Former Marine Brian Stann heads to Japan for his next fight, main-eventing a March 3 card on FUEL TV. (USA Today Sports photo by Tom Szczerbowski)
Forget the Navy — if you want to see the world, join the UFC.
Former Marine Brian Stann will fight his third consecutive bout outside the U.S. on March 3, traveling to Saitama Super Arena, north of Tokyo, to face Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva in a 205-pound headliner for UFC on FUEL TV 8, according to our good friends at MMAJunkie.com. It’s a one-time-only return light heavyweight, the former WEC 205-pound champ tweeted early Thursday morning. (He’ll be fine for the cut back down to middleweight; he knows a guy.)
More from the MMAJunkie report: It’s a homecoming of sorts for Stann (12-5), who was born at Japan’s Yokota Airbase. It’s the first time Silva’s fought in Japan since 2006, when he was knocked out by Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in the first round of a one-night, four-fighter, open-weight tournament run by the now-defunct Pride promotion. “The Axe Murderer” is 34-12-1 with fights against UFC legends Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (Silva won two, lost one), Chuck Liddell (loss), Keith Jardine (loss), Tito Ortiz (loss) and Vitor Belfort (loss, in 44 seconds, at something called “UFC 17.5”). He’s been a professional since 1996.
Stann fell to Michael “The Count” Bisping in Toronto in September as part of UFC 152 and defeated Alessio Sakara via first-round knockout at UFC on FUEL TV 2 in Sweden in April. His last fight on U.S. soil was an October 2011 submission loss to pool training partner Chael Sonnen. Silva beat Bisping by decision in 2010; Sonnen and Sakara are among the few fighters not on the veteran’s dance card.
Bell time is set for 10 a.m. in Japan, according to an MMAMania.com report — good news for service members with early bedtimes.
