The ongoing feud between former UFC stars Nate Diaz and Brendan Schaub has escalated, with the two exchanging heated words on social media. The latest incident began when Diaz took to X (formerly Twitter) to give Schaub a less-than-flattering nickname, calling him “Brendan ‘The big ol’ pu**y’ Schaub.”
Not one to back down, Schaub quickly fired back at the Stockton native, challenging him to a grappling match. “Oooh buddy. I probably got 20 pounds on you, so not too far off. I’ll snap your neck,” Schaub wrote. He then added, “Set up a grappling match and let me know how it goes for you. Have one of your handlers read this tweet and get back to me.”
While the prospect of a matchup between the two is intriguing, it’s unlikely to materialize due to their significant size difference. Diaz primarily competed at lightweight and welterweight during his UFC career, while Schaub was a heavyweight, typically weighing between 230-240 pounds during his time in the octagon. Currently, Schaub is estimated to be well over 250 pounds and has been out of professional competition for years. Schaub is rumored to be on Ozempic now as he’s exhibiting a skinnier physique than years prior despite maintaining a similar level of physical activity.
This isn’t the first time Diaz and Schaub have clashed publicly. In 2017, following Conor McGregor’s boxing match against Floyd Mayweather, the two had a heated exchange backstage. During that incident, Diaz mocked Schaub’s MMA career and questioned his boxing knowledge.
Recalling the altercation in a later interview with fitness influencer Bradley Martyn, Schaub revealed that he was close to engaging with Diaz physically but was restrained by the threat of losing his job with Showtime. “It was about to go down and then Steven Espinoza and my boss Bryan Dailey [the then Showtime VP] were like if you get in any altercation, you are fired,” Schaub explained.
Brendan Schaub is also something of a laughing stock in the BJJ community. Schaub made a memorable pro grappling appearance on the first significant submission only event – Metamoris. He was matched with a BJJ champion Roberto Cyborg Abreu. Schaub would spend the entirety of the match dodging any kind of exchange with Cyborg and was basically clubbing at him and eager to maintain distance. He would go on to appear at a Metamoris presser and try to claim he ‘shut down’ Cyborg’s offensives – since then the Schaub shut down is a meme in the BJJ community.
Additionally there are rumblings that Schaub ordered his BJJ Black belt over the phone just to show it to his kid.
Brendan Schaub ordered his Jiu Jitsu black belt on the Phone after lying to his kid that he had gotten it
Brendan Schaub’s journey has been marked by unexpected twists, with his career often described as “failing upwards.” After an unremarkable stint in the NFL, Schaub shifted his focus to MMA, where he initially showed promise, winning a heavyweight title in the Ring of Fire promotion. However, his UFC career was less than stellar, culminating in a famous moment on Joe Rogan’s podcast where Rogan bluntly advised him to pursue other ventures. Schaub’s jiu-jitsu journey is equally colorful. Despite receiving a brown belt, he trained with a white belt at the Gracie Academy, sparking controversy about his rank. Schaub later explained the mix-up, affirming his respect for the Gracie brothers and jiu-jitsu.
Years later, after gaining weight and leaving the sport, Schaub’s young son’s curiosity about his belt reignited his motivation, leading him to phone his his Colorado instructor, Amal Easton and request to be promoted to black belt in jiu-jitsu. According to Schaub, Easton had told him years earlier his black belt was waiting for him at the academy.
