Tom Szczerbowski-USA Today Sports
UFC middleweight, Brian Stann, has finally decided to call it career today, which was announced on The MMA Hour with host Ariel Helwani. Stann revealed to Helwani that he just didn’t want to roll the dice anymore in terms of fighting.
Fighters over the years, especially in boxing, take a tremendous amount of punishment and sometimes sustain injuries that will last a lifetime. It’s good to see Stann go out on his own terms, and he will always be remembered as a WEC champion, who brought a tenacious, exciting style each time he stepped inside the cage. Now, he gets to spend precious time with his family and seek out other ventures for his career.
In his WEC tenure, he would defeat the likes of Steve Cantwell and go on to beat Doug Marshall to win the WEC light heavyweight championship. Transitioning to the UFC, Stann moved to the middleweight division, where he would rack up three straight wins over fighters such as Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago.
Stann is coming off two consecutive losses to Wanderlei Silva and Michael Bisping, which is part of the reason he is hanging up the gloves. It’s good to see him move on with his career in the broadcasting department, where he will cover UFC events as well as some college football.
He will always be remembered for his exciting, relentless style inside the cage, and he is truly a class-act, having served in the Marines for his country. He is a patriot and has done so much for fighters coming out of the military who need help finding stable jobs. Stann will always be a fan favorite, and we wish him the best in all of his future endeavors.
