Brendan Schaub has no regrets about his retirement from MMA, although the journey getting there was a little rocky.
Not so much because Schaub struggled with the decision but rather due to a public intervention of sorts held by his friend and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan just days after a 2014 loss to Travis Browne. The podcast that served as an episode of Schaub’s long-running show The Fighter and the Kid ended up as an emotionally charged conversation about why the Ultimate Fighter finalist should call it a career.
“The reality of your skill set, where you’re at now, I don’t see you beating the elite guys,” Rogan told Schaub during the episode. “I don’t see you beating Cain Velasquez. I don’t see you beating Junior dos Santos. I don’t see you beating Fabricio Werdum.
“It’s not that you don’t try hard, that you’re not dedicated, that you’re not disciplined, that you’re not intelligent. There’s shit that other people can do that you can’t do.”
Schaub responded defiantly with plans to return to the UFC, but ultimately that fight against Browne served as the final appearance of his career. A decade removed from that infamous confrontation, Schaub admits it was incredibly difficult to hear Rogan’s words in that moment but looking back now he’s thankful that his friend was brutally honest with him.
“When you’re fighting especially at that level, the UFC level, especially these days everyone is so damn good, you have to be all in,” Schaub told MMA Fighting. “I think when it comes to me in particular, especially when Rogan was talking to me, Rogan knew I had this other set of skills. I think, not to take anything away from Rogan, I think he knew I was going to be successful outside of fighting. He’s like, ‘Dude, you can do all this stuff, what are you doing?’ He was right. He was 100 percent right.
“At the time, I was mad. My mom and my brother and dad were so mad at him for doing that publicly and I told him that. Now they thank him. They’ll call him, they’ll thank him because he’s the one that really helped me out with that stuff.”
Since retiring from fighting, Schaub has continued to produce his podcast alongside comedian and actor Bryan Callen as well as launching his own YouTube channel. He developed Food Truck Diaries — a series that he previously did with Showtime where he would sit down with a fighter, grab some food and engage in a long conversation rather than just a standard interview.
Schaub also got involved in standup comedy among many other endeavors that have kept him plenty busy since he stopped fighting.
While retirement isn’t a “one size fits all” for every athlete, Schaub had plans for a career outside the cage. That’s one of the reasons why he remains satisfied with his decision to call it a career while numerous fighters struggle to walk away.
“The fighters, it’s a special breed to be a fighter, especially at that level,” Schaub said. “It can’t be your entire identity. That’s how I’ve been able to bounce around and do different things. I never just say I’m a football player, I’m a fighter, I’m this, I’m that, I’m a comic, podcaster. I like a bunch of different things. So I never just put myself in one lane. I’m OK getting backlash going, ‘Oh he’s not really into whatever it is, off-roading, he’s not really into comedy, he’s not really into podcasting, oh he’s just a football player fighting.’ All good, people are going to do that stuff.
“I think the No. 1 issue, these fighters get so wrapped up and their identity is just as a fighter. There’s some great personalities out there. Great personalities.”
Despite being retired for the better part of the past decade, Schaub still gets calls every now and again gauging his interest in a comeback.
The most recent instance was an offer from Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA and Schaub admits he was tempted in the moment — mostly due to the financial windfall it would have earned him.
“We had Jorge Masvidal and his manager Dean [Toole] on and I work for them now doing commentating but that’s how that came about. They offered me a fight,” Schaub said. “I’m like bare-knuckle MMA? They’re like yeah. I was like you don’t have enough money, there’s no way. He goes, ‘Give us a number.’ I gave them an outlandish number and he was like dead serious, just looked me in the eye and goes ‘OK.’ I’m like what?
“For a second I’m like shit, I’ll just hit the road now get some road work in now, let’s get going, that’s an insane amount of money. I just can’t force myself to do it. At 41, my kids, I can’t take another blow to the head. I’m good. I don’t need to be Elon Musk or ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone rich. I’m good. I’m good where I’m at.”
Schaub also revealed for the paycheck he would have received that a fight against another top-level opponent would be required and that only further justified his decision to pass.
“They’re like, ‘For that number you’re going to have to fight [Junior dos Santos] or Derrick Lewis.’” Schaub said. “I’m like no, hard pass. I don’t need those problems.”
With no plans to ever fight again, Schaub admits under the right circumstances he would be tempted, but every one of those scenarios is low risk, high reward. If that component isn’t involved, Schaub is happy doing exactly what he’s doing right now, which doesn’t involved getting punched in the head for a living.
“It’s a shame I’m so big,” Schaub said. “Because if a Logan Paul or a Jake Paul came about or a KSI, sign me up! When you’re talking about the [Junior dos Santos] and Derrick Lewis’ of the world? Hell no.
“Now some YouTuber? I’ll play ball there and make all the money and get the views. To fight these actual killers? It ain’t happening. I’ve got kids.”
