Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Then-1st Lt. Brian Stann was awarded a Silver Star on March 10, 2006, for his actions during an ambush on his company in Karabilah, Iraq, in 2005. Forty-two U.S. soldiers withstood rocket-propelled grenades, suicide attacks and gunfire for six days. None died.

Ooh-Rah, Marine…

Calling World Extreme Cagefighting’s Brian Stann battled-tested is misleading. In one way, he isn’t. And in another, more profound way, he is.

At 5-0, Stann’s victories have come in the first round either by knockout or TKO. He hasn’t exactly been challenged.

But in his day job, Stann knows what it is like to fight when the stakes are life and death.

A former football player at Navy and now a burgeoning mixed-martial arts star in WEC, Stann, a Marine Corps captain, spent two tours of duty in Iraq.

In 2005, Stann earned a Silver Star — the military’s third-highest award for “gallantry in action” — when Iraqi insurgents ambushed Stann’s company when it tried to secure a bridge near Karabilah, a city northwest of Baghdad near the Syrian border. Forty-two U.S. troops withstood rocket-propelled grenades, suicide attacks and gunfire for six days. None died.

“We were hit with a tremendous amount of adversity,” Stann says. “The great thing for me is that I’m a U.S. Marine, and the guys with me were U.S. Marines. They executed. When you’re pinned down in a spot like that, sometimes you put your head down and force your way out.

“You can’t always pitch a shutout in war. Sometimes, you have to call an audible.”

After that kind of ordeal, fighting light heavyweight titleholder Doug Marshall on Wednesday for the WEC championship is easy.

“This is the fun part,” Stann says.

After graduating from the Naval Academy, Stann needed an outlet for his competitive nature. He became involved with martial arts.

“It focused on ethics, and it also helped prepare me for the fog of war and the intensity and anxiety of war,” Stann says. “That helped me for combat, and combat has helped me fight in the cage.”

Stann didn’t set out to become a professional mixed martial-arts fighter. He fought in amateur bouts before his first deployment in Iraq. But at the end of that tour, he logged onto a computer, looking for opportunities to fight professionally. He said he begged promoters to put him on a card.

“What started as a hobby turned into a lifestyle,” he says.

While the military comes first, Stann saves leave time and vacation for training and fights. Stationed at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune, Stann says the base is a perfect training ground. He needs to be shape for his job, and he is surrounded by Marines in outstanding physical condition. A day for Stann starts around 5:30 a.m. when arrives at the office (he oversees about 900 Marines) and ends around 9:30 p.m. when he finishes training.

“On a base this big, people come from all walks of life,” Stann says. “We have some phenomenal wrestlers, boxers, kick boxers and jiu-jitsu fighters here. Many are dedicated. It might not be world-class but they are good. The biggest thing they bring to the table is their mind-set. In this community, you’re not allowed to have a bad day. You can’t go at 50 percent.”

Stann won three fights in 2007, including a victory against Jeremiah Billington in September, his last fight. Like a football player watching film of an opponent, Stann has been studying Marshall’s past fights. Even while in Iraq on his second tour of duty from July 2006 to February 2007, he had a friend send him DVDs of Marshall’s fights.

“He’s primarily a striker and a brawler, but he’s becoming an all-around fighter,” Stann says. “I’ve identified his strengths and weaknesses, and I plan on capitalizing on those weaknesses with my strengths.

“The fans wanted to see this fight, so we’re giving it to them.”

(Marine Corps Times)