Brian Stann Biography

Fighters often say that they are ready to die in a cage, but for Brian Stann these words are not an empty phrase. He fought in Iraq and saw death every day, and in the UFC he came in the status of a national hero. And although Stann did not become a top, it is impossible not to respect him. Unlike them, I am used to fighting for my life, ”said Stann. Stann was a leader since childhood.

He entered the Military Academy-in the army he learned to fight Stann was born at the Yokota air base in Japan. Brian was two when his father left, and his mother transported him with her sister to Pennsylvania. Mother raised children alone and worked as a nurse in the hospice. She disappeared on shifts, and Brian grew on the street, where he constantly fought. In the third grade, he did this for the first time - he beat a neighbor’s boy who teased him from that fight from Stann forever remained a scar.

Since childhood, he was the main thing, and other children simply followed him, ”recalled Stann's mother. At school, Brian became interested in American football and became a star. He was so good that in the graduation class the best universities of the country hunted for him, but her hand injury put a cross on ambitions. Then Stann decided to enter the Naval Academy: “In high school, I noticed that I have a different type of personality.

I treat things very seriously, and many people noticed it in me. I decided that I would find more like-minded people in a place as the Naval Academy. And it worked. " Brian continued to play at the Academy, but did not dream of a career in sports - he wanted to command the troops. After the Academy, he hit the Marine Corps, where he began to engage in martial arts. They were required for infantrymen, but for Stann became a passion - he trained in the evenings, and on weekends participated in amateur fights.

He rose to the captain, and when the United States entered the troops to Iraq to M, he went to war, but did not stop training: “After the first trip to Iraq, all that I wanted was to conduct the first professional battle. This is what I dedicated to myself on weekends and every evening after service. ” Stann fulfilled his dream and became the commander. But in Iraq, he went through hell: the war was ambushed with the detachment for Stann as a nightmare when he got to the front line.

Brian commanded a detachment of marine infantry, when in May Go was ambushed near the bridge over the Euphrates River. The bridge led to the city of Karabila and served as a key channel for the rebels - its capture was part of the American operation "Matador". The marine infantrymen rode along an empty road when they saw a pickup, at the wheel of which the boy was sitting.

The military did not have time to react - the pickupa crashed into one of the tanks and the explosion thundered. The rebels opened fire on the marines - even grenade launchers were used. Stann realized that his detachment was ambushed. Under shelling, he pulled four wounded from the tank and helped the detachment to fight off. In the evening, the helicopter took the wounded, but Stann still hears their screams, as well as the wide-open eyes of a suicide bomber.

For six days, Stann and 42 marine infantrymen held a position. They managed to capture the lands south of the bridge and control the supply lines through Karabila. The operation ended with success all the fighters survived, and Stann's heroism brought him a silver star the third in status of the US military award, honored from President George Bush and popularity in the media.

For me, this is not a very funny story, so I try to avoid it. I just don't want to repeat this, ”said Stann. Stann served at the front when he made his debut in MMA. He dedicated the battles to the dead comrades Stann began to speak back in the army and took off the runs to fight. In m, he made his debut in MMA and won 6 victories in a row of 5 - a knockout in the first round, after which he quit the army in a year to devote himself to sports.

Stann’s wife admits that she was relieved: “I'm not afraid for him anymore. Brian does not like to talk about Iraq, he keeps everything inside. But when he goes into the cage, he releases emotions out. ” Before the battles, Stann recalled the dead comrades, and especially Lieutenant Travis Menon, his best friend who died, fighting in the province of Anbar. Going to the UFC in M, Stann dedicated the battles to a friend, as well as the four fighters of the detachment who died before his eyes.

But in battle, it still seems to me that I am struggling for life. My rivals have to rise to this level if they want to win. I have been where they were not. I saw what they did not see. In the cage, they fight not only with me, but also with my military past, ”Brian said. Stann admits that the battles will not be compared to the fact that he survived in a six -day ambush in the carbill: “These are different things.

If the UFC allows opponents to go out with home -made explosive devices, and will put snipers on the stands that will shoot at me - it may be like it. ” Stann did not become a top - he did not have enough struggle. He combined the battles with work in charity, Stann ended his career in m after defeats Michael Bisping and Vanderlei Silve. He has a weak record, but he fought in the UFC with the best and showed a sight.Brian was a drummer and had problems with the fighters, but fans forever remembered a podkhotsy shirt.

And although the organization PR Stanne as a hero of war, he did not like to remember the past: “People think that if I was a military man, then I support violence. But the best memories of the war were the restoration of schools and the opening of shops on the streets of Iraq. Infusion of money into the country's economy, assistance to injured families. For me, the best moments are people whom I have never met, and for whom peacetime has come.

” Stann admits that he still cannot recover from the experienced. He found himself in sports, but many of his colleagues were on the sidelines. Stann again became a leader for them - he created a charitable organization that helps with the employment of war veterans. The unemployment rate among them is more than half the average in the country, and Stann helped hundreds of people find a job.