Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub recently shared his thoughts on what might have happened if he had faced the legendary Brock Lesnar inside the octagon.
During an interview with INSIGHT feat Chris Van Vliet, Schaub delved into the hypothetical matchup between himself and Lesnar, praising the former UFC heavyweight champion for his rapid rise in the promotion after transitioning from professional wrestling.
“You want to talk about a guy getting pushed fast…One of his first fights was against Heath Herring in the UFC, which is nuts!…And also he fought Frank Mir, dude, early in his career. And then came back and beat him. He fought Randy Couture, he didn’t have much experience at all, didn’t have a lot of training…He’s just that big of a freak.”
“You’re talking about a kid coming off the Cro Cop win. If I would’ve beaten Nogueira in Brazil, my confidence would’ve been pretty high. It’d been a good fight I think.”
With a winning streak of four consecutive victories, including an impressive knockout win over Mirko Cro Cop, Schaub believed that if he had also defeated ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira, his confidence would have been at an all-time high. In this alternate timeline, Schaub imagined himself being a worthy competitor against Lesnar.
While it’s intriguing to ponder the outcome of a Schaub vs. Lesnar matchup, we’ll never know for sure, as Lesnar hasn’t competed in MMA since UFC 200 in 2016.
Schaub famously retired after Joe Rogan tore him apart during a podcast stream in which Rogan
Rogan addressed Schaub directly, saying: “I worry about your commitment to fighting…I think you have one foot out the door. You disagree? I think you’re looking at where the future is going to take you and that you can’t do this forever, you know? And I think that’s a very dangerous place to be in fighting…When does damage start to show up in your life?”
Schaub is famously a problematic guy, often unable to get even the most basic of pronunciations right.