Brendan Schaub

Schaub was born and raised in Aurora, Colorado, to an English mother Debra and an American father Peter Schaub.He is of German, Italian, and English descent. His father is a second-degree black belt in taekwondo. While at Overland High School, Schaub lettered two years varsity lacrosse and one year varsity American football. He received no college athletic scholarship offers but he tried out for both the football team and lacrosse team at Whittier College and would be accepted to both. Prior to his junior year, he transferred to the University of Colorado to play football full-time where he redshirted his first season. Following college, Schaub went undrafted in the 2006 NFL Draft but would be signed by the Buffalo Bills to their practice squad. He was released from the team prior to start of the regular season and went on to sign with the Arena Football League's Utah Blaze. Schaub would then retire from the sport in 2007.

Early career

After retiring from football, Schaub returned to Colorado where he began training in boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. After only six months of training in boxing, Schaub competed in amateur boxing and won the Colorado novice-division Golden Gloves heavyweight title. Schaub later began training at High Altitude Martial Arts located in Aurora and the Grudge Training Center in Arvada, where he met UFC heavyweight contender Shane Carwin. The two became friends as well as training partners. After this, he began his professional career in mixed martial arts (MMA), mainly competing in Colorado. Schaub started his career with a 4-0 record and won the heavyweight title for the Ring of Fire organization.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighter

In 2009, Schaub signed with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to compete on the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter. In his first fight on the show, he faced Demico Rogers, defeating him via first round submission with an anaconda choke to move onto the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-finals, Schaub won his fight by KO (punch) in the second round against Jon Madsen.

In the semi-finals, Schaub defeated Marcus Jones via KO (punches) in the first round.

Schaub made his official UFC debut when he faced Roy Nelson at The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale. Schaub lost via KO in the first round.

UFC Heavyweight division

In his second UFC bout, Schaub had a 47-second TKO (punches) win over Chase Gormley at UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones.

Schaub next fought Chris Tuchscherer at UFC 116. Schaub won the bout via KO (punches) in the first round.

Schaub would then faceGabriel Gonzaga at UFC 121. Schaub won via unanimous decision.

Schaub and Frank Mir were tentatively booked for a contest at UFC 128 on March 19, 2011. However, Schaub instead faced Mirko Cro Cop at the event. Schaub won the contest via third round KO and was awarded the Knockout of the Night bonus.

On August 27, 2011 at UFC 134, Schaub lost to Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira via KO (punches) in the first round.

He lost his second straight fight, also via KO (punches) to Ben Rothwell on April 21, 2012 at UFC 145.

Schaub was expected to face Lavar Johnson on December 8, 2012 at UFC on Fox 5.However, Johnson was forced out of the bout with a groin injury and Schaub was pulled from the card as well.Schaub fought Johnson on February 23, 2013 at UFC 157. Schaub won via unanimous decision. After, it was announced Johnson tested positive for elevated testosterone in a post-fight drug test.

Schaub was expected to face Matt Mitrione on July 27, 2013 at UFC on Fox 8.However, in mid-July, Mitrione pulled out of the bout citing an injury and Schaub was pulled from the event as well.The bout eventually took place on September 21, 2013 at UFC 165.Schaub submitted Mitrione in the first round via D'Arce choke.

Schaub fought returning former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski at UFC 174 on June 14, 2014, with Arlovski winning via split decision.

On December 6, 2014 at UFC 181, Schaub lost via TKO (punches) in the first round to Travis Browne.Days after the fight, Schaub's friend and UFC commentator Joe Rogan had a joint podcast with Schaub and Bryan Callen where Rogan and Callen advised Schaub to retire from MMA and pursue a career in comedy.

On October 10, 2015, Schaub was a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and announced his retirement from MMA.

Amateur boxing

• Golden Gloves
  • Colorado Heavyweight Golden Gloves (2008)

Mixed martial arts

• Ring of Fire
  • Ring of Fire Heavyweight Championship (One time)
• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Knockout of the Night (One time) vs. Mirko Cro Cop

Podcasting

In 2014, Schaub and Bryan Callen started their podcast titled "The Fighter and The Kid". The shows were produced by FOX network until a contract dispute in 2016. They then left the network and began producing the podcast themselves. Schaub and Callen also began touring to perform shows that were a mix between a live podcast and duo stand-up comedy act.

In December 2016, Schaub launched a solo podcast, titled Big Brown Breakdown. The podcast focuses on topics related to combat sports, mainly mixed martial arts.

In February 2018, Schaub partnered with Showtime to rebrand his solo podcast to the name "BELOW THE BELT with Brendan Schaub". They also released a web show of the same name where Schaub would serve as the host.

Stand-up comedy

Schaub (right) and Bryan Callen (left) performing a live show

After retiring from mixed martial arts in 2014, Schaub began pursuing a stand-up comedy career. At first, he toured and performed with Bryan Callen until August 10, 2016, when he debuted as a solo comedian at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, California. In 2018, Schaub announced that he would record his first career comedy special in January 2019 which would be released on Showtime later that year.

Television and film

In 2016, Schaub and Callen released a sketch comedy series on iTunes titled The Fighter and the Kid 3D.

Schaub made his feature film debut in the 2016 movie Range 15.

In 2017, Schaub was brought on by Showtime for commentary and analysis surrounding the Mayweather/McGregor boxing match alongside Mauro Ranallo, Paulie Malignaggi, and Brian Custer

In 2018, Schaub began working for E! Entertainment news co-hosting the after-shows of the Golden Globes, Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, People's Choice Awards, and Grammy Awards.

Also in 2018, Schaub began serving as a panelist for the television show Bravo's Play-By-Play on Bravo network.

Schaub would make his second feature film appearance in the 2019 David Ayer movie The Tax Collector.

Schaub is engaged to long-time girlfriend Joanna Zanella, and they have one son, Tiger Pax, born in 2016. They live in Los Angeles, California. He has one brother named Jay. Schaub previously had a brief relationship with Ronda Rousey. He supports sports teams of Denver, Colorado and Los Angeles, California. Schaub is an avid fan of fashion and automobiles. According to him, after getting a broken nose in his fight with Mirko Cro Cop, he was prescribed Oxycontin for recovery and was addicted to them for months. Schaub says that while he is not a "religious" man, he attends Bible study and will often pray to a god or deity.