While UFC 306 was a big hit for Dana White, let’s just say Brendan Schaub wasn’t a big fan.
Let’s just say [autotag]Brendan Schaub[/autotag] wasn’t a big fan of UFC 306.
The former UFC heavyweight contender turned podcaster and comedian heavily criticized the UFC’s decision to put on a pay-per-view event at the famous Sphere in Las Vegas. The card from this past Saturday was headlined by two championship fights in Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley and Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso 3.
There were several things Schaub didn’t like about the Sphere event, starting with the emphasis of promotion on the venue and not the fighters competing at the event.
“Clearly the belle of the ball was the arena,” Schaub said on his YouTube channel. “The Sphere was the focus and the belle of the ball. As a former fighter, for the current fighters, that’s not good. No other sports organization in the f*cking world is going to make the arena the focus. It should be on the talent. So that was already kind of triggering to me, but I didn’t say much. I was just like, ‘We’re going down a weird road.'”
Schaub didn’t attend UFC 306 and saw the event on pay-per-view like most fans. He thought the graphics and production looked cool, which the promotion spent over $20 million, but at the end of the day, he tunes in to watch good fights – something he doesn’t think the event delivered.
“What Dana White wanted to achieve, they crushed it,” Schaub said. “From the whole Sphere thing, first time ever pulling this off, they crushed it. The presentation was great. It’s not even all that. That’s not my issue. My issue is the product I paid to watch was not great because it wasn’t a pay-per-view worthy card. Because the belle of the ball is the Sphere, what you’re paying for, unless you’re in person, it ain’t that great. It just wasn’t. And the main and co-main event, boy, did the UFC gamble, and they lost.”
The best way Schaub could describe his experience watching UFC 306, was to eating at Rainforest Cafe – a rainforest-themed chain restaurant decorated with jungle flora and animatronic animals.
“You know what the Sphere is? It’s Rainforest Cafe,” Schaub said. “It looks f*cking great, but the product is sh*t. As a kid, I loved Rainforest Cafe. It looks f*cking sick. It’s got animals and sounds and mist, and you’re like, ‘I’m in a jungle.’ But then you get your f*cking macaroni, and it’s horrendous, and you’re waiting around forever.
“The UFC doing events at the Sphere is like, I hate to tell you guys, but spoiler: Rainforest Cafe is out of business. UFC doing events like this is no different than Rainforest Cafe. What it comes down to is you’re there for a good meal, not the atmosphere.”
Brendan Schaub offers a blunt assessment on the Francis Ngannou-PFL relationship.
It’s still unknown what the future looks like for [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] in terms of MMA. Some pundits, such as [autotag]Brendan Schaub[/autotag], doubt there’s even a future at all.
Schaub, a former UFC heavyweight contender, doesn’t think Ngannou is ever going to debut for the PFL given the success he’s found securing marquee heavyweight names to fight him for big money in boxing.
For Schaub, this signals the end of Ngannou in MMA.
“The PFL thing never made sense to me, and I think PFL is his side chick,” Schaub said on his YouTube channel. “I think it’s a Plan B. With them, it was like, because remember, it was really up in the air because he was hoping that it was going to work out, and Fury was going back and forth so he didn’t know, and it dragged out. But he got the Fury fight, and I think PFL is just the Plan B if the Fury and Joshua stuff didn’t work out. It’s working out, so he’s like, ‘(Sorry).’
Ngannou, 37, is unsure if 2024 will be the year he debuts for PFL, putting him at 38 for a potential debut in 2025. Schaub cites Ngannou’s age as another reason why he sees his MMA return unlikely, apart from getting better opportunities in boxing.
“Francis is not that young, either,” Schaub said. “It’s not like he’s some young whipper snapper, and he can just be like, ‘Let me do this, and I’m going to go and fight for the title over here. I don’t think he cares.
“Like, what’s a PFL belt do for Francis’ legacy? Who is he going to beat? Name somebody that’s important to beat. There’s no Ciryl Ganes over there, no Ton Apinalls, no Jon Jones. There’s none of that.”
On top of Ngannou’s age and the big money fights in boxing, Schaub also doesn’t think PFL has much to offer him in terms of competition.
“UFC has all the big boys locked down contractually,” Schaub explained. “I just think PFL was a side piece in this equation, and it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for him to fight Fury, fight Joshua and probably make more money, and then the Wilder fight is always there.
“Then what? You’re going to do work at your age and try to take out these guys that nobody has heard of in PFL and nobody is watching? OK.”
Brendan Schaub picks Francis Ngannou to KO Jon Jones in MMA.
The combat sports world is high on [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag], but [autotag]Brendan Schaub[/autotag] might be among the biggest supporters.
Ngannou is coming off a colossal boxing non-title bout against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who’s considered by many the greatest heavyweight boxer today. Ngannou entered the fight as a huge underdog, and few saw Ngannou going the distance, much less winning.
Schaub thought Ngannou won, and labels him “The baddest man on the planet.” He also thinks if Ngannou ever crosses paths with current UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag], the Cameroonian would finish him.
“To piggyback on what DC (Daniel Cormier) said, and DC knows tough men, DC said bar none, Francis Ngannou is the baddest man on the planet,” Schaub said on his YouTube channel. “Who’s going to beat him, Jon Jones? I’m on record saying this: I thought Jon Jones would smoke Francis after watching him do what he did against Ciryl Gane. Watching Francis vs. Fury, I’m like, ‘Oh, he’d beat Jon.’ He’d beat Jon in MMA. I think he knocks him out.
“I didn’t realize how good he was. I knew he was good, but I didn’t realize he was this talented. I knew he was a freak athletically, but I didn’t know he was world-class-boxing-beat-the-breaks-off-the-greatest-of-all-time good. Who did? This is nuts.”
Of course, not long ago, Ngannou was part of the UFC roster and many wanted to see him fight Jones. Due to contract disputes, Ngannou walked away from the UFC as champion and into free agency. He’s now signed with PFL.
Schaub said Ngannou’s success proves the UFC made an error by letting him walk and not allowing him to pursue boxing.
“UFC messed up,” Schaub said. “Jon is out, Stipe is waiting for Jon and those two are going to retire, that’s a legendary fight. Chael (Sonnen) said this as well: I don’t know if we ever get that fight now. We might, but now we have Tom Aspinall and Sergei in there now. … But the greatest heavyweight is not in the UFC. The greatest heavyweight at boxing and mixed martial arts is not in the UFC. Who’s going to beat Francis?”
Brendan Schaub thinks Jon Jones should’ve been stripped from UFC heavyweight title after suffering a torn pectoral muscle.
[autotag]Brendan Schaub[/autotag] thinks the UFC is doing a disservice to its heavyweight division.
Schaub, a retired UFC heavyweight turned comedian and MMA analyst, believes [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] should’ve been stripped off the heavyweight belt after suffering a torn pectoral muscle, an injury which ruled him out of his title defense against Stipe Miocic. Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) and Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) were supposed to headline UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 11 – a card that celebrates the UFC’s 30th anniversary.
“UFC missed the boat on this a little bit not stripping him of the belt,” Schaub said on his YouTube channel. “When he beat Ciryl Gane, he’s the heavyweight champ. When your champ is out at least a year with this injury, there should not be an interim title fight. It should just be the vacant belt.”
Immediately after Jones’ withdrawal from UFC 295, the promotion booked an interim title fight between Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall.
UFC CEO Dana White said Jones would likely be out for eight months. Schaub believes the UFC is underestimating the severity of a torn peck and expects Jones to be out for much longer, which is why he thinks Jones should’ve been stripped.
“Jon Jones tore his pec, and I don’t mean like a slight tear,” Schaub said. “They’re saying he tore his peck off the bone. If you know anything about these injuries, which I do – I’ve had pec issues. I’ve had many friends who were professional athletes who have torn their pec, and when it’s completely torn off the bone, this is not a fast turnaround time.
“The UFC said minimum eight months. Minimum. That’s assuming he has surgery, they have to open up and reattach that muscle to the bone. There’s a lot that goes into a torn pec, so I assume he’s out probably a year. Jon Jones probably isn’t fighting for probably a year. He’s not getting any younger.”
Logan Paul fires back at Brendan Schaub for his criticism of the Dillon Danis lawsuit ahead of their boxing match on Saturday.
[autotag]Logan Paul[/autotag] has fired back at [autotag]Brendan Schaub[/autotag] for his recent comments surrounding his upcoming fight against [autotag]Dillon Danis[/autotag].
Paul, a YouTube star turned boxer and WWE wrestler, was not happy to see Schaub criticize his fiancé, Nina Agdal, for filing a lawsuit against Danis for sharing photos without her consent in the lead-up to their boxing match. The two are scheduled to fight Saturday in the co-main event of Misfits Boxing’s “The PRIME Card” at AO Arena in Manchester, England.
Schaub had said on his YouTube channel that he was bummed out to see Agdal sue Danis and added that, “First rule of fight club: Don’t sue another fighter building the fight,” something with which Paul took issue.
“It bums me out that 3 weeks ago I DM’d you Nina’s lawsuit details because of your ignorance & your response was “Oh Jesus. Did not know that. Not cool,'” Paul wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Then you come on here talking about fight club rules like you’re the referee. This twisted ‘promotion’ has gone FAR beyond the fight game & you know that.
“Plus, I’m not the one suing him. He picked a fight with an innocent woman who is standing up for herself the only way she can: by holding a predator legally accountable for breaking the law — any person who doesn’t understand that is a delusional twat. The lawsuit is HER choice, and I fully support her. Now I get to break his face in front of millions of people & ruin his entire life. Win-win.”
It bums me out that 3 weeks ago I DM’d you Nina’s lawsuit details because of your ignorance & your response was “Oh Jesus. Did not know that. Not cool.” … Then you come on here talking about fight club rules like you’re the referee. This twisted ‘promotion’ has gone FAR beyond… https://t.co/OrWsMLpVvG
Brendan Schaub says “it’s so insulting if you’re Francis Ngannou’s camp” to have Tyson Fury overlooking him like this.
It appears [autotag]Tyson Fury[/autotag] could close out 2023 with two fights – yes, two.
The WBC heavyweight champion has been promoting and preparing for his crossover fight against former UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] on Oct. 28 in Saudi Arabia. And while the date for the Ngannou boxing match closes in, Fury announced he will also fight Oleksandr Usyk, who holds the IBF, WBA and WBO titles, for undisputed champ status in December or early 2024.
For [autotag]Brendan Schaub[/autotag], this was the ultimate show of disrespect.
“It’s so insulting if you’re Francis Ngannou’s camp,” Schaub said on his YouTube channel. “They’re just going, ‘This is going to be a cakewalk, and we’re just going to use that to prepare for Usyk. We’re not worried about getting cut or taking any damage. This fight is going to be so easy, we’re going to schedule the biggest fight of Tyson Fury’s career a few weeks after.’ That is the biggest FU I’ve ever seen in combat sports.”
He continued, “There’s zero respect there. I saw that and went, ‘Oh, what a flex, dude.’ That is the best sh*t talking I’ve ever seen, and he didn’t even have to do it. He just called up his guy and said, ‘Yeah, just announce it.'”
Schaub believes the booking of the Usyk fight shows how little of a threat Fury and his team think Ngannou will pose come Oct. 28.
“This is a side show to him,” Schaub said. “To Francis, this is as real as it gets. To Tyson, this is, ‘Yeah, I’m going to make that money and embarrass this dude, take a day off, maybe go to the pub, hang out with my wife, and shoot a reality show, and then we’ll just jump into camp and fight Usyk.'”
And while that may point to Fury’s level of confidence and maybe, to a degree, the difference in boxing skills and experience, Schaub also sees it as a good thing for Ngannou. He believes Fury is taking Ngannou lightly, which could lead to the champ’s demise.
“If Francis hits you flush on the face, the night is over,” Schaub said. “This kind of puts more chips in Francis’ corner. … You should be worried if in the countdowns, Tyson is saying how much he respects you and this is going to be his toughest fight. Then you need to go, ‘Oh, damn. We’re getting the A version of Tyson? We don’t have a shot.’ But if we get just a B version of Tyson, OK, OK.'”
Brendan Schaub doesn’t understand the hate on the making of Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett.
[autotag]Brendan Schaub[/autotag] doesn’t understand some of the backlash seen online about [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag]’s next UFC fight.
The former UFC interim lightweight champion returns on the final pay-per-view of 2023, where he takes on British star [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] at UFC 296 in Las Vegas.
Many didn’t think this should’ve been the type of fight for Ferguson (25-9 MMA, 15-7 UFC) next and saw it as the UFC trying to use Ferguson to bolster Pimblett’s (20-3 MMA, 4-0 UFC) status in the promotion.
While there might be some aspect to that, with Pimblett getting one of the most popular names in the division, Schaub actually thinks this was the way to for “El Cucuy.”
“When this first got announced, a close friend of mine texted me saying, ‘It’s not announced yet, but I think they’re doing Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett,’ and I go, ‘Finally. Finally, Tony gets a winnable fight,'” Schaub said on his YouTube channel. “… Not that it’s an easy fight, but look at his last seven fights. Bobby Green, he got submitted, that was a tough one. But Nate Diaz, which was short notice, Michael Chandler, (Beneil) Dariush, Charles Oliveira and Justin Gatheje. Before that, it was (Donald) Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Kevin Lee, (Rafael) Dos Anjos. What? Look at who he’s fighting.”
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Schaub thinks that Ferguson, although older and with more damage, is much better than Pimblett from a technical standpoint. He thinks this will be Pimblett’s toughest test in the UFC.
“My question for anybody going, ‘Oh, I see what the UFC is doing with this. It’s clear as day. They’re just feeding this young lion to Tony Ferguson,'” Schaub said. “My question for you guys is: Do you really think Paddy Pimblett won his last fight? Most don’t. He’s probably coming off a loss against Jared Gordon. Before that, the only people Paddy has beat was Jordan Leavitt, (Rodrigo) Vargas. They’re impressive fights, but he’s been hit in all those fights. … What aspect of MMA is Paddy Pimblett better at than Tony Ferguson? Striking? No. Grappling? No. Wrestling? No way.”
Even though Schaub sees Ferguson as a better fighter, he still stayed away from making an early prediction. Schaub mainly refutes the idea that Ferguson is just an easy stepping stone for Pimblett.
“I’m not saying I’m picking Tony to win,” Schaub said. “I’m just saying, this isn’t a terrible fight for Tony. It’s not some weird fight where the UFC is feeding some young lion this old, weathered veteran.”
Brendan Schaub didn’t take kindly to Dana White’s shot at him after UFC 279.
[autotag]Brendan Schaub[/autotag] didn’t take kindly to [autotag]Dana White[/autotag]’s shot at him in the aftermath of UFC 279.
Following a chaotic week in Las Vegas where the promotion was forced to shuffle the top three fights of its pay-per-view event following Khamzat Chimaev’s infamous weight miss, a portion of the MMA community thought the entire situation was pre-planned.
Schaub, as well as former UFC champion Pat Miletich, were among those to chime in with their opinions. They theorized a conspiracy for the UFC to improve the card due to low pay-per-view interest.
Following Tuesday’s episode of Dana White’s Contender Series, the UFC president lashed out at Miletich and called him “the dumbest motherf*cker on the planet.” White also was informed told Schaub had offered his own theories, which he said “makes sense” (via Twitter):
Pat Miletich took a stray from Dana White over a UFC 279 conspiracy theory.
Schaub didn’t appreciate the tone in which White delivered his comment, and Wednesday posted on social media to offer his response.
Schaub held nothing back, and went after White from every angle from personal to professional, and brought fighter pay and the UFC’s association with various media outlets into the fold.
Oh god… here we go again. I’ve been nothing but cool and thought you’d learn from the last time you mentioned my name and got destroyed. Unfortunately, not surprised you’re a bully. Always have been. You put on a pair of designer jeans and some “hip sneakers” and think you’re cool. You’re still a dork with a frat bro vocabulary. Calling me and numerous people “dummy” “dumbass” “f*cking idiot” cause we have questions about “the chaos” at UFC279? Also, no one is talking about *gate tickets,* I was referring to *pay per view buys* and how UFC 279 was *trending*… which you don’t release to the public, but will say “it went F*ckin great bros!” Sorry, we just don’t buy what you’re telling us after lying numerous times but the sheep media you pick to attend events don’t have the balls to call you out. Just in the recent press conference you were caught lying about extra compensation to the fighters. You need a reality check. You’re surrounded by “Yes men.” You’re not special, you’re not original. You’re a low budget Vince McMahon. Every move you make is a copy cat of that dude. Only thing you have in common is you’re both on steroids and dress like assholes. Need I remind you, your origin story is a failed cardio kick boxing instructor who had two rich friends in high school to fund this business. Now go make a “cool” video with the Nelk boys to stay relevant or have your PR team come up with a good press story to distract the fans away from fighter pay and how they have to wear those awful under armor Rock shoes and won’t see a dime. “Dummy”
PS. Quit stealing my shows on thicccboy network and recreating it on Fight pass, k?
Also… leave Pat Miletich alone.
Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub had some strong words about UFC president Dana White’s response to Aljamain Sterling’s UFC 273 win.
Former UFC heavyweight [autotag]Brendan Schaub[/autotag] didn’t hold back his feelings about [autotag]Dana White[/autotag]’s comments about [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]’s title defense.
The co-main event of UFC 273 saw Sterling defend his title against Petr Yan in a close split decision victory, which sparked debates across the MMA community about which fighter really won the fight. During the post-fight news conference, UFC president White said he scored the fight for Yan, siding with the dissenting official judge.
“I thought the judges blew that one,” White said. “I had it 3-2 (for Yan). I don’t know how you guys scored it. It’s all in however you score that first round.”
Schaub believes White’s comments after the fight will be the source of more hate for Sterling in the future, despite having to deal with backlash from the first meeting with Yan, and winning the fight outright in the rematch.
“Dana has so much power and when he says that, the sheep, for lack of a better word, the sheep go, ‘Dana said he didn’t win, he didn’t win,” Schaub said on The Schaub Show. “…I wish Dana would wait ’till he watched the fight like we saw the fight. Watch it a second or third time before you jump to that conclusion. Because by saying that, that gives everybody out there, the casuals, the MMA experts, especially on ESPN or if you work for UFC, now all of ’em go, ‘Yeah, Aljamain didn’t win that fight.’ Which isn’t true. It’s just not true. Nobody got cheated out of anything.”
[lawrence-related id=2537489,2537471]
Schaub offered his arguments for a 10-8 round in favor of Sterling. He then continued to focus his support for Sterling winning the fight based on the official judging criteria, which considers effective striking and grappling the first priority of assessment. Effective aggressiveness is the second tier, but should not be considered unless there is not an advantage in the striking or grappling. Cage control is the last judging criteria, which should only be considered if all else is equal, but is a rare consideration.
“When you’re the president of the UFC, you have a responsibility,” Schaub said. “So, when you say the judges got it wrong on that one, well now you f*cked Aljamain Sterling over. Now you f*cked him. Because he beat the naysayers. He beat the haters. He shut everybody up. But now it resurfaces because the most powerful man in the UFC says he didn’t win that fight, which you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re wrong, dude. And you f*cked your fighter over. Now he has to go back to the drawing board. He has to deal with more of this stupid f*cking hate. And why? Because he won three out of five? … Now you f*ck up the stock of Aljamain Sterling and you’re wrong, dude.
“Go back and watch it. Based off how the judges judge a fight, and if your only explanation to giving Petr Yan that first round is octagon control, well that’s the least important thing when it comes to judging. There’s other things that have to happen first, and Aljamain won those. So that would give him the first round, the second round, and the third round clear as f*cking day.”
A woman describes how former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub took matters into his own hands to remove children from a mangled SUV.
When [autotag]Brendan Schaub[/autotag] went public with his involvement in the immediate aftermath of a fatal wrong-way car crash, Rita Campos felt the effect.
The tragic incident happened Aug. 12 around 7 p.m. Monday, four days later, Schaub detailed how he helped rescue three kids from the wreckage on his “The Fighter and The Kid” podcast. Various media outlets picked up the story, which spread quickly given Schaub’s popularity and status as a former UFC fighter.
That’s when Campos’ phone started to blow up.
“All of a sudden all these people were texting me the story and were like, ‘This is you. This is you he’s talking about,'” Campos told MMA Junkie on Thursday. “And then I watched (his podcast), and it just brought everything flying back.”
The crash wasn’t an accident, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, which determined that 31-year-old Cesar Iban Torres tried to kill his girlfriend and their four children when he drove an SUV on the wrong side of the 101 Freeway with his family inside. Aimee Garcia, 26, died in the alleged intentional crash; the four children – ages 1 to 7 – suffered moderate injuries.
Garcia’s brother, Juan Zavala, told ABC 7 that hours before the crash, Torres called him with a disturbing message that “he has to give his family to God.”
The DA’s office announced charges against Torres on one count of murder, four counts each of attempted murder and child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death, and one count each of assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest.
“A family has been torn apart by this tragic collision that leaves four young children without their mother,” District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement.
The case remains under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.
‘He gave me the baby’
The scene after the wrong-way crash in which Brendan Schaub helped rescue children from the wreckage.
Campos, 49, said she was driving home from work and was “maybe three car lengths” behind a tractor trailer back when she witnessed the SUV slamming into it, causing her to swerve and immediately pull over. She said Schaub and another woman also pulled over and sprung into action.
Upon arriving at the scene, Schaub said he saw Torres get hit by a vehicle when he tried to flee the scene.
“So I’m running towards the mangled car, and I see a guy with no shoes on. He’s in a (tank top), kind of out-of-shape Mexican running across the 101,” Schaub recalled. “I’m like, ‘What the f*ck?’ I’m looking, and then a Dodge Durango, probably going 60 miles an hour – whack! – hits him.”
Campos said she “definitely, 100 percent” also saw Torres struck by a vehicle, though she does not think it was going 60 mph.
“As I’m asking (Schaub) if he called 911, I heard the thunk [sic] and looked over and saw the guy get hit by this black SUV,” Campos said. “I can’t confirm if it was a Durango or not, and I said that to the police when they took my statement, but he definitely got nailed by that car.”
By the time Campos reached the mangled SUV, she said Schaub and two other men were already trying to pry the doors open. Schaub described having to smash an already broken window in order to access two kids and pull them from the wreckage. Schaub said he handed over the youngest to a woman. That woman was Campos.
“He gave me the baby, and I just kind of started focusing on the other kids,” Campos said. “Myself and the other lady, her and I were really focused on the kids and just staying with them. I did lose sight of Brendan at that point, because that must’ve been when he left.”
Schaub, who held back tears on his podcast, indicated he was nervous for his safety while in the middle of everything because of the amount of gasoline on the freeway.
“The 18-wheeler, where the car hit it, it hit the gas tank,” Schaub said. “… So there’s a flow of gas, as thick as this room, flooding out. My shoes, my jeans are all covered with gas because I’m running. It smells so much like gas.”
Campos recalled the same.
“The fuel was all over the place from the initial 18-wheeler that hit the car,” she said. “It was like waiting to see if the semi was gonna catch fire or anything, because it was just so crazy.”
Schaub left the scene once he knew the kids were in good hands, before first responders arrived. According to Campos, Schaub assisted with the rescue effort for “five to six minutes.” She estimated that first responders arrived about 10 minutes after Schaub left.
Schaub explained why he didn’t stick around.
“I was a little mad at myself for putting my (girlfriend) in that situation, and I have kids. I’m like, ‘Man, what the f*ck am I doing?’ So I was a little mad,” Schaub said. “My father-in-law (works for the California Highway Patrol), so I call him and tell him, ‘I was the first on the scene, but I didn’t stick around because it was so dangerous. Hopefully I don’t get in trouble for it, but if you need any witnesses, I saw it all.’ And he goes, ‘OK, we’ll keep you posted.'”
Doubt put to rest?
Not long after Schaub shared his experience, doubt about his involvement began to spread on social media, with some believing he could’ve fabricated the story. Skeptics pointed to him leaving without speaking to authorities, and therefore proof of his presence didn’t exist. They also highlighted what they consider unbelievable details described by Schaub – specifically Torres being struck by a vehicle, gasoline “flooding” from the tractor trailer, and the removal of the kids from the wreckage.
Campos said she felt bad for Schaub once she saw the chatter growing, which prompted her to respond to some skeptics on Twitter. Make no mistake, she said: Schaub was there, and his story – even if not entirely how she remembers certain details – is accurate.
“What I saw, he was definitely extremely active and pulling the doors open and trying to get in and the windows … it looked like he was almost standing on the floorboard to get leverage to pull the doors open from where I was standing,” Campos said. “So I do feel his description from what I saw was accurate. He was there a minute or so before I was, but when I rolled up, he was definitely in (the act) of trying to rip the doors open.”
Campos hopes everyone who doubted Schaub’s retelling of his traumatic experience can get past it.
“Fifteen minutes, 12 minutes isn’t that much time in the grand scheme of things. But when you’re in the middle of it, seems like forever,” Campos said. “I think people just aren’t able to grasp that there was a massive amount of traffic when it happened. Four lanes got immediately blocked, and it took time for (first responders) to get to us and help us.
“I don’t think you realize how much your adrenaline goes into high gear, and you’re just looking at things. Again, the guy getting hit and Brendan and me running was really a split second. It wasn’t like we stood there and were analyzing the situation. It was such a surreal moment. Because you’re like, I just saw this massive accident, and now this random dude is getting nailed by a car. OK, but I’ve got fuel spilling, and there’s kids over there. Let’s take off. It was instantaneous. If you’re not there, you don’t know.”
‘Processing the sheer volume of different traumas’
Rita Campos is seen at the site of a wrong-way car crash that killed a mother and injured four children. (ABC 7 screenshot)
Campos stayed on the scene until officers told her she could leave. She said she remained the entire time because she was too concerned for the kids.
She shared a heartbreaking exchange she had with the oldest child.
“One of the kids, the chubby one that Brendan was describing, he said, ‘We don’t have a home anymore. We don’t have a home anymore.’ And he’s like, ‘My dad said we were going to heaven now. Am I still going to heaven? Are we still going to heaven?'” Campos said. “And I’m like, f*ck, man. ‘No, you will at some point, but not today. You’re a big brother now. You’re here to protect them, and you’re being a brave big brother.'”
One week later, Campos – like Schaub – is still coping with everything she experienced and witnessed.
“I’m still processing the sheer volume of different traumas that were all happening at the same time. I don’t know how else to describe it. You’ve got all these kids whose lives just turned upside down, and they’re injured. You’ve got a woman that’s dead. You’ve got a father that is completely off; you knew something was wrong. You saw a police fight. It was just so insane.”
