The UFC’s brass evidently still considers unranked heavyweight Brendan Schaub a viable contender, even after his lackluster performance in his most recent outing at UFC 174 in June.
As reported by Fox Sports, the UFC announced Tuesday that Schaub will square off with third-ranked heavyweight and Jackson’s MMA stalwart Travis Browne at UFC 181 in December.
Schaub acknowledged the matchup with Browne via Twitter on Tuesday.
It’s official we got a fight and it’s a big one! UFC 181 in Las Vegas vs Travis Browne http://t.co/S3AmMqIT7i
— Brendan Schaub (@BrendanSchaub) September 9, 2014
A fight with Browne arguably represents the most promising opportunity in the five-year UFC career of Schaub, a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a former tight end at the University of Colorado.
Schaub saw his two-fight winning streak come to a halt when he dropped a controversial split decision to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 174.
Schaub scored the only takedown of the bout and outstruck the former UFC heavyweight champ, 65-40, including 30-12 in the significant strikes department.
Prior to his loss at UFC 174, Schaub submitted slugger Matt Mitrione with a D’arce choke at UFC 165 in February 2013. Seven months before that win, The Hybrid earned a unanimous decision over another heavy-handed boxer, Lavar Johnson, at UFC 157.
Schaub (10-4) holds a 6-4 UFC record with three KOs.
Browne (16-2-1) was riding an impressive three-fight winning streak before getting routed by top-ranked heavyweight Fabricio Werdum in a unanimous-decision loss at UFC on Fox 11 in April.
In consecutive fights in 2013, Hapa notched KO wins over a trio of top-15 heavyweights in Gabriel Gonzaga (No. 12), Alistair Overeem (No. 10) and Josh Barnett (No 6).
Browne has compiled a 7-2-1 record since joining the UFC in 2010.
All stats gathered via Fightmetric.com.
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