Dustin Green of The Fight Fix caught up with UFC middleweight Brian Stann after his big UFC 130 TKO win over Jorge Santiago. Stann talks about the fight, what Memorial Day means to him as a veteran and his non-profit Hire Heroes USA that helps discharged veterans find work.
You can also see The Fight Fix at CSNWashington.com.
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Transcription in the full entry.
Rampage Jackson
21 secs, On Hamill's gameplan: "I got in there with him. I saw how far he was standing away from me, I could tell he was settin' me up to take me down and he had some great low leg kicks. It made me not do exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted come and throw some bungalows on him and drop these big D's on him! But he's a tough guy. I couldn't do exactly what I wanted."
Matt Hamill
40 secs, Hamill on Rampage: "I did all I could, but Rampage is pretty good at fighting. It was a really good experience when I faced Rampage. But I will come back again."
Rampage Jackson
50 secs, on Hamill: "That guy got a hard head. I don't think nobody's ever gonna knock him out. Good luck to him. He's tough. I think Matt [has] a long future in this sport, cuz I'm tellin' you, I was trynna knock his head off!"
Brian Stann
1:21, on his gameplan for Santiago: "We really expected him to move back and kinda bail out as I used my hands to respect my power and look probably to shoot underneath my punches or pick a shot, use his range, use his muay thai to pick his shots as I punched. When people do that, they normally leave those legs behind. We wanted to set everything up by softening up his legs and then maybe the hands and the body shots will come. And it worked well for me."
1:55, on not going for broke after hurting Santiago in the 1st: "Man, it's Jorge Santiago. How many wars have we seen this guy in? I started hitting him and I noticed he's recovering. I didn't hurt him as bad as I'd hoped. He's just a tough, tough guy and he's crafty. I knew if I got a little wild there, you never know. An omoplata, a triangle, something could shoot up, so I wanted to be smart. Didn't wanna gas myself out because a lot of fighters make that mistake. There were 2 more rounds to go. Came out in the 2nd round expecting him to wanna go for the takedown at that point - which he did. Was able to stuff those shots and then after he kinda wore himself out trynna take me down a lil' bit, I upped the tempo and was able to get the finish."
2:30, on people viewing him as a fulltime mixed martial artist & not a military man doing MMA on the side: "I believe so. I think if they didn't realize that last time, they'd have to realize that now. Lotta people picked me to get cut from this organization long ago. It's just not my style to do that. I've been through plenty of adversity in my life. This doesn't define me, fighting doesn't define me. This is simply something that I love to do. It goes right in line with what I do for a living, which is run a charitable organization called Hire Heroes USA that gets veterans jobs. Both go hand and hand. I'm able to get a huge amount of media for that organization being a nonprofit that we would never get and it's helped us grow and hire more people and get more vets jobs. At the end of the day, that's what's more important to me."
3:16, on what he wants people to remember on Memorial Day: "They just have to remember and take a minute their families and reflect upon the sacrifices that were made to make this country what it is. I've been to other countries. I've seen how other cultures struggle. We still to this day - even with our economy - have more opportunity than any other country on earth. We have to be grateful for that and it's because of those men and women who've given all: given their lives for this country and our democracy and our freedoms. And they need to thank them. That's what this weekend's all about."
You can also see The Fight Fix at CSNWashington.com.
SBNation and Comcast SportsNet are proud to bring you The Fight Fix here on BloodyElbow.com and SBNation.com/MMA every week.
Transcription in the full entry.
Rampage Jackson
21 secs, On Hamill's gameplan: "I got in there with him. I saw how far he was standing away from me, I could tell he was settin' me up to take me down and he had some great low leg kicks. It made me not do exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted come and throw some bungalows on him and drop these big D's on him! But he's a tough guy. I couldn't do exactly what I wanted."
Matt Hamill
40 secs, Hamill on Rampage: "I did all I could, but Rampage is pretty good at fighting. It was a really good experience when I faced Rampage. But I will come back again."
Rampage Jackson
50 secs, on Hamill: "That guy got a hard head. I don't think nobody's ever gonna knock him out. Good luck to him. He's tough. I think Matt [has] a long future in this sport, cuz I'm tellin' you, I was trynna knock his head off!"
Brian Stann
1:21, on his gameplan for Santiago: "We really expected him to move back and kinda bail out as I used my hands to respect my power and look probably to shoot underneath my punches or pick a shot, use his range, use his muay thai to pick his shots as I punched. When people do that, they normally leave those legs behind. We wanted to set everything up by softening up his legs and then maybe the hands and the body shots will come. And it worked well for me."
1:55, on not going for broke after hurting Santiago in the 1st: "Man, it's Jorge Santiago. How many wars have we seen this guy in? I started hitting him and I noticed he's recovering. I didn't hurt him as bad as I'd hoped. He's just a tough, tough guy and he's crafty. I knew if I got a little wild there, you never know. An omoplata, a triangle, something could shoot up, so I wanted to be smart. Didn't wanna gas myself out because a lot of fighters make that mistake. There were 2 more rounds to go. Came out in the 2nd round expecting him to wanna go for the takedown at that point - which he did. Was able to stuff those shots and then after he kinda wore himself out trynna take me down a lil' bit, I upped the tempo and was able to get the finish."
2:30, on people viewing him as a fulltime mixed martial artist & not a military man doing MMA on the side: "I believe so. I think if they didn't realize that last time, they'd have to realize that now. Lotta people picked me to get cut from this organization long ago. It's just not my style to do that. I've been through plenty of adversity in my life. This doesn't define me, fighting doesn't define me. This is simply something that I love to do. It goes right in line with what I do for a living, which is run a charitable organization called Hire Heroes USA that gets veterans jobs. Both go hand and hand. I'm able to get a huge amount of media for that organization being a nonprofit that we would never get and it's helped us grow and hire more people and get more vets jobs. At the end of the day, that's what's more important to me."
3:16, on what he wants people to remember on Memorial Day: "They just have to remember and take a minute their families and reflect upon the sacrifices that were made to make this country what it is. I've been to other countries. I've seen how other cultures struggle. We still to this day - even with our economy - have more opportunity than any other country on earth. We have to be grateful for that and it's because of those men and women who've given all: given their lives for this country and our democracy and our freedoms. And they need to thank them. That's what this weekend's all about."