Welcome to the road of hard knockouts.

On one side of the pavement there’s World Extreme Championship light heavyweight titleholder Doug “Rhino” Marshall. On the other side of gravel is soldier of fury Brian Stann, U.S.M.C.

Take your pick.

Marshall defends his WEC title against hard-hitting hard-fighting Stann at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on Wednesday March 26. The title fight will be televised on Versus Network.

Since winning the light heavyweight title, Marshall’s been looking for a way to heighten its importance. Quick knockouts over not-quite primetime opponents aren’t sufficient when big brother Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholders grab all the attention.

Great fighters need great opponents.

Stann finally brings validation to a true, shoot-from-the-hip title fight between two guys known for sending opponents to sleep. For the Marine captain who was awarded a Silver Star, it also means validation for his own fighting capabilities.

“I would consider myself an ultra-competitive person,” said Stann (5-0), who played outside linebacker for Navy. “I like competing. I don’t even let my wife beat me at things.”

Marshall, a native of Visalia, admits proudly to being a street tough who often looked for people willing to trade blows.

“I was always kind of fighting in the streets,” says Marshall (7-2), who now trains out of Fresno, California. “I walked around with a little chip on my shoulder. I come from a semi-rough town. Everybody was a tough guy and I wanted to be a tough guy.”

The swinging fists of Marshall found an arena for his need to unleash, but winning the light heavyweight title, as good as it seems, is not quite the apex of achievement for the Visalia roughneck.

“He’s got something,” allows Marshall, who sees a potential threat across his path. “But I haven’t seen him knock out anybody. They’ve stopped the fights.”

Marshall not only defends his WEC light heavyweight title, but his stature in the only fighting organization he’s known. Even before Zuffa, LLC bought the MMA group the Rhino was rampaging through heavyweights.

The new owners dissolved the heavyweight division and made Marshall drop down to 205 pounds after weighing more than 250.

“It was really tough man. I was fighting at 250 and banging there with the big boys,” explains Marshall. “I tried 185 first, but it was way too much to cut. I dieted and cut 14 pounds the day before the fight and ended up losing that fight. But now I’m at 205.”

Winning the light heavyweight title brought new motivation for Marshall who loves fighting for WEC.

“It meant everything winning the title,” Marshall says. “It means you’re the top of the food chain, baby.”

That means a lot to the former bad boy whose father can no longer make the trips due to the after-effects of a heart attack.

“He’s the first person I call,” Marshall said. “If not for him, I probably wouldn’t be fighting.”

Doug’s father is also named Doug and he lit the coal inside of his son.

“He put the fire in my butt,” said Marshall who didn’t like to train much before. “My dad said to shut up and have another beer, or get in the gym and start training.”

Now Marshall is defending his WEC title for the third time.

Stann, who’s undefeated, doesn’t walk on the wild side. He’s always been self-motivated and pretty sure of his goals and dreams.

Because he’s still an active U.S. Marine who’s already served two tours in Iraq, Stann doesn’t have free time to spend so he plans intricately.

Training for this next match meant shuttling between Temecula, California with Dan Henderson’s Team Quest and Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Despite the hectic schedule Stann has managed to prepare himself for the biggest test of his career to date.

“I went up to Big Bear when Dan (Henderson) was training for a week. And I was fortunate to have Rameau Sokoudjou and Vinny Magalhaes train with me for about eight days,” Stann acknowledges. “We worked on everything.”  

He also acknowledges that WEC champion Marshall poses a considerable obstacle.

“I know he’s absolutely a tough guy, a blue-collar type that’s never had anything handed to him. Doug Marshall worked for everything he got,” Stann says of the champion. “He hits hard and I know he has a ground game.”

Since purchasing WEC, the Zuffa bosses have seen the popularity of its fighters mushroom into a recognizable force.

Next week two guys from opposite sides of the street will engage in their biggest confrontation and a national audience will watch intently.

EliteXC-Strikeforce tickets
Some tickets are still available for the biggest MMA fight card this year as Frank Shamrock (24-8-1) meets undefeated Cung Le (5-0) at the HP Pavilion in San Jose on March 29.

Even the participants are excited.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” says Shamrock of his big fight with Le. “Cung Le, you better keep your hands up.”

Also on the fight card Jake Shields meets Drew Fickett for the vacant EliteXC welterweight title.

For ticket information (408) 287-7070.

Fights coming up
Sat. March 22: Total Combat 27  at Paradise Casino in Yuma, Arizona. (888) 777-4946

Sat. March 22: Extreme Challenge 92 at Victory Sports Complex in Rockford, Illinois. (815) 654-0300.

Sat. March 22: Xtreme Fighting Association 1: Stand and Deliver at Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada. (702) 732-5755.

Sat. March 22: King of the Cage: Protégé at Avi Resort and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada. (866) 463-6284.

Wed. March 26: World Extreme Cagefighting 33 at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. (702) 693-5000.

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