Brian Stann Speaks on UFC on Fuel TV Main Event Bout with Wanderlei Silva
Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 02.27.2013
Stann's made peace with fear of defeat...
MMAjunkie recently spoke with UFC middleweight fighter Brian Stann. On Saturday, March 2, Stann faces Wanderlei Silva in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 8 taking place at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. Here are some highlights:
Stann on making peace with fear of defeat: "I always walk in there prepared for that. I make peace with the fear of defeat...I think that fear holds you back from putting forth your best performance. If you walk out there thinking to yourself, 'I have to win,' you almost fight with that mental emergency brake on. It holds you back, and you fight not to lose instead of going for it...In the fights I've had where I've gone for the win and just got caught or made some mistakes or whatever, I still get frustrated, but I can live with that. I can make those adjustments. In fights that you lose where you defeated yourself before you went out there and didn't put forth your best effort, those are the ones that haunt you. That's why I try to make peace with the fact that, hey, I may lose this fight. But they're paying me to go out there and fight hard. That's the only thing I have to do."
Stann's thoughts on Silva: "One thing he has, no matter how old he gets, is a right hand that he throws heavy and throws often. Even in the fights that he's lost, he's severely hurt his opponents at some point or another."
Stann on the fight being held at 205 lbs. even though both of them have been fighting at middleweight: "To me, it's a middleweight fight and we just have a gentleman's agreement that we're not going to cut weight" – and against an aging legend who's definitely closer to the end of his career than the beginning.
Stann on his goals for this fight and 2013: "For me, coming off a loss, I don't know. It's a one-off outside of 185 [pounds], but the bottom line is, does a win over Wanderlei Silva mean something? My biggest focus is I need to go undefeated in 2013. I need to finish Wanderlei Silva and then fight a top 10 opponent next. ... It's a big fight, an important fight for me. I think a good performance here helps me get co-main events and possibly main events in the future."
