Professional mixed martial arts is filled with so many different kinds of people from all walks of life; rich, poor, fat, slim, doctors, gangsters, actors, real estate agents, nice, mean, funny and the list goes on.
Brian Stann is one of the most unique personalities within MMA.
In Stann’s new book, Heart for the Fight, released by Zenith Press on Sept. 15, the former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) light heavyweight champion gives us an autobiographical look into his life, what’s made and molded him into who he is and how he got to where he is now.
Some people may wonder why someone who has only been fighting professionally since 2006 would write a book, and even more importantly, why you should shell out the money to buy it. I asked that same question.
It is true Stann has only been fighting in professional MMA since 2006, but in one way or another he’s been fighting his whole life, and really that’s what this book is about.
One thing Stann may be most known for inside the Octagon is his heart; well, that comes from somewhere and that’s what this book is about. He takes you along on those stories and invites you into those situations in his own life that have given him “heart for the fight.”
After all, life is a fight. Everyone has their own fights in life. And Stann takes us on a journey through some of his most memorable fights inside the cage, on the football field and on the battlefields of Iraq.
As the book begins, Stann is the WEC champion and he loses to Steve Cantwell in his first title defense. The book ends with his rematch against Cantwell in the UFC. He still has the same heart, but he’s grown as a fighter, he’s smarter, he has new coaches, he’s changed in many ways and of course he wins.
And in between the two fights with Cantwell, Stann tells his story of going to the Naval Academy and then to the Marines and to Iraq where he was deep in the trenches of battle. He talks about the intensity and terrors of war. He makes you feel what it was like to be part of his platoon that came under attack by insurgents.
Stann was awarded a Silver Star for his valor in combat and he takes the reader into those very battles that earned him the prestigious medal.
Yes this is a sports biography but it’s much more. It’s for every Marine or soldier who’s been to war. It’s for every MMA fighter who has experienced the lows and highs of winning and losing and it’s for every person who realizes that in life there will be battles and you have to have heart for the fight.
You can pick up your copy of Heart for the Fight at your local book store or Amazon.com.