By E. Spencer Kyte
Even before the wins started coming, the talent was always there for Cub Swanson.
While his highest profile fights prior to arriving under the bright lights of the UFC had resulted in defeat, MMA fans could see the potential in Swanson, the Southern California-bred fighter from the Jackson-Winkeljohn camp in Albuquerque, N.M. Though many observers remembered him from being on the receiving end of a brutal double flying knee from Jose Aldo before the dynamic Brazilian ascended to championship heights, there were flashes of potential present in Fight of the Night wins over Hiroyuki Takaya, John Franchi and Mackens Semerzier.
For Swanson, it was just a matter of his belief in himself catching up to the belief his coaches and teammates had in him all along.
“You get to a point where all these amazing coaches and fighters believe in you,” said Swanson, speaking to sportsnet.ca earlier in the month, “and you’ll like, `Why can’t you believe in yourself?’ without even realizing that I wasn’t; that was the biggest thing.”
The turning point for Swanson came when his career was at its lowest.
While preparing to make his UFC debut against fellow up-and-comer Erik Koch, Swanson took a knee to the face at full force during a sparring session that resulted in orbital, nasal, and cheek fractures, and a broken jaw. For a fighter whose progression had been already been slowed by injuries, shattering the entire left side of his face brought some tough personal questions to the surface, and forced Swanson to decide if he wanted to keep pursuing his MMA dreams.
“When everything happened with my face, I had to dig deep inside and determine if I really wanted to continue fighting. Once I decided that I wanted to, it was very easy to deal with. I think people around me had a hard time dealing with it; I was the strong one about it.
“Having to look inside yourself and see what you’re made of — having those trials and tribulations, you find out who you are. With the whole injury, it made me revamp the way I go about things and think about things, and I just kind of started fresh in my mind. I made it a point that I train hard — I train with the best, and I hang with the best, and I’m capable of being the best, period. Having that mentality has changed things for me.”
After 366 days away from the cage, Swanson finally made his UFC debut on the undercard of last November’s FOX event headlined by Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez, losing to fellow WEC crossover Ricardo Lamas by arm triangle choke in the second round. The loss didn’t dissuade the 28-year-old veteran, and his performance since has started to change the opinions of critics who questioned whether or not he’d live up to his full potential.
In January, Swanson broke down in tears inside the Octagon after collecting his first UFC win — a second-round knockout over fellow WEC alum George Roop. Six months later, the Palm Springs native earned Knockout of the Night honours when he stopped former Ultimate Fighter winner Ross Pearson with a crisp left hand at the UFC on FX event in Atlantic City, N.J.
The consecutive victories have carried Swanson to the main card of UFC 152 this weekend at the Air Canada Centre, where he’ll meet fellow emerging featherweight Charles Oliveira in the opening bout on the main card. With back-to-back wins on his resume and a place on what has become one of the biggest pay-per-view events of the year, there is one word Swanson uses to sum up how he feels at this stage of his career — satisfying.
“I’ve put in so much hard work through everything — the ups and downs — and it’s been a long, tough road, mentally and physically, and I’ve always just said, ‘It’s alright, keep moving forward.’ I’ve always had that attitude and to actually have it pay off just feels awesome. With winning and being up in the mix, it feels great because I’ve always believed in myself. When it happens, it makes you smile and know that I wasn’t crazy; I knew I could do it.”
Like Swanson, Oliveira enters Saturday night’s contest on a two-fight win streak, having collected consecutive submission victories since dropping down to featherweight earlier this year. Despite his opponent’s recent run of success, Swanson believes he has an ace up his sleeve heading into UFC 152.
“Our coaches know him very well, having studied him for Cowboy,” offered Swanson, referencing Oliveira’s August 2010 encounter with fellow Jackson-Winkeljohn product Donald (Cowboy) Cerrone. “Cowboy is one of my training partners and he pretty much had his way with him. I feel like this is a perfect matchup for me. He likes to throw down a little bit and he’s pretty slick on the ground, and you could say the same for me, so I’m excited about it.”
He’s excited about competing in Toronto and opening the pay-per-view portion of the show as well.
“Just fighting in Toronto was something that I really wanted to do because of the crowd, and (the UFC) always puts on a good card there. Being on the main card is an honour and with everything that has happened, this card has turned out to be a great card. Being on the main card — and being the first fight on the main card — I feel like I have an opportunity to set it off, and start it off with a bang. It’s an honour. I’m excited; it’s a huge opportunity for me, and I’m going to step up to the plate and deliver.”
E. Spencer Kyte is a regular contributor to ufc.com, UFC Magazine, and Fight Magazine, and writes the MMA blog Keyboard Kimura. Follow him on Twitter: @spencerkyte.
