Issue 126

March 2015

After a humbling podcast intervention from Joe Rogan, Brendan Schaub has a few heavyweight questions to answer

Brendan Schaub doesn’t want to be just another face in the crowd of MMA athletes. He wants to excel at everything he pursues in life. “I just don’t want to be average,” he tells Fighters Only. “Even in the UFC, I don’t want to be just another guy. I wake up every day and ask myself what am I going to do to better myself today? I just don’t want to be average.”

But a recent intervention from respected MMA figure and friend, Joe Rogan, forced ‘Big Brown’ to take stock. Following a KO defeat to Travis Browne in December, the Octagon’s long-time color commentator questioned the 31-year-old’s ability to continue to compete at the highest level. It was the latest in a series of vicious knockout defeats in the last few years, which also included concussive blows from Roy Nelson, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Ben Rothwell.

Rogan had some harsh words for Schaub following the UFC 181 loss on The Fighter and the Kid podcast, which the UFC heavyweight hosts with actor Bryan Callen. It was a verbal beat-down that lit a fire under the online MMA community. Many fans thought Rogan went too far. “I really didn’t sign up for that,” Schaub reveals. “Callen said Rogan wanted to be on the show that day. I told Bryan that I didn’t want to have him on just to s**t on my camp, my fight or my performance. Most people may not know that Joe and I are close friends. Joe knows to get through to me you have to exaggerate a bit to get your point across. He did take it too far though. 

“He told me afterward that he wouldn’t have released it to the public. He took a lot of flak for it. I have no regrets about the conversation. I don’t agree with him but I see where he’s coming from. It actually made us closer. We had dinner together after the podcast and he told me, ‘You don’t have to fight. You’re gifted. You have so many opportunities and gifts that you can use that most guys don’t have. There are so many avenues you can go down and be a success, you don’t need to fight.’”  

With a burgeoning career in front of the camera and on the mic on the horizon, Schaub has some serious decisions to make. Though there have been more than whispers that he has fallen more toward the average category than he may like, he still feels like he can compete with the best fighters in MMA. He says there’s plenty of evidence to back up his claims. 

“I’m proud of all my fights win, lose or draw,” he says. “Gabriel Gonzaga was my first real test. Gonzaga kicked my lead leg so hard it felt like it was dead. A lot of people doubted me at the time. He was a contender and a monster and I picked him apart for three rounds. As a heavyweight you don’t usually see that. Choosing my favorite fight from my career is a tie between Gonzaga and (Mirko) ‘Cro Cop’. Cro Cop was my childhood hero. I have never been more satisfied after a fight than that one. I had to have reconstructive nose surgery, my knee was messed up, and my ears were all torn up. I got the knockout bonus and it was just a fight. I got to reap the benefits of my training camp and show everyone why I train so hard. My team was so happy and I showed I can compete on the highest levels of the sport.”

That resilience and ability to overcome bumps and bruises during his biggest fights is one of the things Schaub believes sets him apart from many of his contemporaries. He has fought through many an injury and setback so far in his up-and-down UFC campaign. That fact contributes to his belief in his future chances of making another run toward the top of the heaviest division in the face-punching business. He tells FO that one MMA icon has a unique name for him due to his supernatural recuperative abilities. “Ronda Rousey always calls me Wolverine because I’ll be training, get hurt and think I won’t be able to go the next day, but I’m healed by morning,” he says. 

Schaub is not just talented inside the cage. He has carved a career in a number of different vocations. As well as his well-documented college and pro football career, his expansion into the podcast arena with actor Bryan Callen has become nothing short of a phenomenon. The Fighter and the Kid has built up a worldwide following and Schaub even picked up a nomination for ‘Personality of the Year’ at the Seventh Annual World MMA Awards for his troubles. 

The Colorado native describes the origins of the podcast and his relationship with Callen: “Bryan did his own podcast originally. I met Bryan when I was a guest coach on TUF with Shane Carwin. They brought Callen in to do a skit or some comedy relief for the fighters. I had recently moved to LA and went on his podcast. I thought it was horrible. Of course the show I was on was his most downloaded. He suggested we do our own podcast. I didn’t even know what in the hell a podcast was at the time (laughs). He talked me into it. 

“We started it in a little studio. FOX wanted in. They eventually got in touch with me. We eventually signed with FOX. Before you knew it we had three million downloads. FOX wanted more. We were only doing one podcast a week – now we’re up to two. It was the smartest decision I ever made. I don’t have to do anything else, if you know what I mean. With what we make from the show and merchandise we do really well. I ordered 500 hoodies initially and we sold over a hundred in six minutes. I place the orders and my brother has the inventory at his house. We do really well. I guess that’s my humble brag.”

Despite the huge success of The Fighter and the Kid, Schaub says things are only getting started. He claims it’s only a matter of time before the show makes the transition from mp3 players to TV. However, he’s not ready to give up on the fight game just yet. His dedication to the cause hasn’t wavered. He is determined to continue to improve and climb his way back up the UFC heavyweight ladder to pursue his life-long passion for martial arts.

Some fans may still be under the impression that Schaub came from a football career directly into the world of martial arts, but he has trained in various combat sports and martial arts since an early age. One of his earliest inspirations was Bloodsport, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. “In elementary school my dad bought it for us on VHS and my brother and I ran home from school to watch it,” he says. “We watched it almost every day. We would pretend fight and, of course, I was Jean-Claude Van Damme. At the time there wasn’t an outlet to do that. The UFC came along in 1993 and came to my hometown of Denver actually, so all of these things kind of lead up to me pursuing this today.” 

Schaub even had the opportunity to meet his big-screen idol years after he first inspired him. “What’s crazy is that I was at Gold’s Gym in Venice working out and this guy taps me on the shoulder and I turn around and it’s Jean-Claude Van Damme. He said he just wanted to come up and say ‘hi’. That was pretty unreal. My brother was the first person I texted. I said, ‘Guess who I just met? Jean-Claude Van Damme!’”

Schaub hasn’t always rubbed elbows with celebrities and the combat sports elite, but he still had a glass-half-full attitude about the unglamorous work he did before he found fame as an athlete. “I was a janitor at a supermarket,” he says. “That was cool because I got to read all the magazines I could handle and eat all the five-cent candy I could eat. They would tell me to clean the bathroom and I would just go in there and chill for an hour and read magazines. So that was pretty cool.” 

This positive mind-set continues into his current occupation and is a huge part of why he won’t let criticism get in the way of chasing his dream of reaching the top of the MMA mountain. Let’s face it, the guy has options. He rubs shoulders with some of the biggest celebrities and athletes on the planet and he’s already proved himself on the mic and in front of the camera. However, you can expect ‘The Wolverine’ to heal up yet again and get back to winning-ways inside the Octagon very soon.  

It’s Tebow time

Schaub began his athletic career in the world of pro football and one of his celebrity friends is one of the sport’s biggest stars of the last few years. He says former Denver Broncos quarterback and cultural icon Tim Tebow goes above and beyond even him when it comes to his commitment to training.

“The thing that sets Tim apart from other NFL players is that his work ethic is more like that of a UFC fighter,” he says. “I was with him last week and I told him he needs to relax. Coming from me that’s crazy! He just goes three-a-days every single day. He just works so hard. If I would put money on any NFL player making it in the UFC my money would go on Tim Tebow just due to his work ethic. Not only is he the real deal – he’s even more. That’s a special human being. To see what he does and how he uses his celebrity to try to better the world is just amazing.”  

Since Tebow left the New England Patriots in 2013 he has carved out a career as an analyst for ESPN. Perhaps Schaub can find more inspiration from his famous friend once he does decide to hang up his gloves.