As he starts his comeback story, Arlovski not banking on glass-jawed Schaub

Brendan Schaub‘s detractors say his chin is questionable, that he can’t take a punch from an elite striker. Former UFC champ Andrei Arlovski, no stranger to those types of criticisms, isn’t buying it.

“I think it’s all BS.” Arlovski told MMAjunkie. “People say I had a glass jaw or weak chin, too, and when I fought Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson, the referee fell asleep, and I had the broken jaw in the first round because the referee made a mistake. I fought the second and third rounds with a broken jaw in two places, and he didn’t finish me.

“I think it’s all bull—t. The heavyweight division, if you land a good, good punch in the right place, everybody is going to fall.”

Arlovski (21-10 MMA, 10-4 UFC) on Saturday returns to the UFC for the first time in more than six years when he takes on Schaub (10-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) on the pay-per-view main card of “UFC 174: Johnson vs. Bagautinov” at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For the 35-year-old Arlovski, the bout marks his return to the octagon after 14 appearances for a variety of promotions, including World Series of Fighting, Strikeforce, Affliction and EliteXC. Contractual difference were behind his initial departure from the UFC, which saw him leave the organization on a three-fight winning streak.

While he was relatively successful during his time away from the UFC, Arlovski admits he’s excited to be back in the octagon.

“When I left the UFC, I made a business decision to leave the UFC,” Arlovski said. “I had some fighting experience and some life experience, so I’m very happy where I’m at right now.”

For his UFC return, Arlovski has been given Schaub, a less experienced 31-year-old fighter who admits he looked up to “The Pit Bull” as he was making his way to the UFC. While Schaub currently boasts a two-fight winning streak, prior consecutive knockouts to Ben Rothwell and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira left some fans wondering if he was ready to compete with the elite heavyweights of the world.

Arlovski believes Schaub is an extremely capable foe.

“I’m very excited,” Arlovski said. “He’s tough. He’s top-14, 15. I’m not even top-20 or 25, so it’s a very important fight for me.

“I need to prove I’m one of the best fighters in the world. I have to beat the people that are in front of me.”

Arlovski returns to the UFC on a 6-1 run, with the lone loss coming in his WSOF bout with Johnson, where the official timekeeper allowed the first round to run long, and Arlovski suffered a broken jaw a few seconds past the five-minute mark of the round.

Arlovski believes he’s a better fighter now than he was when he left the promotion and is excited to see what he can accomplish in his second UFC run. He even admits he’ll be a little nervous in the seconds before the bell rings to start the fight.

“Of course I’ll be nervous,” Arlovski said. “I think only stupid or foolish people aren’t nervous before their fights. I’m not going to fight some amateur. Definitely, he’s tough.

“I need to focus. I’m going to be nervous before the fight, but I think that’s normal.”

It’s been nearly nine years since Arlovski wore UFC gold around his waist, and while he doesn’t want to look too far into the future, he believes he can get there again. It all starts with Schaub, and Arlovski believes it’s going to be a credible start towards his run at the belt.

“I have my goals,” Arlovski said. “I need to reach my goals, and I will do everything possible to do this.

“Everybody likes a comeback story.”

For more on UFC 174, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.