Brian Michael Stann (born September 24, 1980) is an American mixed martial artist and U.S. Marine who competes as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a former WEC Light Heavyweight champion. As of October 2011, Stann is ranked #7 middleweight fighter in the world by Sherdog.

Stann was born at Yokota Air Base in Japan and grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Scranton Preparatory School and then enrolled in the United States Naval Academy in 1999 as a member of the Class of 2003. He played football for the Midshipmen at the position of middle linebacker during his time at the Naval Academy. Upon graduation, he was assigned as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps, and rose to the rank of Captain.

On May 8, 2005, then Lieutenant Stann was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines and he commanded the 2nd Mobile Assault Platoon. During Operation Matador, his unit was ambushed by insurgents while trying to secure Ramana Bridge, near Karabilah. Stann and his Marines held out for six days under heavy attacks while Stann coordinated air and tank support that eventually allowed them to be relieved on May 14, 2005. All forty-two Marines in Stann's platoon survived, and the following March, Stann was awarded the Silver Star, the nation's third highest award for valor in combat. Part of the citation reads: "Second Lieutenant Stann personally directed two casualty operations, three vehicle recovery operations and multiple close air support missions under enemy small arms, machine gun and mortar fire in his 360-degree fight." This mission was shown on the episode, "Iraq's Most Wanted" on the History Channel show, Shootout!, in which Stann was interviewed. His actions were noted by President George W. Bush during one of his speeches. He left active duty in the Marine Corps as of May 2008. Captain Stann was also the commanding officer in the 8th Marine Regiment Headquarters Company while continuing to fight in the WEC.

Stann is an alternative rock artist from Toronto, Canada.

Starting from the premise¹ that diversity is a strength for musical expression and that each song bears a unique style, the feel and the ambiance of his compositions are primary and supersede any constraints of a genre in his music. This has led to elements of metal and softer ballads being present in many compositions, as well as a wide range of instrumentation from acoustic, to heavy use of digital synthesizers and effects in his music.

²Stann grew up studying classical piano and progressed to a high level, even though he states in one interview that his heart wasn't always in it, feeling that sometimes the confines of the classical style left little room for his own expression. Although he admits that it provided a solid musical foundation to build from. Later in life he would quit his classical training in pursuit of finding his own sound and direction.

In 1997 He started looking for ways to pursue music in a professional manner. This brought him to music directing. ²His knowledge of music and talent for overseeing musical projects made him a good fit for this position. This led him to a wide range of experiences from choir direction to musical direction of various functions. ³Still unsatisfied at not being able to truly pursue his own style, he started writing. Over the next year he played various shows locally and smaller venues. This is when digital music took a major part in his performance. In order to recreate the songs he started using digital backups in sync with live guitar and live synthesizers and piano.

Chael Patrick Sonnen (pronounced /ˈtʃeɪl ˈsʌnən/; born April 3, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist who competes as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was an NCAA Division I All-American wrestler at the University of Oregon, a silver medalist at the 2000 Greco-Roman World University Championships, as well as a two-time Dave Schultz Memorial International Greco-Roman winner.

As of October 2011^[update], Sonnen is ranked as the No. 2 middleweight in the world by Sherdog.

Sonnen was born Chael Patrick Sonnen on April 3, 1977 in West Linn, Oregon.

Sonnen started his MMA career at the age of 19 in 1997 by defeating Ben Hailey in Vancouver, Washington. His second fight was against future ICON Sport Middleweight Champion and Strikeforce Middleweight contender Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Sonnen went 6–0 in his first six fights, until his loss to Trevor Prangley, which he later avenged in 2006 at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 4. He also fought The Ultimate Fighter winner and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin.

Wanderlei César da Silva ( /ˈvændərleɪ/ VAN-dər-lay; Portuguese: [vɐ̃dɛɾˈlej ˈsɛzɐr dɐ ˈsiɫvɐ];Japanese: [ba̠nda̠ɽe̞i ɕiü͍βa̠]; born July 3, 1976), nicknamed "The Axe Murderer", is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Silva is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in knockout or referee stoppage due to strikes. His style includes engaging opponents with punches and knees from the Muay Thai clinch. He holds the record for the most wins and knockouts in Pride FC history. He is currently ranked as #22 best middleweight fighter in the world by FightMatrix.com.

Silva began his training under Rudimar Fedrigo at the Chute Boxe Academy in his hometown of Curitiba, Brazil. Although he specializes in muay Thai, he has also trained and received his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from trainer Cristiano Marcello. Silva was given the nickname "Cachorro Louco" ("Mad Dog") in Brazil because of his aggressive style and his pre-fight opponent "stare down". He is the former IVC Light heavyweight Champion, former PRIDE Middleweight Champion, and the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Winner.

Alessio Sakara (born September 2, 1981) is an Italian mixed martial artist and boxer, who currently competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Middleweight Division. Sakara is also a Former World Junior Boxing Contender. He holds notable wins over Elvis Sinosic, Thales Leites, James Irvin.

Sakara was born in Rome on September 2, 1981. When Sakara was five he began to play soccer as a midfielder. Sakara began training in boxing at the age of 11, and at 18 he began training with Roberto Almeida in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Before becoming a mixed martial arts fighter Sakara competed both as an amateur and professional boxer.

In 2008 he signed with American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida. Due to his boxing background, Sakara is primarily a striker.

Sakara was on the Undercard at UFC 55: Fury fighting against Ron Faircloth. The bout was ruled a No Contest due to an inside leg kick to Sakara's groin. Sakara was part of UFC 80 in Newcastle, England, where he won via TKO in the first round against veteran James Lee. Following his victory over Lee, Sakara announced that he would be moving down to the middleweight division. Sakara lost by TKO to middleweight Chris Leben at UFC 82.