Brendan Schaub steps away from UFC: 'I can't see myself in a f*cking Reebok kit'

The fighter part of "Fighter & The Kid" won't be doing any fighting any time soon.

Brendan Schaub announced he'd be taking a sabbatical from the UFC on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast Friday night, citing his burgeoning entertainment career and his unwillingness to sign the UFC's uniform deal with Reebok.

"Do I want one more?" Schaub said. "F*ck yes, man. But it just doesn't make sense. I can't see myself, when it comes down to this, I can't see myself in a f*cking Reebok kit walking out to that Octagon. I can't see myself being like, 'You know what? Cool, man. Yeah, that's what I'm worth. I'm worth 10-grand to you guys. I'm gonna do this.' And I have other opportunities."

Schaub and comedian Bryan Callen host the wildly successful "Fighter & The Kid" podcast. They recently performed a live show in Los Angeles and will be going on tour in the future. "Big Brown" also said he and Callen are filming a television pilot.

There is a lot going on in his life outside of MMA; stepping into the cage right now wouldn't make much sense.

"It'd be tough for me to say, 'You know what? Let me go fight some monster who's been training full time, and not telling dick jokes and selling f*cking Big Brown shirts full time,'" Schaub said. "'Let me go fight that guy.' I won't do the game a disservice. I won't do that. Unless I can focus on it full time, there's just no way. And signing this Reebok deal? It's not gonna happen, man."

In July, the UFC installed a uniform agreement with Reebok, which is the only sponsor a fighter is allowed to wear in the Octagon and during fight week. Reebok pays fighters according to a tiered structure based on tenure. Schaub would only make $10,000 per fight in Reebok money when in the past he said he was making upwards of $100,000 in sponsors per contest.

Schaub, 32, has been very anti-Reebok on both his podcast and the Joe Rogan Experience, which he appears on regularly. He said he would not sign the Reebok merchandising contract or the new USADA anti-doping contract.

However, the Los Angeles resident does not hold any ill will toward the UFC or president Dana White.

"People think I'm this hater on the UFC or whatever -- I owe it to the UFC," Schaub said. "I'll always be indebted to the UFC. People think I have a problem with Dana White. I definitely don't. If Dana was in trouble and texted me right now and said, 'Hey Schaub, I wish you'd quit talking sh*t about Reebok or I need help,' you got it, man. Cool. Done.

"I'll always be a supporter of the UFC. Whatever they need. But for right now, I've gotta take a step away and focus on this crazy frickin' entertainment podcast career I've got going on. I'm so blessed."

Schaub never used the word "retirement" in his conversation with Rogan. So the door is still open for a return down the line. But it appears that Schaub does not need the fight game for income at this point in time.

"I'll always still watch every fight," Schaub said. "Who knows what happens in the future, but for right now there's no way. They can offer me anybody and there's no way. There's no way I can put all this on hold and be like, let me go take this fight."

Schaub, a former NFL player, is an alum of The Ultimate Fighter 10. He sports a 6-5 record in the UFC with wins over Mirko Cro Cop, Gabriel Gonzaga and Matt Mitrione. Schaub (10-5) has lost his last two fights to Andrei Arlovski and, most recently, Travis Browne at UFC 181 in December 2014.

"I'm stepping away from the game, man," Schaub said. "There's not gonna be no Schaub Reebok kits out there. I won't be fighting anyone any time soon."