Brian Stann, known affectionately as “All American” by his fans, was born to be a warrior, as his mother gave birth to him at the Yokota Air Base in Japan on September 24, 1980. Since then, his life has involved one struggle after the next, most of which have taken place through his military career on very real battlefields with much higher stakes than any professional athlete faces. In 2005, Stann’s unit was ambushed by insurgents in Karabilah, and due to his leadership under fire—not one of the 42 Marines under his command was killed—Stann was awarded the Silver Star.
In 2006, Stann began to supplement his military career with a fighting career in the world of mixed martial arts, winning his first six fights—including the WEC Light Heavyweight Championship—before joining the UFC in 2009. Stann, a power puncher, holds notable career victories over Doug Marshall and Steve Cantwell (twice).
Stann would lose a decision to Phil Davis before ripping off three wins against Mike Massenzio, Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago. The wins over Santiago and Massenzio would also earn him Fight of the Night Honors. He then ran into Chael Sonnen who was able to finish him off with a choke in the second round. Stann bounced back with a TKO finish of Alessio Sakara before dropping 2 straight to Michael Bisping and Wanderlei Silva. The fight with Silva was at Light Heavyweight and although Stann lost by TKO in this back and forth battle he would again earn Fight of The Night Honors.
Brian Stann would announce on July 11th 2013 on the MMA Hour that he was officially retiring. He said he would still be involved with the UFC Pre & Post fight shows and he will also be announcing college football ACC games for Fox Sports.
