by Steven Marrocco
Well, Brian Stann's prediction came true. Chael Sonnen (25-11-1 MMA, 4-4 UFC) has offered him none of the insults that might have been expected."I told everybody from the start that I didn't think it was going to happen, and I've said this a couple of times where I believe that Chael is very genuine when he says that if he has a problem with somebody, he'll speak it, and when he doesn't have a problem with somebody, he won't," Stann (11-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) told MMAjunkie.com.
From the tone of the pre-fight talk, Sonnen has no problems with Stann. The two have been nothing but respectful toward each other.
Isn't Stann just a little disappointed, though? If nothing else, a few good jabs might have provided some entertainment in the buildup to their fight, which takes place at UFC 136 on Saturday at Houston's Toyota Center. The event's main card airs live on pay-per-view, and preliminary action airs live on Spike TV and streams on Facebook.
Former Marine and Iraq war veteran Stann has had enough entertainment to last a lifetime, so no.
"I also wouldn't have taken it personally anyway if there was anything used to generate hype," he said. "But I really think that our skill sets and the weight of this fight has generated all the hype it needs."
The weight he's referring to is what's next for the winner. Before he ran headlong into the California State Athletic Commission, Sonnen was due for an immediate rematch with champ Anderson Silva after their electrifying first meeting at UFC 117. A second meeting was the obvious way to answer the question of whether Sonnen's dominant-until-the-last-round performance had been a fluke, or if he really had the champ's number.
While it hasn't exactly been confirmed that the winner of Saturday's fight will get a title shot, UFC president Dana White thinks it "should be." That leaves Stann as the only roadblock to the highly anticipated rematch.
And by Sonnen's words, it's quite a roadblock. The onetime middleweight challenger said Stann represents such a threat that his rise has been hindered by the qualms of potential opponents. There's evidence to support that statement – this past summer, former PRIDE champion Wanderlei Silva very publicly turned down a fight with Stann at UFC 130 because he didn't want to be the bad guy to fight a war hero on the Memorial Day card.
"Look, I'll speak for everybody, nobody wants to fight Brian, but somebody's got to," Sonnen said. "Our paths have to cross. We're just in the same weight class, it's not that big of a pool, and he's whooping everybody. If he quit beating everybody, than I wouldn't have to fight him, but he decided to go out and become one of the top guys."
Stann said he didn't have much of a choice in the matchup, either.
"This is the first fight where I just got a phone call and was told who I was fighting," he said. "Normally, there's a process. My manager throws out a couple of names, and then (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva throws out a couple of names. We were in that process, then all of a sudden after UFC 132 when Chris Leben knocked out Wanderlei Silva, it was 48 hours later. Boom, this is who you're fighting."
As the phrase goes, then, it is what it is. They've got a job to do. It's not something they're necessarily looking forward to, but there just aren't a lot of choices. Sitting out potential fights is almost never a good idea, and both ultimately want to fight Silva.
"I don't take it as something where Chael's going to go light on me," Stann said. "I still fully anticipate ... the guy who's going to double-leg takedown and try and push my head through the canvas."
And in the heat of that moment, it won't matter much what has or hasn't been said two months prior.
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