Brendan Schaub on the 'strange' bond between UFC opponents
Even though they punch, kick and strangle one another inside the UFC Octagon, MMA fighters usually don't have any general animosity directed at one another. Though that may be hard for fans to believe, UFC star Brendan Schaub explained how it is indeed so, on the latest episode of The Fighter and The Kid podcast.
"Anyone I've ever fought...there's just this understanding," he said.
"Anyone. Travis Browne, Andrei Arlovski, Matt Mitrione, Lavar Johnson, 'Cro Cop,' Gonzaga, Nogueira, the list goes on. All these guys I fought, whenever you see them it's just like, 'I get it. What's up, man?' You realize what it takes to get in there. There's no animosity. It's not about the guy. It's just, win or lose, it does not matter. I hold no grudges with the guys who beat me or the guys I beat. It does not matter. You're just like, 'I can't believe we did that crazy [expletive].' It's this kind of weird understanding. Because, you know what each other have gone through. Very special. And, only you two can understand that. Because, you studied film on the guy. You went through it. You did three rounds with him, or whatever. I root for all the guys. Every guy [I fought], I hope they [win]."
After training for, studying and obsessing over an opponent for perhaps months, a fighter steps in the ring and goes through stressful hell to try and get a win. Sure, each fighter is fighting against another, but the process is also something they do together.
"You have this trauma, or this dark cloud. You've been through some [expletive], man. Most people can't understand. It's so weird, man. Win or lose, I always go back to the locker room and hug the guy like, 'damn man, that was crazy. Damn, I can't believe we did that.'," he goes on.
Schaub feels such an affinity with opponents, after fighting them, that he said he goes out of his way to have discussions with them, post-competition. "I've had some great conversations after fights," he said.
"With Nogueira, I was the biggest Nogueira fan. I asked Nogueira how did he prepare for me, what he saw I was doing wrong. He said he could tell I was emotional so he knew if he could weather the storm, he could capitalize on it, which is such a veteran move. With 'Cro Cop' I just talked to him, like, about his training camp, did he come in injured, stuff like that. Rothwell was great guy. He beat me, came in the back I said, 'Man, I've never seen you in such good shape.' He said, 'Yeah, man. You're known for your cardio so this is the hardest I've ever trained. This is the best I've ever looked, because I was worried about your cardio.' That's a loss but it takes a little bit away from it.
"Roy Nelson was weird because we gave each other a hug. It was just the start of great careers for both of us. Just the start. So, we both gave each other a hug and were like, 'alright man, see you down the road.' Just gave each other a hug and went about business. Lavar Johnson, I asked him, 'hey, did you think I was going to take you down?' And he said, 'no, not at all, man. I thought we were just going to sit there and bang, and slug it out.' I said, 'come on, bro. Why would I bang with you? I could wrestle and grapple my ass off?' 'Because, I don't know, I thought you wanted to bang.' 'Come on.' That was our conversation."
Few fighters have spoken about these private, post-fight moments with former foes as Schaub does on this episode. So, listen in to the entire episode on iTunes or through the fine outlets below, and learn more!
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