Cub Swanson believes ‘MMA media should be required to have 3 amateur fights’

By Drake Riggs - February 12, 2021

Cub Swanson is one of the most respected professional badasses in the sport of MMA. When it comes to those covering his career, he believes the media could use some more experience.

Cub-Swanson

Taking to Twitter on Friday, the featherweight mainstay offered up a solution to how improvements could be made.

“I think all MMA media should be required to have 3 amateur fights. Thoughts?” Swanson’s tweet read.

Now 37 and living a happy life as a father and riding a resurgent two-fight winning streak, “Killer Cub” has been fighting professionally since 2004. 27-11 overall, the Palm Springs native has fought some of the very best the sport has to offer.

In 2007 Cub Swanson joined World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) where he truly made a name for himself. A fan favorite from the start, eight fights later and he’d find himself as part of the UFC roster after the WEC was bought out.

The once longtime member of JacksonWink MMA kicked off his UFC run at a historic event — UFC on Fox 1. Unfortunately for him, he’d come up short against fellow WEC alum and future UFC title challenger Ricardo Lamas.

To rebound, Swanson did so emphatically by rattling off six straight wins with four of those ending by knockout. On the cusp of a crack at gold, the featherweight thriller would fall short against former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar.

Swanson is 12-7 in the UFC and has been constant excitement in all 19 of those outings. After a four-fight skid from 2017 to mid-2019, Swanson would turn back the clock in a war with BJJ wizard Kron Gracie. Earning the unanimous decision there, Swanson then went on to participate in Quintet: Ultra — a team-based grappling event where he was a part of Team WEC. In his match with Jake Shields, Swanson tore his ACL and meniscus.

However, a return in December 2020 saw the veteran look his vintage self as he knocked out Daniel Pineda in the second round. Cub Swanson is now set to next compete against Gavin Tucker on May 1 at UFC fight night event.