Brendan Schaub has no regrets about his retirement from MMA, although the journey getting there was a little rocky.

Not so much because Schaub struggled with the decision but rather due to a public intervention of sorts held by his friend and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan just days after a 2014 loss to Travis Browne. The podcast that served as an episode of Schaub’s long-running show The Fighter and the Kid ended up as an emotionally charged conversation about why the Ultimate Fighter finalist should call it a career.

“The reality of your skill set, where you’re at now, I don’t see you beating the elite guys,” Rogan told Schaub during the episode. “I don’t see you beating Cain Velasquez. I don’t see you beating Junior dos Santos. I don’t see you beating Fabricio Werdum.

“It’s not that you don’t try hard, that you’re not dedicated, that you’re not disciplined, that you’re not intelligent. There’s shit that other people can do that you can’t do.”

Schaub responded defiantly with plans to return to the UFC, but ultimately that fight against Browne served as the final appearance of his career. A decade removed from that infamous confrontation, Schaub admits it was incredibly difficult to hear Rogan’s words in that moment but looking back now he’s thankful that his friend was brutally honest with him.

“When you’re fighting especially at that level, the UFC level, especially these days everyone is so damn good, you have to be all in,” Schaub told MMA Fighting. “I think when it comes to me in particular, especially when Rogan was talking to me, Rogan knew I had this other set of skills. I think, not to take anything away from Rogan, I think he knew I was going to be successful outside of fighting. He’s like, ‘Dude, you can do all this stuff, what are you doing?’ He was right. He was 100 percent right.

“At the time, I was mad. My mom and my brother and dad were so mad at him for doing that publicly and I told him that. Now they thank him. They’ll call him, they’ll thank him because he’s the one that really helped me out with that stuff.”

Since retiring from fighting, Schaub has continued to produce his podcast alongside comedian and actor Bryan Callen as well as launching his own YouTube channel. He developed Food Truck Diaries — a series that he previously did with Showtime where he would sit down with a fighter, grab some food and engage in a long conversation rather than just a standard interview.

Schaub also got involved in standup comedy among many other endeavors that have kept him plenty busy since he stopped fighting.

While retirement isn’t a “one size fits all” for every athlete, Schaub had plans for a career outside the cage. That’s one of the reasons why he remains satisfied with his decision to call it a career while numerous fighters struggle to walk away.

“The fighters, it’s a special breed to be a fighter, especially at that level,” Schaub said. “It can’t be your entire identity. That’s how I’ve been able to bounce around and do different things. I never just say I’m a football player, I’m a fighter, I’m this, I’m that, I’m a comic, podcaster. I like a bunch of different things. So I never just put myself in one lane. I’m OK getting backlash going, ‘Oh he’s not really into whatever it is, off-roading, he’s not really into comedy, he’s not really into podcasting, oh he’s just a football player fighting.’ All good, people are going to do that stuff.

“I think the No. 1 issue, these fighters get so wrapped up and their identity is just as a fighter. There’s some great personalities out there. Great personalities.”

Despite being retired for the better part of the past decade, Schaub still gets calls every now and again gauging his interest in a comeback.

The most recent instance was an offer from Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA and Schaub admits he was tempted in the moment — mostly due to the financial windfall it would have earned him.

“We had Jorge Masvidal and his manager Dean [Toole] on and I work for them now doing commentating but that’s how that came about. They offered me a fight,” Schaub said. “I’m like bare-knuckle MMA? They’re like yeah. I was like you don’t have enough money, there’s no way. He goes, ‘Give us a number.’ I gave them an outlandish number and he was like dead serious, just looked me in the eye and goes ‘OK.’ I’m like what?

“For a second I’m like shit, I’ll just hit the road now get some road work in now, let’s get going, that’s an insane amount of money. I just can’t force myself to do it. At 41, my kids, I can’t take another blow to the head. I’m good. I don’t need to be Elon Musk or ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone rich. I’m good. I’m good where I’m at.”

Schaub also revealed for the paycheck he would have received that a fight against another top-level opponent would be required and that only further justified his decision to pass.

“They’re like, ‘For that number you’re going to have to fight [Junior dos Santos] or Derrick Lewis.’” Schaub said. “I’m like no, hard pass. I don’t need those problems.”

With no plans to ever fight again, Schaub admits under the right circumstances he would be tempted, but every one of those scenarios is low risk, high reward. If that component isn’t involved, Schaub is happy doing exactly what he’s doing right now, which doesn’t involved getting punched in the head for a living.

“It’s a shame I’m so big,” Schaub said. “Because if a Logan Paul or a Jake Paul came about or a KSI, sign me up! When you’re talking about the [Junior dos Santos] and Derrick Lewis’ of the world? Hell no.

“Now some YouTuber? I’ll play ball there and make all the money and get the views. To fight these actual killers? It ain’t happening. I’ve got kids.”

EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada – Mike Malott was surprised by the end of his most recent fight as well as the immediate aftermath, but he hopes he’s better from it.

On the wrong side of a Comeback of the Year candidate, Malott (10-2-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) lost by third-round TKO to Neil Magny in January. Nine-and-a-half months later, Malott hopes to show off the lessons he’s learned Saturday when he takes on Trevin Giles (16-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 246 at Rogers Place.

“You’ve just got to reassess and see what went wrong,” Malott told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “I feel like you do the same thing after a win, right? See what you can improve on? But it’s how much do you want to dive into that. You can write it off to being like, ‘Well, I won 14 minutes of that fight and just made a couple of bad decisions at the end and a couple things went wrong, so if I just don’t do those, then I’ll be fine next time and I beat that guy nine times out of 10. Or we can do what we did.

“It’s like, look, it’s probably the symptom of a much larger problem that we didn’t recognize as much. How do we dive into that and figure out where we can get the most growth? That’s what we did. So the last nine (or) 10 months, I’ve been focused on improvement and growth and getting back in here to be the most confident version of myself, the most prepared for the fight that I can possibly be.”

The loss was one thing. The blowback afterward was another entirely.

Given Malott was a hot prospect pedestaled as the next torch bearer for Canadian MMA, opportunists emerged out of the digital woodwork to kick him while he was down.

“I’ll be honest. It was surprising at first,” Malott said. “I assumed there would be some negative criticism. But man, I was blown away by how many people were waiting for me to fall. But also on the opposite side, too, we can focus on that all day. There’s a ton of negativity you can focus on, but there’s also a ton of positivity. A ton of people messaged me and were like, ‘Look, man. You obviously showed some great stuff in that fight. You were winning the majority of that fight.’ It’s not like I got steamrolled for 15 minutes and have to rethink my entire game.

“Again, I think I win that fight most times. If we run that fight back however many times, I think I win the vast majority of those fights. I think I showed some solid skills in that fight, but I also showed some things that need to be improved. We just focused on what needs to be improved the last eight or nine months or whatever. Again at first, it was a little bit surprising. It got to me for the first week or two. I was really down on myself about it a little bit. But once I was able to get back in the gym and actually make or take steps toward making improvements and resolving issues, that kind of took care of itself.”

Now Malott has a shot at redemption. The circumstances are similar in some ways, as he has the opportunity to prove himself in his home country against a veteran fighter.

“It would’ve been nice to fight in July (in Denver as was scheduled), the fight that I prepared for,” Malott said, referring to his canceled bout vs. Gilbert Urbina. “But I’d much rather pull out of a fight in Denver than a fight in Edmonton. I’m excited to get back in front of those Canadian fans.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 246.

Rose Namajunas hopes to get into title contention with a win over Erin Blanchfield at UFC Edmonton on Saturday, but she could have arguably been closer already if her previous fight happened as scheduled.

Back in July, Namajunas was set to face Maycee Barber in a fight that potentially was to determine the No. 1 contender in the division. Unfortunately, Barber fell ill in the days leading up to the fight and she still hasn’t return to action as she continues to deal with her medical issues.

Namajunas moved on and defeated Tracy Cortez in dominant fashion instead and was happy to then book the fight against Blanchfield on Saturday rather than revisit the matchup with Barber.

“I always had my eye on Erin whenever she started her momentum and stuff in the UFC,” Namajunas said during UFC Edmonton media day. “I was in strawweight and thought she was a great competitor and somebody that if I ever got the chance to face her, I’d be really excited about.

“It’s unfortunate with Maycee there’s a lot of ambiguity, a lot of questions what’s going on. I still wish her health and wellness and hopefully she can get back to things but it really sucks when you train specifically for a fight and then it just gets all the way down to it and then it doesn’t [happen]. I’m good at adapting and changing scenarios and things like that. I would just be a little hesitant to book that fight right away because there’s a lot of questions with what’s going on with her.”

While Barber just recently posted an update that she’s continued to work with multiple doctors searching for answers so she could begin working towards her comeback, Namajunas wasn’t going to wait on that possible fight. Instead, she gets a higher ranked opponent in Blanchfield (currently No. 4 at 125 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings), who looks to rebound after suffering her first loss in the UFC in a unanimous decision to Manon Fiorot.

By all accounts, Fiorot, who also holds a win over Namajunas, is expected to get the next flyweight title shot against reigning champion Valentina Shevchenko sometime in 2025. Nothing has been signed, sealed or delivered by the UFC when it comes to that matchup, however, so Namajunas wouldn’t complain if she got the chance to jump the line with an impressive win over Blanchfield on Saturday.

“I guess anything’s possible and that’s my intention to put on a really good performance enough to where there’s no doubt I could be next,” Namajunas said. “But I just feel as if Manon deserves it next anyways regardless of what I do. She technically has a [win] over me. I do feel like if that was a five-round fight, I think I could have found a way to win. I was finding it towards the end. But it is what it is.”

Namajunas wouldn’t complain if she was granted a title shot, but again she’s not going to be too upset to potentially face Fiorot in a rematch or get the chance to go up against Shevchenko, one of her idols in the sport.

“If [Manon Fiorot] wins the belt, that would be great to fight her again or even have that dream matchup with Valentina one day,” Namajunas said. “So I’d be excited to see them fight but if the UFC wanted to put me ahead of that with a very spectacular performance, I’d be open to that as well.”

Namajunas has often talked about her adoration for Shevchenko after they trained together in the past. It might be bittersweet to face her in a title fight, but Namajunas couldn’t imagine a better person to fight than somebody she admires so much.

“She’s definitely always been my favorite female fighter,” Namajunas said about Shevchenko. “She’s somebody that I admire a lot and trained with a lot. It would be hard for me to not just be fanning out while I’m fighting her at the same time, it would be kind of weird.

“At the same time, just as a martial artist, it would be the ultimate dream to test myself against I’d say one of the truest martial artists in the game right now.”

Ilia Topuria and his team have had one of the greatest years in MMA history. That doesn’t mean they’re done chasing glory.

Following an impressive title defense at Saturday’s UFC 308 where Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) became the first person to knockout Max Holloway, his head coach Jorge Climent wants him to take another leap in his fighting career.

For Climent, this means going up a weight class and challenging UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who’s considered by many as the pound-for-pound best.

“The fight that I think would put Ilia at the very top without any discussion that he’s the best fighter in the world would be against Islam Makhachev,” Climent told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “The fight is against Islam because at this moment he’s a defending champion. I know Ilia has only defended his belt once and that can make it difficult to get the opportunity, unless you’re a Conor (McGregor). So I do think they’re going to give it to (Alexander) Volkanovski (next).”

Climent sees Volkanovski as the next likely option for his pupil. But given the result of their first meeting back in February, he doesn’t see the former champ as the biggest challenge for Topuria.

Climent undoubtedly sees Makhachev as thee toughest test, but still with a clear path to victory.

“It’s our toughest fight,” Climent said. “However, after seeing how much success Volkanovski had against him the first fight, of course (we) see an opportunity. This is the toughest fight, without a doubt, but I like it.”

Many notable fighters called out Topuria following his historic title defense against Holloway, an indication to Climent that Topuria is quickly becoming one of the most important names in the sport.

“Paddy ‘The P*ssy’ made some comments. Dustin Poirier called him out. That means Ilia is doing big things because that only happens when you’re truly doing big things,” Climent said. “Everyone that wants a spotlight is calling him out, Conor and others. I still think the best fight is against (Makhachev) and the biggest money fight is against Conor, which I see a bit unlikely.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Patrick Everson

FOX Sports Betting Analyst

There are no automatics when it comes to betting on the NFL. 

Oddsmakers are dialed in on the point spread. And if your NFL wagers are somehow hitting above .500 over an extended period of time, then count yourself fortunate.

That said, if you just blindly bet the Detroit Lions against the spread (ATS) every week since the middle of the 2022 season, then you’d have a 29-8 ATS record and quite a bit more money. 

Does that trend hold up in NFL Week 9 odds, when the Lions travel to face the Green Bay Packers?

Early bettors seem to think so.

“To nobody’s surprise, they’re playing the team everybody loves to bet, which is the Lions,” Caesars Sports head of football trading Joey Feazel said. “The Lions are amazing, and they’re really fun to watch.”

Oddsmakers and sharp bettors serve up their insights on Lions vs. Packers and a handful of other games, as we dive into NFL Week 9 betting nuggets.

NFL Rocks On FOX

The known facts about Lions-Packers: This matchup is easily the Game of the Week, and it’s on FOX at 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday. Also known as the weekend approaches, Detroit is a 3-point road favorite at Caesars Sports, down from a -4.5 opener on Sunday.

But the unknown is the issue: Will Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love play? Love suffered a groin injury in the second half of the Packers’ 30-27 win at Jacksonville in Week 8.

Love didn’t practice Wednesday and remains questionable for Sunday’s NFC North showdown.

“This is a tougher game to book, because we’re really not getting the full picture on whether Jordan Love is gonna play,” Feazel said. “If he’s out, this line goes to Lions -4.5. If he’s playing, I think maybe we see this going to Lions -1.5/-1.”

But again, early bettors like the favorite.

“They don’t think Love is gonna play,” Feazel said.

Detroit is 6-1 straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) this season, while Green Bay is 6-2 SU/4-4 ATS.

NFL Sharp Side 

Professional bettor Randy McKay went 1-1 on point-spread bets last week, cashing on Los Angeles Rams +3 vs. Minnesota Vikings and falling just short on New York Giants +7 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers.

McKay has three NFL plays this week, starting with the Denver Broncos vs. Baltimore Ravens. He likes underdog Denver at +9.5 or +10.

“Baltimore is coming off the loss to Cleveland, and faces a Denver team with a strong defense that should match up with the Ravens’ running game,” McKay said. “Baltimore’s defense is still banged up, so I see this game closer and lower scoring.”

How much does Diontae Johnson help the Ravens?

McKay is also on the underdog Indianapolis Colts +5.5/+6 vs. the Minnesota Vikings. He likes the Colts’ move to Joe Flacco at quarterback, benching Anthony Richardson. Plus, the Vikes lost standout left tackle Christian Darrisaw to a season-ending knee injury.

On Tuesday, Minnesota acquired left tackle Cam Robinson in a trade with Jacksonville.

Despite losing with the Giants last week, McKay is going with Big Blue again this week. He likes New York +3.5/+4 vs. the Washington Commanders.

“The Giants are coming off a tough loss, where they looked like the right side against the spread,” McKay said of New York’s 26-18 setback at Pittsburgh. “This is a rematch from Week 2, where the Giants should’ve won the game, but the kicker got injured. I see another close one here.”

New York place-kicker Graham Gano was hurt early in that Week 2 game. The Giants lost 21-18 as 1.5-point road underdogs.

Commanding Attention

The public betting masses often tend to remember what they saw last. In Week 8, that was mostly a miraculous Commanders prayer answered in an 18-15 victory over the Chicago Bears.

Meanwhile, on Monday night, the visiting Giants lost to the Steelers 26-18.

“People are gonna remember Jayden Daniels’ Hail Mary and Daniel Jones not playing well on Monday night,” Feazel said while speaking about this Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET kickoff on FOX between the Commanders and Giants. “We’re seeing one-way action on the Commanders.

“The Commanders are really becoming a public team. Daniels is making some noise in Washington.”

Nick wants Bears-Commanders bet back, Jayden Daniels not ranked over Caleb Williams

NFL Quick Hits

Feazel touched on two other notable games in NFL Week 9 odds:

• Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills: Caesars opened Buffalo as a 6-point home favorite, spent a couple days at -6.5, then went to -6 on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re taking a lot of Bills money here. It’s one-way action so far.” Kickoff is at 1 p.m. ET Sunday.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Kansas City Chiefs: In the Monday night game, Kansas City is pinned to -9 at Caesars. “So far, not a lot of action. It’s a pretty high number at 9, so some of the sharper customers are playing the Bucs. The Chiefs aren’t really winning because of Patrick Mahomes. They’re winning because of their defense. Kansas City has looked vulnerable at times. But I do expect to see more Chiefs action, because the Bucs are so banged up.”

I Like Big Bets and I Cannot Lie

There are no reported six-figure plays yet in NFL Week 9 odds. But trust me, they’re coming. They always do. Three notable wagers at Caesars Sports:

• $22,000 Panthers +7.5 vs. Saints: Carolina is a league-worst 1-7 SU and ATS. The Panthers have lost five consecutive games on the scoreboard and on the point spread. The Caesars customer is just hoping Carolina can stay within seven at home vs. New Orleans. If that happens, then the customer profits $20,000 (total payout $42,000).
• $11,000 Raiders +7.5 vs. Bengals: If underdog Las Vegas covers, then the bettor profits $10,000 (total payout $21,000)
• $11,000 Packers +4.5 vs. Lions: This bet will look a lot better if Love plays and the line drops to +1 or so by kickoff. If the ticket hits, then the bettor profits $10,000 (total payout $21,000).

And just a reminder: We like little bets that win a lot, too. 

If the Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series, a FanDuel Sportsbook customer would move one step closer to turning five bucks into a whopping $823,705. 

Provided the Dodgers finish off the New York Yankees, all that remains is a Detroit Lions Super Bowl to complete this eight-leg parlay of championship winners. 

It’s hard not to root for that!

Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas

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