Breaking Down UFC 121: Gabriel Gonzaga Vs Brendan Schaub

Added on Oct 20, 2010 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

Few people realize how seasoned of a fighter Gonzaga is. Even though I remember watching his first fight in the UFC, it took me by surprise when I read it was at UFC 56. When you read his record, the names of his opponents is virtually a who is who list in the heavyweight division of Mixed Martial Arts. The 11-5 fighter, 74 in the UFC has the ability to knock anyone out with his hands or his feet, and is world class on the floor. In fact, when you read the fighters who have beaten Gonzaga, the list is all all-stars in MMA. Randy Couture, Febricio Werdum, Shane Carwin and Junior Dos Santos are the only ones who have beaten him in the UFC. 2 of those listed were UFC Champions, One of them is on deck to face the winner of UFC 121′s main event, and the other one submitted Fedor Emelianenko. You can not ignore the past experiences of Gonzaga. He has fought the toughest men on the planet, on the biggest stage in MMA, and he has been doing it since 2005.

Quite a few people wrote Brendan Schaub off when he first appeared on The Ultimate Fighter reality show. The whole season seemed like a PR stunt with Kimbo Slice competing, and then there were these guys from professional football also fighting. Schaub had an undefeated record in local and regional promotions, but before the end of the season had come he found himself in the finals against Roy Nelson. The former IFL champion, who is easily the most seasoned fighter TUF had ever seen. Nelson defeated him in the first round, and won the contract. This was the only loss of Schaub’s young career, and has since has knocked out two Heavyweights in the first round. It is also important to mention that Brendan has never seen the second round in the Octagon.

Brendan is a good grappler, and he trains with division II wrestler Shane Carwin, but Gabriel Gonzaga is one of the best heavyweight BJJ fighters on the planet. Brendan has very little chance of beating Nepal on the ground, as Gonzaga has submitted twice the grappler Schaub is in his tenure. Gonzaga can be beaten on the feet, in fact all of his UFC losses were by TKO or KO. However, these losses came by way of much better strikers then Schaub is. Experience is going to play a huge part in this fight. This is a HUGE step up in competition for Schaub, and he has never fought on a stage as big as this one. Brendan is going to do what he does, and try to pressure Gabriel early, and put him away fast. He may be good enough to avoid a take down or two, but if Gonzaga wants this fight on the floor, he will take this to the floor. If Gonzaga can suck Schaub into a long fight, as he is used to, then Schaub has little chance of winning. Gonzaga simply has more ways of defeating Schaub. It would shock no one if Gonzaga KO’d him, and it would almost seem like a natural if he was able to submit Schaub. Make no mistake about it, Gabriel Gonzaga has proven how well rounded he is. I see Gonzaga introducing the young fighter to the later rounds in the Octagon, and hand him his first loss. Brendan will either be put away in the third round, or lose a close decision.