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UFC Featherweight Cub Swanson has had possibly the best year of his fighting career. Coming out of 2011, Swanson was 3-2 in his last 6 fights after losing by arm triangle to Ricardo Lamas at UFC On Fox 1. Since then, Cub has put together a three-fight win streak and is now ranked just outside the top 10 Featherweights in the world. In each of his wins this year, Swanson has finished his opponent including Charles Oliveira at UFC 152.
Now that he has a solid win streak and he's on the cusp of the top 10, Cub Swanson is now eyeing the 145 lb. title. He's very familiar with current champ Jose Aldo, who knocked him out in just 8 seconds when they met 3 years ago at WEC 41. Despite that, Swanson told Sherdog Radio that he expects a rematch to go much differently:
I know that I could win that fight 10 out of 10 times if we did it again, It’s not even an issue to me anymore.
Definitely a bold prediction from Swanson, to say the least. Regardless of his confidence in a hypothetical bout with Aldo, he's realistic about his place in the division. Swanson says he knows he's not the next contender, although he feels he's getting close. Concerning who he'd like to fight next, Cub mentions Erik Koch, Chan Sung Jung, and Ricardo Lamas:
I want all three of those pretty bad. The Koch fight, I think he’s a real tough kid. I was supposed to fight him twice and I feel terrible that I wasn’t able to follow through with that for the fans and for him. That’s something I want back. The Zombie is just somebody who everybody loves. Everyone thinks he’s the best up-and-comer, and I don’t think so. That’s somebody I would love to throw down with. Lamas, he’s a stud and I felt like that was my fight and I messed up and I would like to give it another shot.
A win against any one of those 3 would give Cub the top-level win he needs to be a title contender. And with the addition of Clay Guida dropping from Lightweight, there are a ton of possibilities for the top of the Featherweight division.
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