Cub Swanson Wants to Earn His Keep Without Special Treatment from UFC

It had somehow been nearly two full years since Cub Swanson won inside the Octagon, but on Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 161 in Tampa, Fla., the fan favorite made a long-awaited return to the win column.

Swanson (26-11) went to war with Kron Gracie, the son of Rickson Gracie who entered their featherweight encounter unbeaten and favored to win. Though Swanson is more than capable on the canvas, the notion was that he might not survive the grappling prowess of a young, highly-touted Gracie. Whether or not that was fully Swanson’s plan might never be known, but the Californian made sure Gracie would have to fight on his feet.

Swanson avoided multiple takedown attempts from the Brazilian and he moved beautifully. When Gracie got close, Swanson pelted his body with bludgeoning hooks. Swanson tossed out jabs and leads and hooks, most of which landed flush on his adversary’s head, but Gracie landed his fair share of strikes as well.

“Kron, we have history, he has a name, it means a lot to me,” Swanson said after he was declared the winner via unanimous decision. “I had a feeling that he would have to stand and strike with me because I was doing a really good job of evading. He did a good job of taking advantage of me pulling my head back and when I was exiting, he did a great job with that. I was cool with him brawling, even though I was getting punched, I knew it was better for me.”

Swanson was taken down briefly in the third round, but he sprung back up to his feet and forced Gracie to stand and bang with him. The two waged an incredible toe-to-toe war largely for the final minute of the fight, each giving as good as he took. Gracie’s face was busted up and he was nearly crippled by a hook to the body, but the young lion never quit.

Swanson was relieved when his hand was raised. The victory was sweeter than usual because he had lost four consecutive battles coming into Saturday’s skirmish with Gracie. The fight game is a fickle one and even though he has always been a popular athlete with UFC fans, Swanson knew he could ill-afford another setback inside the famed Octagon.

“I tell people all the time, it’s not about winning fights, that’s easy,” he said. “Coming back from a loss can be the hardest thing in the world and doing it after four really tested me. Any win would have been great. I wanted that in my last fight, but I came in with the wrong mentality and he ended up wanting it more, I didn’t want to make that mistake again”

At 35, Swanson isn’t a spring chicken anymore. He’s been involved in countless wars inside the cage over the years and he knows his time is limited in the sport. He will continue to fight, but he wants to make sure how his career continues is done correctly and fairly.

“I don’t want to stick around just because I put on good fights,” he said. “I want to stick around because I deserve it, I’m winning consistently and not showing any kind of decline in my performance. I want to earn my keep and not have any special treatment. I want to be winning fights. This was huge to prove to myself that I’m still here.”