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It’ll probably be a long time before we see Cub Swanson’s next UFC fight.
Cub Swanson was able to snap his four-fight UFC losing skid two months ago, but an unfortunate injury at a grappling event will keep him shelved indefinitely.
Swanson took part in last Thursday’s Quintet Ultra team grappling competition, which featured Team WEC (which Swanson was a part of), Team Strikeforce, Team UFC, and Team PRIDE. The veteran featherweight was matched up with Team Strikeforce’s Jake Shields, and when Shields went for a leg lock sweep, Swanson’s knee had an unfortunate pop and Shields immediately released the hold when the injury occurred.
Cub went to social media and revealed that he suffered a torn ACL and meniscus, and while he didn’t reveal a timetable for his return it’s inevitable that “torn ACL” alone means it’ll be several months on the shelf.
Shields has since shared video of the match, along with a short statement wishing Swanson the best.
“Had a tough match with Cub Swanson last night despite the weight differences,” Shields wrote. “Unfortunately going for a sweep leg lock I felt some bad knee pops ending the match. Hopefully Cub is healthy and can fight again soon.”
Swanson (26-11) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Kron Gracie at UFC Tampa, giving him his first win inside the Octagon since April of 2017. He’s arguably one of the most entertaining fighters of his era, earning “Fight of the Night” honors nine times between his WEC and UFC careers.
Oh yeah, and if the torn ACL and meniscus weren’t enough, doing a shoey with Tai Tuivasa at UFC 245 probably made matters worse.
I think I have athletes throat https://t.co/FTwpHEfqfI
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) December 15, 2019