Brendan Schaub, the runner-up on the tenth season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” has emerged as a prospect in the heavyweight division. His matchup at UFC 121 against Gabriel Gonzaga represented an opportunity to prove the legitimacy of the hype.<\/p>\n
Fighters like Junior dos Santos and Shane Carwin established their prominence with wins over Gonzaga, but would Schaub be able to do the same?<\/p>\n
Did the “TUF” alumnus bully Gonzaga? Or, did Gonzaga’s UFC experience edge lead him to victory? The result follows:<\/p>\n
Brendan Schaub b. Gabriel Gonzaga via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
\n*Story of the fight: The quicker, more athletic Schaub simply beat Gonzaga to the punch, pounding the more experienced fighter with dominant striking. Save for a moment that intersected with the round one bell, Schaub never had Gonzaga in true<\/i> danger, but he definitely hurt the BJJ expert on multiple occasions. And even when not on the verge of a stoppage, Schaub still managed to work his jab and strong right hand to consistently frustrate Gonzaga with a damaging onslaught.<\/p>\n
Overwhelmed by Schaub’s quicker, more damaging strikes, Gonzaga seemed lost on his feet. He never really got a punch exchange going, and while he did have some success with leg kicks, he never turned that success into anything meaningful. From a takedown perspective, Gonzaga simply could not make it work–he did take Schaub’s back at the very end of the fight, but he could never get a takedown when it would have mattered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[],"adace-sponsor":[],"yoast_head":"\n