UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub has got an exciting challenge ahead of him this weekend when he is set to face former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski at UFC 174. ‘Big Brown’ isn’t exactly looking past his upcoming opponent but nevertheless believes he’s ready to hang with the current title holder – cardio machine Cain Velasquez.
“I can hang with Cain’s gas tank, that does not scare me. I promise you I can,” said Schaub on the latest edition of The Fighter and The Kidpodcast. “There’s tougher fights for me in the division that Cain. However, Cain right now is the poster boy.”
Although Velasquez is widely regarded as the absolute best in MMA’s 265lb division, the TUF season 10 finalist is a big believer in the ‘styles make fights’ viewpoint. For Schaub, there are fellow heavyweights that make much more dangerous prospects for him than the current champion.
Brendan explained: “Just stylistically, I think Junior Dos Santos is a tougher match-up for me. We’re very similar, both athletic, the same size almost. The difference is there’s not a fricking fighter or man in the world who can whoop my ass like Cain did to JDS. JDS will never be the same. You cannot bully me against the cage and beat me up like he did JDS. My daycare was Shane Carwin doing that to me for five years of my career. Guess who’s better than Cain at it – Shane f***ing Carwin! So Cain, I’m coming man. I’m f***ing telling you.”
According to the former teammate of the now-retired Carwin, before Shane was forced to hang up his gloves due to a series of chronic injuries, he was superior to even Velasquez who has torn through every opponent he’s ever faced and twice avenged his only loss to Dos Santos.
“Shane would knock [Cain] out. I’m telling you, man. Shane, when he fought Gabriel Gonzaga (UFC 96, 2009), was the pound-for-pound best heavyweight in the world.”
Brendan Schaub is set to face Andrei Arlovski at UFC 174 on Saturday June 14th at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada.
