UFC 130 is set to take place on Saturday, May 28 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The main event on the card will feature a light heavyweight battle between former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Matt Hamill. The co-main event will be a heavyweight showdown between two highly ranked fighters, former UFC champion Frank Mir and Roy “Big Country” Nelson.
Middleweight competitors Brian Stann (10-3) and Jorge Santiago (23-8) will meet on the pay-per-view portion of the fight card.
Stann made a huge leap in the division when he put a beating on Chris Leben at UFC 125, causing the referee to stop the fight at 3:37 mark of Round One.
Stann then requested a fight with Wanderlei Silva, but Silva was reluctant to face Stann, a fighter that Silva said that everyone loves.
That love and respect comes from the fact that Stann is a former Marine Captain, who was awarded the Silver Star for his service.
Stann addressed the issue of his service at the UFC 130 pre-fight press conference saying, “It’s never easy to talk about because it always feels like I’m coming off bragging about my military history and that’s not my intention.” Stann continued, “I think some of the more hardcore fans get sick of hearing about it, but I’m not the one that asks the questions, so my job is to answer the questions.”
With his military background the fight on Memorial Day weekend means a lot to Stann, who told UFC.com, “If I could fight Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday on Memorial weekend, I would. If I was another fighter and I had to fight me, Memorial Day weekend would be the last weekend I would ever want to fight me.”
Santiago returns to the UFC this weekend after being away from the promotion for more than four years. During his time away he compiled a record of 11-1 and captured the Sengoku Middleweight championship. Santiago left that struggling promotion to return to the UFC.
UFC president Dana White praised Santiago at the pre-fight press conference saying, “He was cut in 2006 and goes out and goes on an 11 fight win streak, goes out makes the adjustments, does what he has to do, has that competitive drive and the mental toughness to come back. Those are exactly the kinds of guys we are looking for.”
That competitive drive and mental toughness will but put to the test when he faces a very motivated Stann on Saturday night.
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