thedrifter
05-23-07, 08:01 AM
Marine makes martial arts his fight
By Ray Parrillo
Inquirer Staff Writer
Nowadays, Brian Stann is a combatant in the professional sport of mixed martial arts, and says his military experience is a benefit in World Extreme Cagefighting: "I know there's no one shooting at me in a cage."
When Brian Stann steps into a cage to take on an opponent who is well-equipped to do him harm in the professional sport of mixed martial arts, there's not a trace of fear coursing through his sculpted body.
There's a good reason why.
"I know there's no one shooting at me in a cage," said Stann, a 26-year-old first lieutenant in the Marines who was raised in Scranton.
Therefore, his life is not at risk, as it was during a harrowing week in May 2005 when Stann and his regiment had the task of securing a bridge along the Euphrates River in Iraq, near the Syrian border in a town called Karabilah.
Stann and about 40 members of his Third Battalion, Second Marine Division, faced machine-gun fire, improvised explosive devices, suicide bombers, and booby traps before they seized the area around the bridge.
A tank was hit and four Marines were wounded and under continued assault before Stann and Sgt. Luke Miller rescued them and had them evacuated by helicopter. Stann earned a Silver Star for heroism.
"We had to move to and from the bridge three times, a distance of about five miles," he said. "The last half-mile was through urban terrain, and that's where the ambush was most significant."
Stann, who played linebacker at the Naval Academy, returned to Iraq for a second tour that ended Jan. 24. He is now a company commander at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Part of his duty is combat training. He said he had long had a zest for combat, and he became hooked on martial arts when he was training to become an infantry officer in Quantico, Va.
"I love it," he said. "My family loves it. I'm not really into tennis, golf or watching television. This is what I really like to do. I got addicted to the martial arts when I took a couple courses at Quantico. I knew in high school I couldn't do a regular job, and I wanted to be in the military. Combat is what I'm best at."
That addiction made World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) a natural attraction to him. His career began in 2006 shortly after he proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Teressa Ruspi, on the 50-yard line at Lincoln Financial Field after the Eagles-Redskins game on New Year's Day. Now Stann's wife, Ruspi was an Eagles cheerleader.
"I had heard from one of her friends that she dreamed of being proposed to on the 50-yard line," said Stann, who called himself an avid Eagles fan. "I was going to wait, but I was going to war, and that was Teressa's last Eagles game. She was completely surprised."
Stann, who was born on Yokota Air Base in Japan but moved to Scranton when he was 2, has won his first two WEC fights, each with first-round knockouts. He will take on Craig Zellner on June 3 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The match will be carried live on the Versus network.
The bouts have three five-minute rounds, except for a title fight, which has five rounds. There are several weight classes. At 205 pounds, Stann is a light heavyweight. He said that there was an honor to the sport, and that it was relatively safe.
"The rules and referees are really sharp," he said. "They're out to protect the players. I've played 16 years of football and had more serious injuries than in mixed martial arts."
Ask him to describe his workout regimen and the 6-foot-1 Stann will leave you breathless. It begins at 5 a.m. at a gym for strength and conditioning.
"Power lifting, heavy lifting, then some interval runs for cardio and maybe some shadowboxing or pad work," he said. "At about 7 a.m., I go through my office routine with my Marines at Camp Lejeune. Then from 6 to 8 at night I do my really intense training."
Stann strongly believes his experiences in Iraq give him a psychological advantage over his opponents, which is important because his military obligations make a consistent training schedule difficult to maintain.
"Having been in combat makes the cage fighting a lot simpler for me," he said. "The mind-set I take into the fight gives me an advantage because of what I've been through and what I've done.
"I mean, when I see my opponent across the cage, normally he's a little nervous. He doesn't want to lose. He doesn't want to get hurt. There's going to come a time when he's in an adverse situation and I'm going to exploit it until the fight's over.
"And I know when I go into a cage, none of my Marines are going to die in my arms. All I have to do is go out and defeat that one guy, and I have 15 minutes to do it. Soon as that cage door closes, I feel at home."
Contact staff writer Ray Parrillo
at 215-854-2743 or rparrillo@phillynews.com.
Ellie
By Ray Parrillo
Inquirer Staff Writer
Nowadays, Brian Stann is a combatant in the professional sport of mixed martial arts, and says his military experience is a benefit in World Extreme Cagefighting: "I know there's no one shooting at me in a cage."
When Brian Stann steps into a cage to take on an opponent who is well-equipped to do him harm in the professional sport of mixed martial arts, there's not a trace of fear coursing through his sculpted body.
There's a good reason why.
"I know there's no one shooting at me in a cage," said Stann, a 26-year-old first lieutenant in the Marines who was raised in Scranton.
Therefore, his life is not at risk, as it was during a harrowing week in May 2005 when Stann and his regiment had the task of securing a bridge along the Euphrates River in Iraq, near the Syrian border in a town called Karabilah.
Stann and about 40 members of his Third Battalion, Second Marine Division, faced machine-gun fire, improvised explosive devices, suicide bombers, and booby traps before they seized the area around the bridge.
A tank was hit and four Marines were wounded and under continued assault before Stann and Sgt. Luke Miller rescued them and had them evacuated by helicopter. Stann earned a Silver Star for heroism.
"We had to move to and from the bridge three times, a distance of about five miles," he said. "The last half-mile was through urban terrain, and that's where the ambush was most significant."
Stann, who played linebacker at the Naval Academy, returned to Iraq for a second tour that ended Jan. 24. He is now a company commander at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Part of his duty is combat training. He said he had long had a zest for combat, and he became hooked on martial arts when he was training to become an infantry officer in Quantico, Va.
"I love it," he said. "My family loves it. I'm not really into tennis, golf or watching television. This is what I really like to do. I got addicted to the martial arts when I took a couple courses at Quantico. I knew in high school I couldn't do a regular job, and I wanted to be in the military. Combat is what I'm best at."
That addiction made World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) a natural attraction to him. His career began in 2006 shortly after he proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Teressa Ruspi, on the 50-yard line at Lincoln Financial Field after the Eagles-Redskins game on New Year's Day. Now Stann's wife, Ruspi was an Eagles cheerleader.
"I had heard from one of her friends that she dreamed of being proposed to on the 50-yard line," said Stann, who called himself an avid Eagles fan. "I was going to wait, but I was going to war, and that was Teressa's last Eagles game. She was completely surprised."
Stann, who was born on Yokota Air Base in Japan but moved to Scranton when he was 2, has won his first two WEC fights, each with first-round knockouts. He will take on Craig Zellner on June 3 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The match will be carried live on the Versus network.
The bouts have three five-minute rounds, except for a title fight, which has five rounds. There are several weight classes. At 205 pounds, Stann is a light heavyweight. He said that there was an honor to the sport, and that it was relatively safe.
"The rules and referees are really sharp," he said. "They're out to protect the players. I've played 16 years of football and had more serious injuries than in mixed martial arts."
Ask him to describe his workout regimen and the 6-foot-1 Stann will leave you breathless. It begins at 5 a.m. at a gym for strength and conditioning.
"Power lifting, heavy lifting, then some interval runs for cardio and maybe some shadowboxing or pad work," he said. "At about 7 a.m., I go through my office routine with my Marines at Camp Lejeune. Then from 6 to 8 at night I do my really intense training."
Stann strongly believes his experiences in Iraq give him a psychological advantage over his opponents, which is important because his military obligations make a consistent training schedule difficult to maintain.
"Having been in combat makes the cage fighting a lot simpler for me," he said. "The mind-set I take into the fight gives me an advantage because of what I've been through and what I've done.
"I mean, when I see my opponent across the cage, normally he's a little nervous. He doesn't want to lose. He doesn't want to get hurt. There's going to come a time when he's in an adverse situation and I'm going to exploit it until the fight's over.
"And I know when I go into a cage, none of my Marines are going to die in my arms. All I have to do is go out and defeat that one guy, and I have 15 minutes to do it. Soon as that cage door closes, I feel at home."
Contact staff writer Ray Parrillo
at 215-854-2743 or rparrillo@phillynews.com.
Ellie