Cub Swanson

ANALYSIS
Swanson is coming off a tight loss in his most recent fight, losing to Andre Fili on a split decision on June 29 this year. Swanson has gone 4-3 at the UFC level in his last seven fights, and while he's no longer relevant in title-related fights, he should remain reasonably effective depending on the matchup he has.

ANALYSIS
Cub did a nice job of making this a close fight following a slow start. He dropped Round 1 on all three scorecards before roaring back to win Round 2. The final frame could have gone either way, but ultimately only one judge gave it to the veteran. At the very least, the end result was a $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus for both men. Set to turn 41 years of age this coming November, Swanson has alternated losses and wins in his past six fights. The days of him impacting the title picture are obviously long over, but Cub still has some gas left in the tank. As long as the UFC is careful regarding the level of competition it matches him up against moving forward, Swanson should continue to be reasonably effective.

ANALYSIS
Swanson has alternated wins and losses in his recent events, and he's looking to start a winning run after topping Hakeem Dawodu via unanimous decision in his most recent bout. He's now gone 4-2 over his last six outings.

ANALYSIS
Swanson was so sure he was going to lose that he began to applaud for Dawodu right before Octagon announcer Joe Martinez declared the winner. When asked by Daniel Cormier in his post-fight interview if he felt he did enough to win, Cub responded "no." The honesty was refreshing. Swanson performed well whether he deserved the win or not. He landed the biggest strike of Round 1, but Dawodu had the edge on volume. It was the same story in Round 2. Cub landed a shockingly easy takedown midway though Round 3, that little did we know at the time, won him the fight. Swanson was very emotional in his interview with DC, essentially admitting he's getting up there in age (he'll be 40 in November) and things that used to come easy for him are now much more difficult. It's exceedingly rare for an MMA fighter to display the self awareness we heard from Cub this evening. He's now alternated wins and losses in his past five bouts.

ANALYSIS
Swanson will be making his 23rd appearance in the UFC at 39 years of age. Swanson will return to featherweight to fight Dawodu after doing his first fight at bantamweight last October when he lost to Jonathan Martinez. Swanson is 3-2 over his last five bouts.