- Brendan Schaub(left) will face Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 134
The UFC 134 Rio: Silva vs. Okami event will feature a heavyweight bout between rising heavyweight prospect Brendan Schaub and the legendary Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Nogueira is clearly near the end of his MMA career with Schaub on the opposite end of that spectrum. Let’s see what the young pup has for the old lion:
Brendan Schaub comes into this fight with a career record of (8-1) with 7 wins via TKO/KO. Schaub has won four in a row since losing via KO against Roy Nelson in his UFC debut at the TUF 10 Finale. Schaub was last seen in action in a grueling duel against Mirko Cro Cop in which he was able to finish the veteran late in the third round at UFC 128. Schaub is an athletic heavyweight with good speed, size, and solid striking.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira comes into this fight with a career record of (32-6) with 20 wins via submission and 2 via TKO/KO. Nogueira is coming off both knee and hip surgeries and has not fought since being knocked out by the now current UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez all the way back at UFC 110. Nogueira has slowed down considerably in the past few years but has always had a great ground game, solid boxing, and the ability to take massive amounts of punishment which has probably contributed to the decline of his overall skillset.
Brendan Schaub is the betting favorite going into this fight and he should be as he’s fighting a guy coming off multiple surgeries, and someone that hasn’t fought in a year and a half. Schaub should have an advantage everywhere in this fight except if it goes to the ground. Nogueira has been worn down over the years, but his ground skills are more than enough to give Schaub problems should he want to play that game. I doubt Schaub will try to take it there and will simply use his speed and striking to try and take Nogueira out with his striking. Nogueira will be no threat to take Schaub down unless he attempts to pull guard which probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Nogueira will be fighting in his home country for the first time in his career. I’m sure he’ll be motivated to win and will give a spirited effort with the crowd behind him, but the odds of him winning this fight are certainly not in his favor. In fact, should Nogueira defeat Schaub on Saturday night I would venture to say that it would be a bigger upset than when Tito Ortiz bested Ryan Bader at UFC 132.
Look for Schaub to keep this fight standing and put Nogueira away in the first or second round via TKO. However, I will be rooting for Nogueira as he’s my favorite fighter of all time.