UFC 136: Why Brian Stann Deserves a Shot at Anderson Silva with a Win

Tonight at UFC 136 Brian Stann will face his biggest challenge yet in his opponent Chael Sonnen.

Stann is undefeated currently in his UFC career at middleweight. A win over Sonnen would certainly propel Stann’s career to heights it has yet to see.

Stann is the former WEC light heavyweight champion. For most of his career he has relied on the power in his fists and the durability of his chin to win his fights.

Since joining Greg Jackson’s gym and dropping down to middleweight however, Stann has become a different caliber fighter than he was at light heavyweight.

With an exciting and conclusive win over proverbial gate-keeper Chris Leben, and another brutal TKO victory over Jorge Santiago, Stann has become a big name and a potential key player at 185.

Stann was considered the underdog in his fight against Leban, and is currently considered a massive underdog against Sonnen. Stann claims he enjoys being the underdog.

While many people will argue that a win over Sonnen should not get Stann a title shot, there is perhaps one giant reason why Stann should. Anderson Silva will not be able to get in Stann’s head the way he does other opponents.

Silva is a phenomenal fighter, don’t get me wrong, but his intimidation factor is one of his greatest strengths. A fighter like Stann wouldn’t be intimidated by Silva’s reputation. Stann has faced much worse in his life.

Stann wouldn’t get intimidated while the two were in the cage, either. He wouldn’t stop going after the champ until he had the win, or Silva put him away.

Another big reason a win over Sonnen should get Stann a title match is because of how well Sonnen did in his fight against Silva.

If Stann can defeat the man that dominated Silva for the better part of five rounds, he might just have what it takes to dethrone the current pound-for-pound king.

Be sure to check out Bleacher Report for all things UFC 136. B/R is your home for MMA, from pre-fight predictions to in-fight coverage , live results and post-fight analysis...which you can check out on our UFC 136 event hub.