Captain America UPDATE: Brian Stann Assumes Role
By Siri Karri
With the departure of Randy Couture after losing his teeth at UFC 129, there is a gaping void in the UFC. Randy wasn’t just a pioneer of the sport of mixed martial arts: he was an everyman. Despite being a champion and recognized internationally, his success in the UFC never seemed unattainable. People could see themselves in Randy, the diminutive man with a receding hairline somehow managing to body slam the younger, stronger competition.
Add to that his coy smile, humble demeanor, and military background and it’s not hard to see why he is affectionately referred to as “Captain America”; he defined every quality America admires. With his departure, it has suddenly become apparent that none of the current UFC greats can step into that role.
-Jose Aldo, Lyoto Machida, Shogun Rua, and Anderson Silva’s limited English effects their communication with the UFC fan base.
– Jon Jones, while humble and charismatic, is an athletic freak of nature. It’s very hard to identify with a man who looks like he’s punching his opponents from the next county over.
– Georges St. Pierre lacks a certain underdog factor; for the past 3 or 4 years we have never gone into a fight going “Gee, I think Georges might lose this one”.
– Fighters and Brock Lesnar and Quinton Jackson while popular, give off a rather thuggish impression and few wish to emulate them. They are terrific fighters but their willingness to play the villain certainly polarizes fans.
The UFC has gained enough momentum to where it may not need Randy, but it’s always a tremendous boost to a sport to have an everyman. Now that Captain America has handed in his gloves, who will don the mantle of America’s hero?
Enter Brian “All American” Stann.
Summarizing Stann’s career before MMA needs only one phrase: American Hero. He is the proud owner of a Silver Star, the 3rd highest military honor attainable. On May 8, 2005, Lt. Stann began “Operation Matador” during which he and the 42 marines under his command were ambushed by insurgents. For six days, Stann coordinated a series of attacks that eventually allowed he and his troops relief. He didn’t lose a single marine.
I’ll be the first to admit that despite Stann’s tenure in World Extreme Cage fighting and his fight of the night performance at UFC Jones vs. Matyushenko, I hadn’t heard of him. When he was announced as the opponent for Chris Leben at UFC 125, I suspect my reaction was similar to many:
“Who’s that nobody replacing Wanderlei Silva?” Then we saw the fight.
Leben got Stann in a clinch, landing hard left uppercuts that staggered Stann. Somehow, as Stann backpedaled away from a charging Chris Leben, he caught him with a left right to the chin that dropped him. Seeing as Leben’s skull is made from depleted uranium casings, Leben popped right back up . . . only to be dropped by a series of liver shots. Seeming more annoyed than anything, Leben got up again until BAM! Stann delivered a knee to Chris’s forehead for the Technical Knockout.
As I was picking my jaw up from the floor, it turned out the Brian Stann show wasn’t over. Even as Joe Rogan was giving his customary congrats to the winner, Stann had nothing but praise for Leben’s toughness. Then he dedicates his victory to a friend who recently lost his life in the line of duty. During the press conference, he doesn’t so much “call out” Wanderlei Silva as he “politely asks him for an opportunity to face him”. He’s that humble. Then some callous reporter asks how his friend died.
Now Stann could be forgiven for snapping at the reporter, perhaps even refusing to answer. After all, it is a little insensitive to question the man about a personal tragedy when he is riding high on a knockout victory. Instead, Stann slowly measures his words, explaining the nature of his friend’s death and how they would both teach martial arts classes to help Marines cope with the stress from combat. No tears, no anger, just the same old respectful Brian Stann.
Flawless fight, flawless victory speech, flawless press conference all from a relatively unknown fighter. In baseball terms, Brian Stann hit it out of the park and then thanked the pitcher for his time.
Here’s the great thing: I didn’t watch the hype video until AFTER the fight. All those things about Brian Stann’s military career and his achievements inside the WEC, I looked those up on my own time; Stann didn’t go bragging about them. He generated enough interest in me that I genuinely wanted to know more about him.
And that’s the true beauty of Brian Stann. He doesn’t need hype videos or smack talk, his personality and demeanor sell themselves with little effort. He isn’t a superfreak athlete who knew karate by age 3. He isn’t a phenom whose meteoric rise was written in the stars. He’s a normal guy with a normal life who, through hard work and dedication, has achieved great things.
He is an America’s everyman, truly an “All American”. Not one person who has seen the Chris Leben fight or heard Stann’s interviews dislikes him. I’m not exaggerating either. Stann’s intended opponent after Leben was Wanderlei Silva…until Wanderlei refused the fight.
Why?
He didn’t want to be the bad guy.
This is Wanderlei, the man who has legions of fans on every continent. The man who even against fan favorites such as Keith Jardine, Quinton Jackson, and Rich Franklin received an ear-splitting majority of the cheers . . . and he’s afraid of being the villain? That truly says something about Stann.
At UFC 130 Brian Stann will instead face off against Jorge Santiago, a consensus top 10 middleweight whose most recent Sengoku title defense was considered for fight of the year. Should Stann once again defeat this top prospect, it will be apparent that Randy Couture has found his worthy successor. The UFC will have a fighter that they are proud to promote not just because he is a talented fighter, but because he is a person.
That even when Stann hangs up his gloves sometime down the road, budding martial artists will still go: “I want to be like Brian Stann”.
Captain America isn’t gone ladies and gentlemen. He just has a new name.