Metamoris & Schaub

[Marty McLaren]

Obviously the Brendan Schaub vs Cyborg match at Metamoris was not the greatest Jiu Jitsu spectacle ever seen. Schaub is copping a lot of criticism for his tactics and reluctance to engage, however, surely Cyborg could also cop some of the criticism? There were multiple occasions where Cyborg managed to get Schaub in some sort of guard (usually half) but on every occasion he allowed Schaub to escape by either not clinching or not closing his guard. This lack of clinch or closed guard was the very reason Schaub was able to escape back to his feet and then not engage. Eddie has talked many times about the importance of a clinch game and based on this match it seemed to be an area Cyborg is lacking. To expect Schaub to actively jump into his guard and engage would seem to be counter intuitive to Schaub having any chance of winning. Granted, before the match started I couldn't really see a scenario where Schaub was going to be able to submit Cyborg but are we all being a bit harsh in solely blaming Schaub for the non event that was their match? From a personal perspective I was disappointed as I wanted to see a high level jiu jitsu match but I also thought before hand that in Schaub's mind he might have seen surviving as a victory.

Anyway, just my 2 cents worth and am happy if people disagree with me.

[Hext]

Here's the footage - well until it gets removed

[Sam Sales]

Schaub was rude as fuck at the post fight presser too. Constantly interrupting and talking over Cyborg. I am not a huge Schaub fan now tbh.

[Marty McLaren]

I have never been a big Schaub fan so please don't take my original post as defending him I just don't think it was as straight forward as being his fault alone. In saying that, surely the organisers i.e. Ralek would have had some idea about his tactics before the fight was made official. If he is serious about growing this promotion, which I hope he is as I really like the concept of high level Jiu Jitsu on a regular basis, then fights like this one do nothing to promote it. If they wanted to feature a UFC fighter to promote the event surely there are ton that are more qualified and willing to not just survive. Guys like Vinny, Damian Maia, Toquinho or even (putting my biased Aussie hat on) George Sots.

[David Rosado]

Marty, you seem like a smart guy who likes to see both sides of the coin. While your point is valid about a missing element to Cyborg's grappling, he shoulders zero blame here. He came to a grappling comp to grapple. He showed a desire to grapple. BS on the other hand did not.

"He didn't want to get in his guard." He shouldnt have signed up. Its a friggin grappling match. Either you'll be in his guard, or you pull guard. He did neither.

"He didn't want to be in his guard." Then pass.


BS signing up to a grappling match (sub only at that) and avoiding grappling is like me signing up for a basketball tourney and telling people not to pass me the ball. It's ridiculous.

BS deserves all the hate and then some.

[David Moore]

I think when Cyborg got a hold of him, he should have adjusted his game to make sure BS couldn't back out of guard. BS should have at least gone out on his shield. That was embarrassing for everyone involved. I doubt Rener or Ryron are too proud of that display despite what they say.

[J Grooms]

We all know Schaub was a sacrificial lamb... no one gave Schaub a chance. Schaub did what he did to survive. Aren't you supposed to just survive vs higher belts? Cyborg is a multiple time gold medalist in BJJ competition. He had 20 minutes to finish schaub in his own world. You cant just lay back and hope someone will agree to play your game. You have to have the ability to enforce your game. I'm not saying that Schaub carried the bushido spirit into battle, but christ that's fucking Cyborg Abreu! Would you willing enter your doom by engaging his guard? Schaub was gonna make him earn it by taking him down, holding him there, and finishing him. Cyborg couldn't do this in 20 minutes. Schaub has 0 submission wins in MMA this was just complete shit matchmaking is what it comes down to. They want to gain fans and put over these BJJ guys by having them beat MMA guys... but christ that match backfired. If they were serious about furthering grappling, then they should be ashamed of that match up. Put Rustam Chsiev in there for the rematch with Cyborg if you want a real exciting no gi match. It's just frustrating that the man that was supposed to be the sacrificial lamb survived the lions den by playing to the rules and everyone blames him for a shit match. There was a lot more wrong with that match than just Schaub. I doubt cyborg would return the favor and step into Schaubs world with him.

[Nathan Simcox]

Here's the footage - well until it gets removed

Gotta love the Yakety Axe!

[Kyle Spalla]

Schaub was rude as fuck at the post fight presser too. Constantly interrupting and talking over Cyborg. I am not a huge Schaub fan now tbh.

His performance was so terrible, he should be cut from the UFC...and life. Yeah, that too.

[David Rosado]

I doubt cyborg would return the favor and step into Schaubs world with him.

OK so if Cyborg agreed to an mma match then ran for the round and said " he has more experience, I had to play to survive.," would that be acceptable to you? No. BS agreed to a grappling match. If this was just a tourney, fine. But people paid for a super fight. He got paid for a super fight. If I signed up to fight Cyborg and for paid for it, my white belt ass will put up the fight of my life.

There is no excuse for BS. None. If he didn't want to grapple, he shouldn't have signed up.

If i challenged Michael Jordan and just held the ball with no intention to dribble, people wouldn't blame Jordan for not being able to steal the ball.