MMA Hot Stuff

Heart For The Fight - book review

Heart For The Fight

 

There have been a few Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters that have written books over the years. Some funny in nature. Some more serious about the sport and business of MMA.  And I’m the first one to say I barely have 15 minutes a day to spare to read another book written by a MMA fighter. But when I read the overview of  Brian Stann’s “Heart For The Fight” something was going to be different about this book.

The overview it gave of Stann’s early years growing up in a tough neighborhood and the struggles he endured were heart wrenching. And the hurdles he overcame at the Naval Academy were early indicators of his determination.

Stann also wrote about his experience as a commander in Iraq and the emotions he encountered while losing many friends to combat as well as being accused of something that could have been career ending, not to mention mentally and emotionally devastating for the average person.

In addition to how he got started in MMA, the highs of winning and the experience of winning the WEC Championship to meeting his now wife Teressa.

I started reading the book and found myself trying to hurry to get life’s day to day stuff done so I had more time to read more pages. Everyone takes away something different from every story. But for me, I saw how his early life’s struggles directly impacted him as an adult and how he dealt with the situations he faced. This wasn’t a book written about an athlete but rather the heroic spirit of a man that is going to accomplish a lot in his life. It made me appreciate the men and women that serve our country much more than I did before. I will admit to being more of an ostrich with my head in the sand when it comes to war. The news does a good job of not showing the lows of war, however Brian gave enough detail to get the visualization you can’t ignore or deny.  After seeing and experiencing what he did in Iraq, I can’t even imagine how a person can see the good in anything. Yet he had a way of talking about Teressa that made me see his heart is made of gold and not damaged by prior experiences.  An accomplishment of its own if you ask me.

I’ve been a huge fan of Brian’s since his early days in the WEC. But after reading this book, I’m an even bigger fan of his. The soldier. The fighter and the inspiring person he is.

I highly recommend this book! And I wish Brian the best of luck as he makes his middleweight debut tomorrow night against Mike Massenzio in San Diego at UFC on Versus.

And for Brian, "your heart is unbeatable. Bring that to every fight and you'll never lose..."

(anticipated release date of book is Sept 15, 2010)

Please follow him on twitter if you're not currently - and read more about his honorable charity work with Hire Heros USA.

 

WEC: Triple your pleasure!

This Sunday, August 3^rd, the WEC brings three times the fun with a stacked card that includes three title fights and some other great match-ups in the featherweight and bantamweight divisions.

 

Carlos Condit defends his welterweight title against Hiromitsu Miura. Condit, considered by many to be one of the top 10 welterweights in the world (and only one of 2 top 10 welterweights not in the UFC) brings his 21-4-0 record into the cage and has been unstoppable in the WEC. Condit is one of the most well rounded welterweights out there and is only getting better. He’s on a 7 fight win streak with all of his wins in the WEC coming by way of submission (and all but 1 in the first round!).

 

Miura, a veteran of Pancrase, DEEP and K-1 brings a 9-4 record and a 2 fight win streak into the cage. His last loss came at the hands of Jason “Mayhem” Miller in May ’07. With most of his wins coming by way of KO or TKO, one would think Miura would like to keep this fight standing. Unfortunately for him, Condit is no slouch on his feet. Miura is in for a tough fight, and it seems Condit has got to be a heavy favorite in this one.

 

Brian Stann takes on Steve Cantwell in his first title defense since winning the belt in decisive fashion with a KO of Doug Marshall in March. What can you say about Brian Stann? The man is 8-0 with all of his fights ending by TKO or KO, and even more impressive, he has finished all of his opponents in the first round.

Cantwell is 5-1 with 3 TKO’s and 2 submissions. His only loss was to, yes, Brian Stann by way of TKO in the first round. Stann is a former Marine that served in Iraq, so you’ve gotta believe that stepping into the cage for an organized fight is a walk in the park compared to what he saw and experienced while serving his country. I don’t see anyone in the WEC taking Stann’s belt, and eventually this guy is going to have to move to the UFC to truly test his skills.

 

In our last title fight of the night, Jamie Varner makes his first title defense against Marcus Hicks. Varner, with his 14-2 record brings a substantial amount of experience into this fight against Hicks, who sits at 10-0. If you saw Varner’s win over Rob McCullough you know his boxing skills are superb, and being a former Division I wrestler, we know his grappling is up to par as well.

Hicks, whose three WEC victories have all come by way of Guillotine Choke has his work cut out for him. However, Hicks is an explosive and powerful fighter that could catch Varner at any time. In his last fight with Ed Ratcliff he showed he’s got some serious power in his hands… that was before he caught him in a vicious Guillotine to end the fight.

 

Also on the card we’ll get to see one of my favorite featherweight fighters in Micah Miller. Micah, brother of UFC fighter Cole Miller, is bringing a 9-1 record into the cage against 10-1 Josh Grispi.

 

 

In other action, we'll see the introduction of Shane Roller to the WEC as he takes on Todd Moore. Roller, a three time All-American from Oklahoma State is the first of a team of three OSU wrestling stand-outs to make a debut in the WEC. He will be joined by his Team Takedown teammates Jake Rosholt and Johny Hendrikcs who make their debut on the September 10th card. They'll all be looking to mimic the success of another former OSU wrestling star that recently made a successful WEC debut in Mark Munoz.

 

This promises to be an exciting card!

 

WEC: The lighter weight classes have found a home!

Have you noticed that the WEC is really promoting the lighter weight classes? We all know that the UFC doesn’t feature weight classes below lightweight (155), but the WEC seems to be really pushing these fighters!

On this Sunday’s WEC card, only 3 of the 11 total fights take place in weight classes above lightweight. The WEC and UFC, although owned by the same company, have remained very separate entities and have said they will not have any co-promotions putting WEC fighters against UFC fighters.

 

The WEC has some great fighters in the higher weight classes, such as Brian Stann and Carlos Condit. However, the lighter fighters seem to be the WEC’s branding strength and what allows them to not compete for fans with the UFC, but instead share fans and find new fans.

Todays Random MMA Thoughts and Questions

First thought... will the fight between "JZ" (Gesias Calvancante) and Shinya Aoki finally happen??? It appears so, and it's about time. First JZ had to pull out due to injury, then when the fight finally did happen as part of the DREAM lightweight grand prix, it was ruled a no contest as JZ hit Aoki with illegal elbows to the back (too close to the spine).

The ending of that last (attempted) fight was disappointing to say the least. JZ was clearly upset at the outcome, as was Aoki for not being able to continue. We can only hope that both fighters come healthy, come to fight, and give fans the lightweight battle we all want to see and expect from two of the worlds top lightweights.

Can JZ keep it standing and use his striking to beat Aoki, the slick submission artist. Or will Aoki be able to get inside and take the fight to the mat? It's a tough call, but I'm going to pick JZ by decision. Unless Aoki comes out in a pair of crazy-ass tights like some of his other fights, then all bets are off!

Second thought... You may have heard that Carlos Condit signed a contract extension with the WEC. When is this guy going to make the move to the UFC? He's widely considered one of the top ten welterweights in the world, and has all but dominated every WEC challenger to come his way. John Alessio, second round submission... Brock Larson, first round submission... Carlo Prater first round submission. Who else does the WEC have to challenge this guy?

And Condit isn't the only one that could have a future in the UFC against some stiffer competition. How about WEC Light-heavyweight champion, Brian Stann? The guy is sitting at 6-0 with all his wins coming by TKO or KO, he has yet to have a fighter last beyond the first round with him, and he's just a machine. Keep your eye out for Brian Stann, this guy could make some waves with a higher level of competition.

But the question that really needs answering is... Is the WEC a feeder system for the UFC? Or is it going to stand-alone on it's own merits? Only time will tell.