Home: UFC Fighters : Brendan Schaub

BRENDAN SCHAUB

Name: Brendan Schaub

Nick Name: The Hybrid

Height 6'4"

Weight 247 lbs

Birth Date: March 18, 1983

Place of Birth: Aurora, Colorado

He may just be the hottest new kid on the block when it comes to the UFC!

Hailing from Aurora, Colorado and born on March 18, 1983, Schaub is a mixed martial artist who is taking the UFC by a storm. He is a former football player for the AFL's Utah Blaze and member of the NFL's Buffalo Bills practice squad and was the runner-up of Spike TV's Ultimate Fighter Season 10 - Heavyweights.

Brendan had been in MMA to keep in shape for football but it was not until he met UFC Heavyweight Shane Carwin that he got really serious about the sport.

Brendan trained at Nate Marquardt's gym call High Altitude Martial Arts in Aurora, Colorado outside of Denver but also at the Grudge Training Center in Wheatridge, Colorado where he met Carwin. The two were Grudge Fight Team members together and became friends and began training together as well.

MMA became more intense for Schaub at this point and he fought for Golden Gloves boxing and even became a champ. He earned his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt and the quest was on. He had a taste of the sport and liked it.

The tenth installment of the television reality show, The Ultimate Fighter debuted on September 16, 2009 and Brendan secured a spot on Rashad Evans' team. He and James McSweeney were Evans' top picks.

During the course of the season, Brendan ,blogged about his experiences. In his accounts, he said he had, “Very little to loose and everything to gain.”

On the fourth episode of The Ultimate Fighter, Brendan fought Strikeforce vetran Demico “Night Train” Rodgers. It took Schaub no time to submit Rogers via an anaconda choke.

The win moved Schaub up to the quarterfinals were he faced off with teammate Jon Madsen who was a wrestling, track and football star in high school and college. This time he managed a knockout in the second round which brought him into the semifinals.

Marcus Jones was next on the list. Jones, who is a former football player himself, was knocked out in round two thanks to Schaub.

The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale took place on December 5, 2009. Schaub found himself up against Roy “Big Country” Nelson who has trained under Renzo Gracie. Three minutes and fourty-five seconds into the first round, Nelson won the championship of the season.

But it was far from over for Brendan who went up against Chase Gormley at UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones. The event was held in Brendan's home state of Colorado. It took only 47 seconds for Brendan to knock Gormley out.

In the UFC 116: Lesnar Vs. Carwin preliminaries, Schaub fought Chris Tuchscherer who is the main training partner for Brock Lesnar, UFC Heavyweight champ. Again, Schaub came out strong, winning by knockout in the first round.

UFC 121 was held on October 23, 2010. Schaub went toe to toe with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blackbelt Gabriel Gonzaga. The fight held several firsts for Schaub as it was his Pay-Per-View debut but also the first time he fought a fight that did not end in the first round. It was the first time Gonzaga had gone the full distance in a fight as well. Brendan won via unanimous decision with great strikes that ultimately made the difference.

On March 19, 2011, Brendan fought Croatian Mirko “Cro Crop” Filipovic at UFC 128. Brendan won by knockout in the third and also won “Knockout of the Night”. The loss led Mirko to talk of retiring.

UFC 134, also known as UFC Rio, was held on August 27, 2011 in Brazil. Up against UFC icon, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Schaub's brute strength and powerful punches proved no match for the experience and excellent boxing techniques that “The Big Nog” relied on to take Schaub down face first, literally, via knockout in the first round.

So what's to become of this new kid on the block that is now finding himself up against his own heroes, UFC legends that are now his opponents? Though his fate hangs in the balance, one thing is clear... many out there believe that Brendan Schaub has only just begun.

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