Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub and veteran comedian Bryan Callen are preparing to settle their differences on the mats in what promises to be an entertaining BJJ showdown.
The announcement came during a recent episode of their podcast where the two revealed his intensive training regimen.
“Bryan’s been wrestling his ass off doing jujitsu and sure grappling competition grappling. And he’s been doing it in order to beat me,”
Schaub explained to listeners setting the stage for their upcoming confrontation.
At 58 years old Callen has thrown himself into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training with remarkable dedication despite being a relative newcomer to the art. His motivation appears deeply personal – proving he can overcome his younger more experienced co-host who boasts extensive martial arts credentials.
Schaub’s combat sports journey began after an unsuccessful attempt at professional football. Released without making an NFL roster in 2007 he returned to Colorado where he discovered his calling in boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His mixed martial arts career took off with an impressive 4-0 start capturing the heavyweight title for the Ring of Fire organization before joining the UFC through TUF in 2009.
However Schaub’s path to black belt status has been anything but conventional. Despite retiring from MMA in 2016 questions about his jiu-jitsu ranking persisted for years. The situation came to a head when his young son Tiger began training and asked pointed questions about his father’s credentials.
“And really me getting my black belt started with (Tiger) when we went to the (bjj) school. He’s like, Daddy, those guys are black belts. Do you think you’d beat them?”
Schaub recounted. When his son pressed further asking
“You’re a black belt?”
Schaub responded affirmatively only to face the innocent but devastating follow-up:
“Well, I’ve never seen your black belt.”
The exchange revealed an uncomfortable truth.
“I’m like well I don’t technically have it so he’s like ‘So, you’re not black belt?”
This moment of parental honesty ultimately prompted Schaub to contact his Colorado instructor Amal Easton and arrange to officially receive his black belt.
The upcoming BJJ match will be featured as exclusive content on their newly launched Patreon platform offering subscribers behind-the-scenes access to their training and preparation.
“We’re literally going to go over the things I’ve learned and show how you counter it. And I’m going to show you how you counter that,”
Schaub explained promising technical breakdowns alongside the actual competition.
Schaub’s podcast empire has been steadily declining ever since Showtime parted ways with the podcaster. Once lucrative podcast now struggles to get views which has prompted a move to Patreon.
“Yeah. And then we’ll go live and see if your training’s paid off. We’ll see. I can’t f—ing wait,”
Schaub added his excitement palpable as he contemplates the challenge ahead.
While Schaub brings decades of martial arts experience and a black belt to the match Callen’s age and recent entry into the sport make him a significant underdog. Callen is also significantly smaller and older. Not to mention the fact that Schaub’s on peptides and (unconfirmed) TRT.
