann built up more goodwill with the fans again.

"For all of those families out there who have lost someone in combat, this weekend is all about you," Stann said after the fight. "So please everybody take some time this weekend to thank those who sacrificed all for our freedoms."

As an extremely likable personality in general, along with his ever-improving skills, Stann is well on his way to becoming a very big name in this sport, and this seemingly out of nowhere jump into this slot has not gone unnoticed by those in the UFC.

"He is on his way to becoming a superstar," UFC President Dana White said after the fight, and added that former UFC star Chuck Liddell, now the UFC's Vice President of Business Development, is of the same belief. "Chuck came up to me tonight after the fight and said, 'You know when he used to fight in WEC, I never thought he would get to this level. This guy is getting really good. Not only are his skills getting better, everything out of this guy's mouth is a home run.'"

With three straight wins in the middleweight division, Stann's ready to move to the next level of opponent. The top option at this moment might be the winner of next month's Mark Munoz vs. Demian Maia bout, but another potential bout for furthering his star could be a fight with Chael Sonnen.

If the now-infamous middleweight is able to get licensed when his California license expires at the end of June, pitting "The All-American" Stann against the out-spoken, divisive middleweight could launch him into another level once again.

Whatever direction the UFC goes with him, Stann has put himself into a position to be the next breakout fighter for the UFC. And at 30 years old, he's only just getting started.