Cub Swanson hasn’t decided whether or not he’s going to retire from fighting, but if his knockout win at UFC Tampa really is the end of his career, he’s more than happy with what he’s accomplished.
Heading into his co-main event fight against Billy Quarantillo this past weekend, the 41-year-old veteran teased he was probably going to hang up his gloves sooner rather than later. Following another Fight of the Night performance capped off by a stunning third-round knockout, Swanson recognizes that he probably couldn’t write a better conclusion to his career; still, he’s not quite ready to make that call just yet.
“It really is [the perfect ending],” Swanson told MMA Fighting. “I feel the opposite of what people are saying. With an ending like that, it makes it even harder to say yeah, maybe I’ll do another one because that made me happy. I feel less of an urge to jump right back in there because that’s the other thing, people don’t understand how stressful fighting is.
“I stress about waking up the next day and how I feel. Everyone texted me, my close friends and family are texting me the next day, ‘How are you feeling?’ I said, ’41.’ I feel it the next day. I’m very happy how things played out and we’ll see what happens.”
It’s hard to fathom that Swanson has been fighting for over 20 years with his debut taking place back in 2004. He’s spent the past 17 years competing under the UFC umbrella — first in the UFC-owned World Extreme Cagefighting and then transitioning to the UFC itself after the promotion absorbed all of the WEC fighters.
Swanson confessed that he reflects on his career from time to time and the fact he’s remained relevant among the best fighters in the world in the UFC for that long is a huge accomplishment. Some of the biggest names in the sport are almost there and gone within a few years, but Swanson has been a constant presence in the UFC family for nearly two decades. That’s at least one of the reasons why he’s completely OK with calling it a career right now if that’s what he ultimately decides.
“There’s the thing people don’t think about: The sport has evolved so much in that time span,” Swanson explained. “When I first started fighting, the D’Arce didn’t exist. The De La Riva guard didn’t exist. The Z-guard, there’s so many moves that didn’t even exist when I started. I had to evolve with that.
“I was telling somebody the other day I was one of the first guys that was in an actual boxing gym. So everyone did traditional Muay Thai and they fought like this with their hands up and then I was one of the first ones to start moving my head and guys would be like, ‘He’s hard to hit!’ Well, yeah, you just move! So boxing really didn’t become a big part of MMA until maybe 2010 and on. Before that everyone just did Muay Thai because boxing coaches didn’t really want to coach MMA fighters. The sport’s evolved so much so someone who’s had a long career has had to evolve with it. That takes a lot of dedication. The few of us that have done it, my hat’s off to all of them as well.”
Because he’s seen so many fighters retire only to come back several months or even several years later, Swanson doesn’t want to put himself or his family through that ordeal. He’s always rallied against making an emotional decision in the cage after a big win or a heartbreaking loss.
Perhaps laying down his gloves in the middle of the UFC octagon after winning this past Saturday would have seemed like the perfect ending, but Swanson wants to give himself time to think about what could be the most important decision of his entire life.
“I want to make sure I’m done,” Swanson said. “I don’t want to be a guy that’s wishy-washy and coming out all the time like, ‘I’m back!’ I think when I’m done, I’m done so that’s why I’m taking my time with it and making sure that I’m making the right decision.”
If he’s being brutally honest, Swanson says there’s a good chance fans have already seen him compete in the UFC for the final time even if he’s not 100 percent on that decision yet. Swanson is leaving the door open enough that he could accept an offer he just can’t refuse, but if that offer never comes, he’d be satisfied with his knockout at UFC Tampa being the final mark on his Hall of Fame résumé.
“At some point I’ve got to say when’s enough, enough?” Swanson said. “I’m pretty content with what I have right now … unless something special comes up, I think I’m good.”
