Schaub: Gonzaga No Gatekeeper

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- With devastating knockout wins in his last two fights, Brendan Schaub appears destined to make some serious noise in the UFC’s heavyweight ranks.

Just don’t call his opponent at UFC 121, Gabriel Gonzaga, a gatekeeper.

“I hear that; that’s crazy to me,” said Schaub, who meets Gonzaga in a featured heavyweight matchup on Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. “The guy’s lost his last two out of three, but look at who he’s lost to: Junior dos Santos and Shane Carwin. If it was someone else or some other up-and-comer put him away, maybe, but you’re talking about one of the most dangerous guys in the world.”

In his pre-UFC days, Schaub witnessed Gonzaga's rise to prominence within the company from an interesting perspective -- as a shell-shocked Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic supporter. The Brazilian's head kick heard ’round the world at UFC 70 still resonates with “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 finalist.

“Oh man, I was a huge Cro Cop fan. Me and my best friend were both huge Cro Cop fans at the time, and we both had our Cro Cop shirts on,” Schaub said. “I thought he killed him. It was bad. It just goes to show you the type of power Gonzaga has.”

The Colorado native’s career path bears a striking resemblance to that of Carwin, his Grudge Training Center teammate. Going into his bout with Gonzaga, Carwin had 10 straight fights in which his opponents failed to survive the first round. He parlayed his 11th victim, Gonzaga, into a co-main event bout against Frank Mir, followed by a title shot against current champion Brock Lesnar.

None of Schaub’s six MMA victories have made it to the 1:30 mark. The lone blemish on his resume came to a much more experienced Roy Nelson at “The Ultimate Fighter 10” Finale in December. Since then, he owns UFC victories over Chase Gormley and Chris Tuchscherer in bouts that lasted less than two minutes combined.

“I never plan for the fights to go quick, especially that last one with Tuchscherer. That’s a tough fight. I expected to just keep hitting him and hitting him and for him to keep coming,” he said. “I think my speed is something they can’t train for, and that’s why these fights are finishing so fast.”

Schaub credits his football background -- he played fullback and H-back at the University of Colorado, as well serving stints in the NFL and Arena Football League -- and strength coach Loren Landow for his finishing ability.

“I definitely think it's paying off now,” Schaub said. “Football’s an explosive sport, [and Landow’s] whole emphasis is [on] being as explosive as possible.”

Gonzaga counts five TKO or KO finishes among his seven UFC victories. His five career losses have come to a who's who of heavyweights: Randy Couture, Fabricio Werdum (twice), Carwin and dos Santos.

Carwin’s preparation for Gonzaga gave Schaub more insight into his own bout than did their short-lived meeting in the Octagon at UFC 96.

“The advantage I got from Shane fighting Gonzaga was really the 12-week camp where I emulated Gonzaga for those 12 weeks,” Schaub said. “As far as in the fight, not much. Shane was so pumped up he came straight at him, ate some right hands, and that's never the game plan. But Shane ended up knocking him out.”

Schaub will have a grand stage to take the next step in a budding MMA career. The Brock Lesnar-Cain Velasquez main event at UFC 121 promises to bring a lot of eyes to the main card.

“I think it’s gonna go down as one of the top 5 UFCs of all time,” Schaub said. “At the same time, this is right where I belong and where I feel comfortable. It’s where I plan to stay.”