Last year, former skateboarder turned Sirius XM radio host Jason Ellis had the bright idea to challenge retired UFC heavyweight fighter Brendan Schaub to roll with him on the mat.
The premise was that Schaub would secretly pick four submissions (rear-naked choke, anaconda choke, d’arce choke and a kimura), and then allocate a period of time to successfully apply each one on Ellis, live on air during his radio show.
Each time Schaub forced him to tap he’d get to kick the radio host in the leg, and vice-versa if Ellis was able to survive for a minute per submission attempt.
Ellis is known for his wild antics, but he’s far from a novice when it comes to MMA, as he’s been training in the sport for several years, spending a significant amount of time at the Team Quest gym, and has a 1-0 professional record.
Nevertheless, the 5ft 11, 205lb Ellis was at a significant size and experience disadvantage compared to ‘Big Brown’, who stands 6ft 4, weighed around 245lbs at the time and holds a brown belt in BJJ from the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy.
Originally a professional football player for the AFL’s Utah Jazz, Schaub transitioned to MMA in 2008 and got his big break when he was invited to feature on The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 in 2009.
He’d make it to the finals before losing to Roy Nelson, but went on to establish himself as a significant player in the UFC’s heavyweight division with wins over the likes of Gabriel Gonzaga, Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ and Matt Mitrione before retiring in 2015.
Needless to say, Schaub wins his submission battle with Ellis, though the shock jock’s prior training made it tougher than he’d expected.
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Since then Ellis has continued to test himself against professional fighters, even going as far as to have an ill-advised exhibition boxing match with another former UFC heavyweight fighter Shane Carwin, which ended with him being knocked out.
As for Schaub, his ‘Fighter & The Kid’ podcast with comedian Bryan Callen has gone from strength-to-strength, while he’s also now branched out into stand-up comedy.
