Brendan Schaub reflects on Joe Rogan intervention: 'I was trying not to cry'

Brendan Schaub

According to UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub, an impromptu intervention staged by UFC commentator Joe Rogan came something out of left field.

Speaking on “The Fighter and the Kid” podcast he shares with comedian Bryan Callen, Schaub on Wednesday said Callen suggested that Rogan fill in for another guest and that they tape the Dec. 8 episode at the studio where Rogan does his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”

“I said, ‘Hey man, I don’t want this to be an attack on my career or my team or my coaches,'” he said on the podcast. “We can talk about the fight, but I just want it to be open and fun.'”

After Schaub said he was assured by Callen the interview would stay positive, he arrived at Rogan’s studio and received what might have been the first indication that the experience would be the exact opposite of what he expected.

“I show up, and Bryan’s not there,” Schaub (17-2-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC) said. “Rogan’s a really good, really close friend of mine, and as soon as I get there, ‘Joe, what’s up?’ He goes, ‘What’s up. … You want to save the small talk, and we’ll just talk on air?’ He’s never talked to me like that before. I said, ‘Sure, I guess.'”

What followed was a riveting and often-uncomfortable interview in which Rogan questioned Schaub’s ability to succeed in MMA and indicated he would suffer serious consequences as the result of brain trauma suffered in fights such as his most recent one, a first-round TKO loss to Travis Browne (10-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) at this past Saturday’s UFC 181 event. It was his second straight UFC loss and fourth as the result of a concussive blow.

Schaub said there was a reason he stayed mostly silent while Rogan spoke to him.

“If I would have spoke, you would have heard me crying,” he said. “I was trying not to cry.”

He was also fielding text messages from friends and family who had tuned in and were immediately concerned and flustered by Rogan’s line of questioning.

“I had like 40, 45 text messages from friends and family (saying), ‘Walk out right now. Don’t take this,'” Schaub said. “I thought, ‘No, no. Joe’s a good buddy. Bryan’s a good buddy. He’s just a pussy. I’ll figure something out.'”

Now, two days later, Schaub has come to the conclusion that as uncomfortable as the interview was, it will ultimately serve a purpose that is bigger than his experience in the moment.

“Was Rogan’s podcast hard to do? One hundred percent. Is this podcast hard to do? F-ck yeah, man,” he said. “The thing that makes our show and me different is, the fans are so invested – ‘The Fighter and the Kid’ fans or ‘Big Brown’ fans or whatever they are – it’s a journey. So they were with us when the Travis Browne fight got announced – all the emotions, being happy, the excitement for the fight. They invested in the fight. They watch me. The support online is insane. And so, it didn’t go according to plan.

“As hard as this is and as sh-tty as this is and hard as it is not to cry, I feel like I owe it to the fans to take them on this journey. It’s going to help someone, and for me, it’s also a way to cope with this loss.

“This is part of professional sports, man. I’ve been competing for 25 years of my life – 25 years, I’ve been an athlete. I’ve had my ups and downs. Oh, you don’t think I’ve had my back against the wall in the UFC? You don’t think when I lost to Ben Rothwell for my second (consecutive loss) in a row, you don’t think I’ve heard this all before? Oh, you don’t think people were telling me to stop then? We’ve been here. We’re going to be fine. I promise you we’re going to be fine.

“There are some decisions that need to be made. One hundred percent, there are some corrections I have to make. But when you look at it in black and white, I was against the No. 3 guy in the world, and I was doing pretty well, no matter what Rogan said. I don’t agree with everything Rogan said.”

Schaub said he is well aware of the dangers posed by repeated head trauma in such an unforgiving sport as MMA, to say nothing of the possible compounding of the problem from his earlier years playing football (he played in the Arena Football League and was a member of the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad).

But the knowledge of those risks, he said, don’t negate his desire to continue competing, or the fact that he was aware a career in contact sports involved a high degree of risk that might end up one day hurting him.

“Some of his points, I do agree with,” Schaub said. “Some of the stuff, when you lay down numbers, I can see why he thinks I should move on. The truth of the matter is, I make about as much money doing this show as I do in the UFC. That’s the truth. It’s about identical.

“He’s coming to me as a friend and saying, ‘Bro, you don’t have to take hits to the head.’ Because he knows what kind of income we have and the potential. It took every ounce of me, but the way I got through it was, ‘Well, someone’s going to sit there, and they’re going to respond to this.’

“Do I think I can compete at a high level and still do what we’re doing? One hundred percent, man. I disagree with him there. It’s a fine line between hanging it up and moving on and continuing to fight. Have I had concussions? One hundred percent. You’ve seen me in the UFC. I played football for 20 years, so I’m sure there is.

“I’d rather live my life for 50 years being a warrior than 100 years being a frickin’ gazelle, just being a peasant. That being said, I feel like … I have a duty to make some X-men babies. When I think about concussions, that bothers me down the road. Am I going to have a stutter? Am I going to be able to play with my kids? But to say I can’t compete at this level because I think of this stuff, that isn’t true.”

Still, with the weight of the topic, coupled with the recency of his loss, Schaub was in a fragile state after the interview. Afterward, he said, he shrugged off a social invitation and went home, where he cried for 30 minutes.

For more on UFC 181, check out the UFC Events section of the site.