Brian Stann Eyes A Shot At Anderson Silva
Posted on 13 Sep 2012
by MMAScoops.com Staff

Brian Stann recently spoke about training for Michael Bisping, wanting to fight Anderson Silva and more. Here are the highlights…

On Learning From His Loss to Sonnen: "I lost to Chael, and me and him have always been buddies, so I went out and trained with him a bunch of times. I went right back to the gym, and I brought in different guys where I knew, 'OK, here's a couple areas of my game that Chael exploited that I'm good at but to fix the problems I'm having, I have to be elite at. I have to be great in these areas and these positions.' I went right back to the gym only a few days after fighting Chael and started improving in all those areas."

On Training For Bisping: "I found myself before where I was in my camps and I was doing a lot of sparring and getting all my rounds in, but I wasn't focusing enough on drilling and technique and getting better at my overall game – not just getting great in one area and good in others but being great everywhere," Stann said. "For this fight, I went out to the wrestling community, and I wanted an elite-level wrestler to sort of come and live with me and be my new best friend. So a gentlemen by the name of Raymond Jordan came down, and he's been living with me for almost the past two months now. He's one of the very best wrestlers in my weight class. That's the level of dedication I'm looking to have in this sport and get great everywhere."

On Wanting to Fight Anderson Silva: "As a fan, I'd love to see the Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre, but being a contender, no, I don't want it to happen," Stann said. "It puts a big delay. Right now, you've got me and Mike fighting. You've got Chris Weidman and Tim Boetsch happening. It looks like there's almost a little tournament that's already been running for a little while to see who's the next guy to challenge Anderson for the crown. If he's going to take that superfight, that puts all of us on hold for a very long time. There's going to be a big build-up to that fight if that fight happens, and there's going to be a considerable layoff after that fight for Anderson because he's not going to fight every three months. The one thing that I see in the mix that's different, you've got to remember that my buddy Carlos Condit is still very much in that mix. Carlos could ruin those plans for everybody."

On The Middleweight Division After Silva Leaves: "It's about winning that fight," Stann said. "Silva may very well retire on top, and the next couple of champions are always going to be compared to him. Whoever that first guy is after Anderson, it's not going to be easy. Those questions are never going to stop coming, and the comparisons are never going to stop coming. It's going to take a few rotations and a few years with Anderson away for the sport for people to not forget but at least allow for someone else to be their true champion. For me, personally, in my title aspirations, I would much rather hold the title having taken it from the greatest fighter of all time than just getting it afterward when he decides to leave the sport."