Making the Cut with Brendan Schaub

There is never a dull moment when interviewing professional MMA fighters. Heavy.com recently had the pleasure of speaking to UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub on his upcoming bout at UFC on Versus 1. Some entertaining quotes were cut from the original piece due to relevance and length of the article. But have no fear, because those quotes will be resurfaced here on Heavy’s debut edition of “Making the Cut”.

Spending six weeks in a house with sixteen other men with no contact to the outside world may sound hard to some people to fathom but Schaub thoroughly enjoyed living in the Ultimate Fighter house. A member of Spike TV’s first all-heavyweight season of TUF, Schaub notes that he would not hesitate to do it all over again.

“It was six weeks in the house and I loved fighting back-to-back-to-back like that because waiting forever to fight is not as coo,l so I loved it,” Schaub told Heavy.com. “It was a great opportunity and the best opportunity that has ever happened to me. I was stoked to be in the house and I would do it again if I had to.”

Fellow TUF 10 cast mates Kimbo Slice and Matt Mitrione are set to collide at UFC 113 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Schaub gave his thoughts on that fight as well as a potential matchup against Slice in the future.

“Kimbo is finally getting better and so is Matt. I think you’re going to see the fight that Houston Alexander and Kimbo should have been because Matt’s crazy,” Schaub said. “[Mitrione] will go toe-to-toe with anyone and he’s not afraid to stick his chin out there and let people hit him, so it should be fireworks between him and Kimbo. If you’re a Jiu-Jitsu or wrestling fan, this is probably not the fight to watch.”

“Literally the only guy that I would want to fight from The Ultimate Fighter 10 cast would be Kimbo just for the name recognition. I do have a lot of respect for him and he gets people to tune in and watch the fight, so Kimbo would be the only one from the TUF 10 alum that I would want to fight in the UFC.”

Around the time that TUF 10 aired weekly on Spike TV, NFL legend Hershel Walker announced his signing with Strikeforce and his venture into the world of MMA. The 47-year old Walker called out UFC President Dana White on ESPN’s First Take and said he could easily defeat any heavyweight from the season 10 cast.

Schaub was not impressed then, and after witnessing Walker’s MMA debut at Strikeforce: Miami, he is still not impressed with the former Heisman winner now.

“That was embarrassing.  First of all, the guy he fought I have no idea where they found that guy. I have no idea what to say to this. I am glad he did it for charity and the positive thing is he brought different eyeballs to the sport, but did he look good doing it? Hell no. Some of the stuff he did should have been on an undercard for a small show here in Colorado in the amateur level. I was not impressed with him at all. Good for him for having the balls to step up there and try it, but as far as him stepping into the ring with any of the guys from my Ultimate Fighter season, he would be so screwed It wouldn’t even be funny.”

Walker won’t be competing against any member from TUF 10 anytime soon but there are rumors of a bout between him and Major League Baseball star Jose Canseco. Just the mere mention of the matchup infuriates Schaub.

“That’s the kind of stuff that will ruin the sport. What’s next? What freak show’s career is coming to an end so they want to try mixed martial arts? What they should do to these guys who come in and don’t really have respect for the sport, is let them fight a true contender, a true mixed martial artist.”

“Like James Toney, let him fight a true mixed martial artist and see what happens to him. Hershel Walker and Jose Canseco, I can’t believe I am even saying Jose Canseco’s name right now. That guy’s such a clown, walking to the ring with his wife and he had a bat in his hand and had like this twitch going, it was ridiculous.”