Brendan Schaub laments struggles ex-UFC champ Shane Carwin faces now: ‘He can barely tie his f*cking shoes’
Over 100 fighters have written letters of support for the settlement agreement in one of the UFC antitrust lawsuits in hopes that financial relief could come sooner rather than later.
TKO Group Holdings — the parent company of the UFC — agreed to pay out $375 million to end litigation with the fighters now waiting to find out if Judge Richard Boulware will approve the deal. Among the fighters who penned letters of support for the settlement agreement was former UFC interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin, who detailed the struggles he’s faced in recent years.
“Despite having a degree in engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, I have been unable to maintain adequate focus to hold down an engineering job,” Carwin wrote. “I face serious challenges in meeting basic everyday expenses for food, shelter, and transportation and in basic life skills necessary to function.
“These funds would also allow me to obtain the healthcare I need and keep a roof over my head and food on my table. The sad reality is that funds years from now may be of no use to me. I desperately need these funds now.”
Retired UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub, who counts Carwin as a friend after training together for several years, addressed the issues that the six-time UFC veteran faces now that his fighting career is over.
“Shane is smart amongst smart people,” Schaub said on his podcast. “Shane got a degree from the School of Mines. That’s the Harvard of the f*cking Midwest. School of Mines is so hard to get into and he dominated that shit. Dominated. One of the smartest people you will ever meet in Shane Carwin.
“He can barely tie his f*cking shoes. He’s not doing great.”
Many of the fighters who submitted letters of support for the settlement revealed struggles with possible traumatic brain injury and reporting symptoms of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head that can only be detected from an autopsy.
While Carwin fought for just under six years, he was also a football player and wrestler, which Schaub acknowledged also undoubtedly played a part in the damage done.
Schaub revealed that while the antitrust lawsuit continues to play out in the courts, the UFC did reach out to Carwin in an attempt to get him some help for the health struggles he’s faced.
“As soon as Dana [White] heard that Shane was having some issues, they flew Shane down there and tried [to help him],” Schaub said. “I don’t know enough about it, I don’t know if anyone does but he’s the worst of the worst right now.
“I’m not hating on the UFC, I’m not hating on Dana. This would have happened if Shane fought in PRIDE, if he fought in PFL, he fought in ONE Championship.”
Sadly, Carwin’s issues aren’t unique — at least based on many of the letters written in support of the UFC antitrust lawsuit settlement — but this particular situation hits close to home for Schuab.
“It’s Shane Carwin, who paid for my training when I couldn’t afford it,” Schaub said. “It’s Shane Carwin, who had one fight when I met him, I had none and he signed me up without me knowing into Golden Gloves because he knew I’d win and he cornered me. I cornered him in his second fight ever in Mississippi. We had nothing. Just me and him. All we had was me and him.”
If the settlement agreement is approved, attorneys for the fighters estimated an average payout of $250,000 but approximately 35 athletes would receive around $1 million.
Schaub can’t say for certain where Carwin falls in that list but he knows that the former UFC champion needs that help now not later.
That’s why he wishes the UFC would reach out to Carwin personally and float him some much needed money to help support him as he’s struggling to survive.
“How do you not just go, I get it dude, boom, $10 or $15 million, for your troubles,” Schaub said. “Can we be human for a f*cking second? Could you just be a f*cking human being for a second and go, here man, we know. You don’t have to do it publicly. Just from f*ckin human to human, this guy put his life on the line. I’ve seen it. I was with him every step of the way from day f*cking one.
“He’s such a good person. How can you not just go ‘yeah, man, that’s terrible. You can’t even afford housing and food, you lost your wife, the kids aren’t doing great, here you go, don’t worry about it.’ That’s pennies to these guys.”
