It's been a long time since Brendan Schaub was last fighting inside the Octagon, having taken some time off after suffering a particularly devastating knockout defeat at the hands of Brazilian legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira last August at UFC 134 in Brazil.

But he's back now and ready to return to form at UFC 145 on April 21 in Atlanta. But it won't be easy, especially considering his opponent, Ben Rothwell, is one of the toughest guys in the heavyweight division. According to Schaub at least:

"These guys know when they fight me, it's going to be one hell of a fight. I expect the best Ben Rothwell. And I know it's cliche to say and everyone says, 'Oh, that's something fighters say all the time,' but when I say it, it's obviously true. The previous guys he's fought, when they rocked Ben, they don't have the cardio, they rock Ben, they use it as a way to recover themselves. I'm not like that. It's going to be 15 minutes of me in his face. I can do it all. You want to strike? Let's do that. It's going to be a short night, though. I think if you have to list a top three toughest guys in the heavyweight division, he's right up there. Everyone's tough in the UFC but he's a different caliber of tough. But just being tough isn't going to get you the belt. I guarantee people walk away from this fight talking about my performance rather than the main event or anyone else on the card."

The main event of UFC 145 features the highly anticipated showdown for the light heavyweight championship between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans so "The Hybrid" has his work cut out for him. But if he can turn in the kind of performance he's promising, it would certainly go a long way in putting him back "in the mix" at heavyweight.

We'll see.