‘Killer’ Cub suffered a loss in his much-anticipated bantamweight debut.
Cub Swanson is going to regroup following his loss to Jonathan Martinez at UFC Vegas 62 this past Saturday.
The UFC veteran announced a drop down from featherweight to bantamweight earlier this year, and his introduction to the weight class was against Martinez. In the second round of their fight, Martinez unleashed a series of leg kicks that sent Swanson to the canvas in pain, prompting referee Herb Dean to step in and wave it off.
The ‘Dragon’ was declared the winner by second-round TKO in what is easily the biggest win of his professional career thus far. In his first post-fight comments, ‘Killer’ congratulated Martinez for the win.
“Congrats to [Jonathan Martinez] on the Big ‘W’ on Saturday,” wrote Swanson on Instagram. “No excuses I felt great at 135 but Martinez came to scrap. I plan on spending some time with my family and take my time before deciding my next move. I appreciate everyone who supports me on this crazy journey.”
Though he ‘felt great’ at bantamweight, it appears Swanson is undecided on whether to stay in the weight class for his next fight. Most of his career has been spent at featherweight, so a return to the division may not be outside the realm of possibility.
With the loss to Martinez, Swanson falls to 3-2 in his past five appearances. The UFC Hall of Famer snapped a four-fight losing streak with back-to-back wins over Kron Gracie and Daniel Pineda. A first-round TKO loss to Giga Chikadze halted his momentum, but Swanson rebounded with a ‘Performance of the Night’ awarded finish of Darren Elkins last December.