Cub Swanson

Kevin Luke "Cub" Swanson (born November 2, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of December 5, 2016, he is #4 in the official UFC featherweight rankings. and ranked the #6 Featherweight in the world by Sherdog.

Swanson was born and raised mostly in Palm Springs, California with a Swedish-American father and a Mexican mother, along with his four siblings. Swanson's father died three months after he was born, and because of his mother's heavy grieving, Swanson and his siblings were then adopted by a distant relative until his mother healed. He was raised by a religious family and spent most of his early life in church. Swanson was also home-schooled for most of his young life. However, when Swanson was 14, his adoptive parents divorced and he was returned to his mother. He then went to Cathedral City High School, along with future boxer Timothy Bradley, but Swanson soon began associating himself with street gangs, and was involved in many fights. When he was still a teenager, the young Swanson and two of his friends were caught committing a house robbery which caused Swanson to be placed in a juvenile detention center. Two years after his release when he was 19 years old, Swanson was working with children who have cerebral palsy and then practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He was eventually given an invitation to train with UFC fighter Joe Stevenson, which Swanson accepted and soon began his MMA career.

World Extreme Cagefighting

Swanson made his WEC debut on March 24, 2007 with a victory over Tommy Lee by guillotine choke. He next defeated Micah Miller at WEC 28 via unanimous decision. Following an eleven fight winning streak, Swanson lost to former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver, who was making his WEC and Featherweight debut. Swanson was forced to tap out at just 0:35 of round one due to a guillotine choke after attempting a single leg takedown.

Swanson faced Hiroyuki Takaya on December 3, 2008 at WEC 37. Takaya won the fight via unanimous decision in a fight that earned both participants Fight of the Night honors.

Swanson was scheduled to fight Diego Nunes on April 5, 2009 at WEC 40, but Nunes was forced to withdraw from the fight just days before the bout because of a hand injury.

Swanson lost to José Aldo by TKO via a double flying knee 8 seconds into the first round at WEC 41 on June 7, 2009.

Swanson defeated John Franchi via third round submission on November 18, 2009 at WEC 44, winning Fight of the Night honors. In his bout against Franchi, Swanson broke both of his hands.

Swanson was scheduled to face WEC newcomer Chan Sung Jung, but Swanson was forced from the card with an injury. He would be replaced by Leonard Garcia.

Swanson faced Chad Mendes on August 18, 2010 at WEC 50. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Swanson defeated Mackens Semerzier via split decision on November 11, 2010 at WEC 52. The bout was an exciting back and forth affair that earned Fight of the Night honors.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On October 28, 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.

Swanson was expected to face Erik Koch on March 3, 2011 at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann. However, Swanson was forced out of the bout with an injury.

Swanson/Koch was expected to take place on July 2, 2011 at UFC 132. However, Swanson was forced out of the bout with another injury.

After just over a year out of action, Swanson returned to face Ricardo Lamas on November 12, 2011 at UFC on Fox 1, becoming the last WEC fighter imported from the WEC/UFC merger to debut in the UFC. He lost the fight via submission (arm triangle choke) in the second round.

In his second UFC fight, Swanson faced George Roop on January 28, 2012 at UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis. He won the fight via TKO in the second round.

Swanson faced Ross Pearson on June 22, 2012 at UFC on FX 4. He won the fight via TKO in the second round, earning the Knockout of the Night bonus.

Swanson faced Charles Oliveira on September 22, 2012 at UFC 152. Early in the first round, Swanson hit Oliveira with body (liver) shot, which visibly appeared to hurt Oliveira. Swanson followed it up with an overhand right sending Oliveira to the canvas resulting in a KO victory for Swanson. Swanson received a $65,000 bonus for Knockout of the Night.

Swanson was expected to face Dennis Siver on February 16, 2013 at UFC on Fuel TV: Barao vs. McDonald. However, Siver was forced out of the bout, and was replaced by Dustin Poirier. Swanson won by unanimous decision.

Swanson's bout with Dennis Siver was rescheduled for July 6, 2013 at UFC 162. After a back and forth first two rounds, Swanson defeated Siver via TKO due to punches in the third round. The performance earned both participants Fight of the Night honors.

Swanson faced Jeremy Stephens on June 28, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 44. Swanson won the fight via unanimous decision. The performance earned both participants Fight of the Night honors.

Swanson next faced Frankie Edgar on November 22, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 57. Swanson lost the one-sided fight via submission in closing seconds of the fifth round.

Swanson faced Max Holloway on April 18, 2015 at UFC on Fox 15. He lost the fight by submission in the third round due to a mounted guillotine choke after being out-struck for the first two rounds. Following the fight, Swanson announced via Twitter that he had suffered serious injuries, "Well a broken jaw and a broken right hand...just another day at the office lol. I love all my fans. Thanks for your support".

Swanson faced Hacran Dias on April 16, 2016 at UFC on Fox 19. Swanson won the fight via unanimous decision.

Swanson next faced Tatsuya Kawajiri on August 6, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 92. He won the back and forth fight via unanimous decision.

Swanson faced touted prospect Doo Ho Choi on December 10, 2016 at UFC 206. He won the back and forth fight via unanimous decision. Both participants were awarded Fight of the Night.

Mixed martial arts

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Knockout of the Night (Two times)
  • Fight of the Night (Three times)
• World Extreme Cagefighting
  • Fight of the Night (Three times)
• MMAJunkie.com
  • 2014 June Fight of the Month vs. Jeremy Stephens
• Sherdog
  • 2012 All-Violence First Team

• http://mmajunkie.com/2014/07/mmajunkies-fight-of-the-month-for-june-2014
• http://m.sherdog.com/news/articles/2/Sherdogcoms-2012-AllViolence-Team-48763