Marine Corps veteran Brian Stann added another line to his impressive resume this month, as the Silver Star recipient, mixed martial arts champion, UFC and college football commentator, Hiring Heroes CEO and real-estate executive rejoined the cage-fighting club via the front office of the Professional Fighters League. Stann will serve as head of the fighters and competition/rules committee for the PFL, playing a key role in the organization’s plans to become a “fighters first” league, according to a news release. A PFL primer for non-MMA addicts: The group will kick off what amounts to a series of yearlong tournaments next month,…
Browsing: Marine Corps
What’s been a busy month so far for military mixed martial arts news was supposed to peak Saturday night with the UFC debut of a former Army sniper. Why that didn’t happen, plus some notes you may have missed from the military MMA scene over the last few days: Todhunter ‘feeling better’ after missing UFC 188 The 40-pound weight cut faced by Andrew “The Sniper” Todhunter to make 170 pounds for first UFC fight took such focus that preparing for his opponent, Russian Albert Tumenov, was a secondary — if that — concern. The former soldier told Army Times he was “in the 180s” on Wednesday afternoon, but by…
Eddie LeBaron, a long-serving NFL quarterback known as “The Littlest General” thanks to his 5-foot-7 frame and stellar military record as a Marine officer during the Korean War, died Wednesday in Stockton, California. He was 85. LeBaron earned his commission in 1950 after graduating from the University of the Pacific, where his two-way play (QB on offense, safety on defense) netted him All-America honors as a senior. The LeBaron-led 1949 team went 11-0 and averaged 52 points per game, according to his online bio hosted by the College Football Hall of Fame, where he was enshrined in 1980. LeBaron signed with the…
Not much else is known about the event, other than this tidbit appearing on Boston.com, a web publication of The Boston Globe: Three surviving Medal of Honor recipients will be honored at Fenway Park before Game 1 of the World Series begins Wednesday. According to Peter Abraham, soldiers Salvatore Giunta, Clinton Romesha and William Swenson will be recognized before the first pitch. First pitch for the series opener between the Cardinals and Red Sox is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. In addition, Abraham reported, retired Marine Sgt. Dan Clark will perform “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch.
Army captured the men’s and women’s titles for a second consecutive year in the Armed Forces Softball Tournament held last week at Fort Sill, Okla. Air Force finished runner-up in both brackets. The Army women beat Air Force in the championship game Sept. 18, 6-3. Army finished the tournament unbeaten and went 8-0 in round-robin play. The Army men won their gold medal Sept. 19, beating Air Force, 23-8. In this game, Army never trailed, taking control of the game with a 10-run fourth inning. Army scored 217 runs in nine games, an average of 24.1 runs per game. The…
A Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., recently set powerlifting world records in a competition in Las Vegas. Staff Sgt. Matthew Reep, assault chief of Division Schools, 1st Marine Division, set marks for a 165-pound person at 391 lbs. on the bench press, 556 lbs. on the deadlift, and 1,396 lbs. in combined weight for a bench press, deadlift and squats. Reep, 39, said he excelled in weightlifting in high school. He has competed in six national powerlifting championship tournaments since 2009, winning 11 events, according to a Marine Corps news release. “Ever since I started lifting I always just…
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…
Five quick midweek military sports links, starting with an appreciation: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCliUYT6PQc[/youtube] 1. NFL Films and sprint football. Steve Sabol, president of NFL Films, son of its founder and one of the reasons so many people watch professional football on Sundays, died yesterday at 69 after a long fight with brain cancer. Read more about him from our friends at USA Today here. The video above, a 2004 NFL Films short on sprint football, features an Army-Navy showdown and showcases the NFL Films style football fans have come to love — up-close action, a soaring soundtrack, eyeball-gripping interviews, seamless edits, all…
Before the 2012 Paralympic Games began, Military Times introduced you to the current and former service members who’d be going for gold in London. The games wrapped up with a massive closing ceremony Sunday, so here’s a quick recap of eight military-related medal winners, with results compiled from the comprehensive London 2012 official website: Navy Lt. Brad Snyder, swimming –Medal haul: Two golds (400- and 100-meter freestyle), one silver (50m free). –What’s more: The Washington Post recounts how Snyder’s second gold came on a meaningful anniversary. The naval officer also competed in butterfly, breaststroke, backstroke and individual medley events. Oscar…
With opening ceremonies in London hours away, here are some last-minute links for a handful of military medal hopefuls. As competition begins, remember to check with our good friends at USA Today for all the up-to-the-minute results, military and otherwise. Herring honors daughter. As one of three team captains, Marine Sgt. Jamel Herring will lead the U.S. boxing team into competition in London. But his walk into the opening ceremonies will take a different kind of strength; as the New York Post reports, Herring’s infant daughter died exactly three years ago. Key quote: “I’ll think about her, but I also…
