At 6'4" and 240 lbs, Brendan Schaub is an imposing physical specimen. An athletic and powerful striker, the undefeated Schaub honed his toughness while playing fullback for the University of Colorado, eventually making his way to the NFL with the Buffalo Bills before MMA began calling.

Schaub grew up around MMA. His father is a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and the younger Schaub dabbled in the sport throughout his life; often working out in gyms to stay in shape during the football off-season.

By chance, while searching for a gym in the off season, Schaub happened upon the Nate Marquardt owned, High Altitude Martial Arts in Denver, Colorado, and the rest is history. Within a couple of years he had became a Colorado Golden Gloves and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion.

It was during this formative time that he met and began training with UFC standout Shane Carwin and the two proceeded to establish a close friendship. The older Carwin took Schaub under his wing and the two pushed one another in practice on a daily basis. The friendly but fierce training competition ensured that neither man would step into a cage or a ring without being completely prepared; this is evidenced by the fact that both men are currently undefeated at a combined 15-0. In fact, neither man has let an opponent escape the first round and they have a combined 10 knockouts between them (Schaub has KO'd all four of his opponents).

Both now split time training at T'sKO in Denver, Co and the famed Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts camp in New Mexico, working out with the likes of Georges St. Pierre, Rashad Evans, Nate Marquardt, and Keith Jardine among others. The two will undoubtedly be compared throughout their careers, a fact not lost on Schaub who proclaimed himself the "Shake" to Carwin's "Bake".

FiveKnuckles.com caught up with the rising prospect recently to discuss a variety of issues. In part one of our exclusive two part interview, Schaub talks about his background, gives insight into training with UFC star Shane Carwin and discusses his strengths and weaknesses as a fighter.

FiveKnuckles.com: Your one of the fastest rising heavyweight prospects in all of MMA. At 4-0 with 4 KO's, and coming from the camp you come from, is it difficult for you to find guys willing to fight you?

Brendan Schaub: Every opponent I've faced so far, almost, already knew they were gonna lose before they got in there. This last guy though, (Bojan Spalevic) he was ready to go. He's from Croatia, came from a real tough background, was the champ out there and was ready to go for sure. But yeah, we've got the best of the best coming down here (T'sKO), Georges St. Pierre, Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, etc.

FiveKnuckles.com: How did T'sKO and Jackson's Camp develop such a strong affiliation?

Brendan Schaub: Nate's (Nate Marquardt) the guy who keeps everything together. He's the connection between us and Greg Jackson's camp. This started early when I was coming up in amateur boxing and Nate was always going down to train with Greg Jackson. I always thought to myself, ‘Man, how good could it really be down there?' Once I turned pro, I went down there and was like, ‘alright, alright... very good camp.'

FiveKnuckles.com: What is it about training with those guys that's so special?

Brendan Schaub: You know, you would think it's because it's a luxurious facility......