#948 - Brendan Schaub & Eddie Bravo

Brendan Peter Schaub (born March 18, 1983) is an American former professional mixed martial artist, podcast host, stand-up comedian, and media personality. Competing primarily as a heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Schaub compiled an organizational record of 6 wins and 5 losses from 2009 to 2014, with notable victories including knockouts over veterans such as Gabriel Gonzaga and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. After retiring from MMA following a knockout loss to Travis Browne, Schaub transitioned to entertainment, co-hosting the long-running podcast The Fighter and the Kid alongside comedian Bryan Callen, which features discussions on combat sports, comedy, and current events, amassing millions of downloads. His career also encompasses stand-up comedy tours, appearances on UFC broadcasts as an analyst, and entrepreneurial ventures like the Thiccc Boy supplement brand, reflecting a pivot from athletic competition to multimedia influence in the MMA and podcasting spheres. Brendan Schaub was born on March 18, 1983, in Aurora, Colorado . He grew up in Aurora, the only child of Debra and Peter Schaub. Schaub's mother, Debra (also referred to as Julie in some accounts), is English, born in Stroud, Gloucestershire. His father, Peter Schaub, is American with German and Italian ancestry. The family's heritage thus encompasses German, Italian, and English roots. Peter Schaub holds a second-degree black belt, contributing to a household environment exposed to martial arts from an early age. Schaub has described his upbringing as stable and supportive, with parents who emphasized discipline and physical activity , though specific childhood anecdotes beyond family structure remain limited in public records. Schaub attended Overland High School in Aurora, Colorado , where he lettered twice in varsity lacrosse and once in varsity football. He earned all-state honors in both sports but missed his entire senior football season after sustaining broken ribs and a lacerated liver early in the year. Despite his achievements, Schaub received no college athletic scholarships and initially enrolled at Division III Whittier College in Los Angeles , drawn by its strong lacrosse program and continued football offerings. At Whittier, Schaub competed in both football and lacrosse as a dual-sport athlete before transferring to the University of Colorado Boulder as a junior to concentrate on football. There, he played running back for the Colorado Buffaloes under coach Gary Barnett , appearing in games during the 2004 and 2005 seasons with limited statistics, including 43 rushing attempts for 148 yards. Schaub's college football experience honed his athletic discipline but did not lead to professional opportunities immediately, prompting his later pivot to mixed martial arts after a brief NFL tryout. From elementary school onward, Schaub participated in a wide array of sports, including soccer, wrestling, basketball , baseball , and track, alongside his primary focuses on football and lacrosse , which built his foundational physical conditioning. These early pursuits emphasized versatility and competitiveness, though football emerged as his most serious endeavor by high school. Schaub began formal boxing training in 2007 after a background in football and early exposure to martial arts through his father, who taught him karate and taekwondo . With no prior competitive fighting experience, he dedicated himself to boxing as a means to channel his athletic drive, training intensively for approximately six months before entering amateur competitions. This period marked his transition from team sports to individual combat disciplines, emphasizing striking fundamentals amid his physical advantages as a heavyweight , standing 6 feet 4 inches tall with a football-honed physique. In 2008, Schaub competed in the Colorado Golden Gloves tournament in the novice heavyweight division, reserved for fighters with limited experience.

Eddie Bravo (born Edgar Cano; May 15, 1970) is an American Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor, innovator, and founder of the 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu system, a no-gi grappling methodology that emphasizes high-flexibility guards and unconventional submissions. Born in Santa Ana, California , to Mexican immigrant parents, Bravo initially pursued wrestling in high school before discovering Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the 1990s, earning a black belt under Jean Jacques Machado in 2003 after developing his signature rubber guard technique, which involves wrapping the legs around the opponent's head and arm to control and attack from the bottom position. His most notable competitive achievement came at the 2003 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, where, competing as a brown belt, he submitted Royler Gracie —grandson of BJJ founder Carlos Gracie —with a triangle choke , a victory that highlighted the effectiveness of his unorthodox style against traditional Gracie lineage practitioners and propelled his influence in no-gi grappling . Following this, Bravo established 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu , expanding it into a global network of affiliated gyms that prioritize no-gi training, innovation over tradition, and techniques like the rubber, truck, and twister guards, fostering a subculture within jiu-jitsu that challenges gi-based orthodoxy . Beyond grappling , Bravo has gained prominence as a podcaster and frequent guest on the Joe Rogan Experience , where he discusses martial arts alongside advocacy for conspiracy theories such as flat Earth , directed-energy weapons in the 9/11 attacks, and elite cabals, positions that have rendered him a polarizing figure in both combat sports and broader cultural discourse, often critiqued for diverging from empirical consensus yet defended by supporters as emblematic of independent inquiry. Edgar A. Cano, later legally known as Eddie Bravo after adopting his stepfather's surname, was born on May 15, 1970, in Santa Ana, California . His biological parents were Mexican immigrants who had settled in the United States, instilling a Mexican-American heritage in a working-class environment typical of many immigrant families in Southern California during that era. Bravo's early years were marked by a strong interest in music, beginning at a young age when he learned to play the drums and guitar. He formed several bands during his formative period, harboring aspirations of becoming a professional musician in the rock genre. This pursuit reflected an independent streak, as he channeled creative energies into self-directed musical endeavors rather than conventional paths. Eddie Bravo was born on May 15, 1970, in Santa Ana, California , to Mexican immigrant parents, later adopting his stepfather's surname. Limited public information exists regarding his formal education, with no verified records of attendance at community college or university ; his early development appears to have prioritized self-directed practical skills over structured academic paths. Before discovering Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 1991, Bravo's primary non-martial interest lay in music, where he developed skills on drums and guitar during his youth. He formed the band Blackened Kill Symphony as an outlet for his creative ambitions in the music industry. These pursuits reflected a hands-on, experimental approach to self-expression, aligning with his later problem-solving mindset unburdened by conventional frameworks. Eddie Bravo first encountered Brazilian jiu-jitsu through Royce Gracie's dominant performances in the early Ultimate Fighting Championship events, particularly UFC 1 in November 1993 and UFC 2 in March 1994, where Gracie submitted larger strikers using ground control and chokes, proving the art's efficacy in unsanctioned combat against diverse martial styles.