Brendan Schaub facing backlash from fans over comments about Raja Jackson and Syko Stu incident

Brendan Schaub's reaction to the Knokx Pro Wrestling incident involving Raja Jackson and Stuart Smith has received a mixed reaction from fans online.

Smith, ring name Syko Stu, was rushed to hospital on Saturday night after Jackson, the son of former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, unloaded more than 20 unanswered punches to his head.

The independent wrestler was said to be "choking on his own blood and teeth" following the brutal beating, according to fellow wrestler Douglas Malo, who recently opened up on the incident while appearing on a podcast.

Smith's brother said on Sunday that the wrestler was "stable but in critical care". Jackson, who was hit on his head by Smith ahead of the Knokx Pro Wrestling event in California, is currently the subject of a police investigation.

Many high-profile figures have since given their take on the incident, including former WWE wrestler Mark Henry, who believes Smith should not have angered Jackson by hitting him with the can and deserves at least a portion of the blame.

Raja Jackson punched wrestler Stuart Smith, ring name Syko Stu, more than 20 times. Image credit: X/@DahtSick

Former MMA fighter Brendan Schaub has also reacted on his YouTube channel.

"I'll be transparent," he began. "I like Raja, and obviously I adore Rampage. Me and Rampage have a great relationship. I love Rampage. And it's just by nature, my initial thought was, when I heard about this, and I spoke with Rampage, I went, 'All right. How can I defend Raja?'

"I looked at all the videos. I watched the full live stream and all that. I had nothing. You can't defend this."

He added: "It's so sad. He (Jackson) was just getting started, and that all goes away if this veteran pro-wrestler decides to press charges.

"If that pro-wrestler goes, 'This was a work', and he just thought that's how it works and I'm not pressing charges, Raja is still going to take a lot of heat online. But you're not doing jail time, and then we can figure it out.

"But if that dude wakes up, and somebody's in his ear and goes, 'Dude, you gotta make this dude pay. He has to learn a lesson.' If he presses charges, it's going to be really tough. Attempted murder, aggravated assault... It's going to be tough."

Although Schaub says there is no way of defending Jackson, some fans in the YouTube comments section are unhappy with his stance.

One said: "It's not sad. The guy is clearly unhinged and deserves to be punished severely," while another commented: "How can I defend Raja?' How about 'How do I get JUSTICE for Stu?'"

A third wrote: "L take as usual," and a fourth said: "If 'someone’s in his ear' telling him to press charges? You mean any sane person with eyes that saw that assault?"

A fifth added: "I can't believe the words coming out of this guy's mouth. He's more worried about a dude who attempted to murder someone than the guy who could have died."

Some, however, backed Schaub's take. "I think this is the most coherent take he has ever had," one fan said on Instagram. "We don’t dislike Raja, we are just agreeing it wasn’t right."