Cub Swanson entered UFC Fight Night 57 with a title shot hanging in the balance, but as he tried to climb the ladder to claim his shot, Frankie Edgar was there to pull him back down.
Edgar dominated the fight for nearly 25 minutes on Saturday and got the rear-naked choke stoppage in the closing seconds of the bout.
Swanson stuffed a couple of takedowns early, but Edgar closed the first round by finally putting Swanson on his back. The takedowns kept coming. Swanson could not get up off his back to have success on the feet. Edgar didn’t just control him; he pummeled him.
What’s next for Swanson?
Don’t expect a bout with a Top Five opponent for the current No. 2-ranked featherweight contender. The rest of the Top Five are tied up in bouts or don’t make sense following this performance. So, who does that leave? Let’s take a look at three solid options for Swanson’s next task.
Dustin Poirier
Poirier is coming off a loss to Conor McGregor, but he is still a Top 10 featherweight. This is a good stylistic matchup for both men to shine. How do I know that?
Poirier and Swanson put on a quality fight in the beginning of 2013. Swanson got the unanimous-decision win.
This has already proved to be an entertaining fight, and the two fighters are in roughly the same place in the division. This bout makes sense on paper, but only if the UFC is keen on the idea of a rematch that we saw almost two years ago.
Nik Lentz
Lentz is 4-1 in his last five bouts. The lone loss came at the hands of No. 1-ranked Chad Mendes.
The wrestler got in the win column again over Manny Gamburyan in May.
After Edgar took him down time and again, this is a good chance for Swanson to redeem himself. Lentz is going to go after the takedowns relentlessly and give Swanson plenty of opportunities to demonstrate his takedown defense has improved.
It’s a learning fight.
We know what the major hole in Swanson’s game is, and pitting him against another quality wrestler will show us how much he has improved before he gets another shot at the upper echelon of the division.
Dennis Bermudez
Much for the same reasons that Lentz is a good option, so is Bermudez.
There are two key differences: Bermudez is more entertaining and ranked higher than Lentz.
Bermudez is the No. 7-ranked featherweight. Bermudez vs. Swanson would be another high-end matchup the UFC can promote for a Fox Sports 1 card or even a UFC Fight Pass event. It’s marketable.
Bermudez has good wrestling and can test Swanson, but he also loves to brawl. It is a solid matchup to test both men. Bermudez was on the brink of moving into the Top Five earlier in November but came up short against Ricardo Lamas.
I believe this to be the best fight the UFC can make for both men. It will give one a second consecutive loss, but in the stacked featherweight division, there will be plenty of chances to rebound. This is a solid fight to put the winner right back in the thick of things.
Bermudez, Lentz and Poirier are quality options, as it would be a shame to see the UFC stick Swanson back in the cage with a fighter outside the Top 10.
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