Tag: cub swanson

Fallout: Al Iaquinta Battling For More Pay Should Be A Wake Up Call For The UFC

So, another week, another UFC event where fighters put it all on the line for a chance at glory. Cub Swanson and Artem Lobov had a pretty entertaining scrap in which ‘The Russian Hammer’ showed that he’s perhaps more talented than we first gave him credit for. Lobov by no means is a world beater, but the fact that he was competitive with Cub Swanson shows that he does indeed have some talent. With so many different fights on the card it’s hard to pick one out of the bunch to highlight. But for me, one fighter comes to mind more than anyone else and that’s Al Iaquinta.

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So, another week, another UFC event where fighters put it all on the line for a chance at glory. Cub Swanson and Artem Lobov had a pretty entertaining scrap in which ‘The Russian Hammer’ showed that he’s perhaps more talented than we first gave him credit for. Lobov by no means is a world beater, but the fact that he was competitive with Cub Swanson shows that he does indeed have some talent. With so many different fights on the card it’s hard to pick one out of the bunch to highlight. But for me, one fighter comes to mind more than anyone else and that’s Al Iaquinta.

The Strong Island native (that’s right, I said it) proved once again why he should be considered a hot commodity in the UFC. The guy is young, talented, and sharp when it comes to his striking ability. With a two year lay off, people were thinking that Al Iaquinta may not have had that pop anymore, that the sport was leaving him in the rear view. He shut up those critics pretty emphatically with his knockout victory over veteran Diego Sanchez. The interesting part about the win for ‘Raging’ Al however was the fact that he didn’t truly have a chance to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

While I still believe that the UFC is the biggest, brightest, and most talent rich promotion in the world, it’s becoming obvious that fighters are getting more and more disgruntled. When you consider the fact that Iaquinta received $26,000 to show and another $26,000 to win, it’s easy to see why the talented lightweight would consider walking away from the sport. He could easily find himself up there with some of the best of the best in the lightweight division and the fact that he’s getting underpaid to knockout fighters that are getting paid more than him is a major issue that the promotion needs to solve.

Make no mistake, Al Iaquinta could easily become a star in the UFC. He could have New York on his back much in the same vain his stablemate Chris Weidman has been doing for years now. But if the UFC is content to let their high level talent seek other employment because they won’t show them the money, then you can bet your ass that Al Iaquinta will be taking his real estate career pretty damn seriously moving forward.

Do you think the UFC is making a mistake not paying Al Iaquinta the big bucks?

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.

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When Will The Wars Catch Up To Cub Swanson?

Cub Swanson picked up his fourth straight UFC win over Artem Lobov last night (Sat., April 22, 2017) in a brutal war in the main event of UFC Fight Night 108 (watch full highlights here) from Nashville, Tennessee. The victory has the ultra-exciting Swanson on the cusp of a coveted UFC featherweight title shot, and indeed

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Cub Swanson picked up his fourth straight UFC win over Artem Lobov last night (Sat., April 22, 2017) in a brutal war in the main event of UFC Fight Night 108 (watch full highlights here) from Nashville, Tennessee.

The victory has the ultra-exciting Swanson on the cusp of a coveted UFC featherweight title shot, and indeed he would seem like the most likely – and most deserving – 145-pound title contender for the winner of June 3’s UFC 212 headliner between Jose Aldo and Max Holloway. But the victory was also Swanson’s fourth fight in just over 12 months, and each bout went the full distance regardless of if Swanson won handily or not.

One of those wins, his “Fight of the Year”-winning battle with Doo Ho Choi at last December’s UFC 206, was an all-out slobberknocker where Swanson absorbed a huge amount of punishment himself. He’s also lost by knockout to the top two featherweights in the world in Aldo and Holloway.

And while he definitely threw and landed pretty much everything in his arsenal on Lobov last night, as Bloody Elbow’s Connor Ruebusch pointed out, he absorbed a whopping 123 significant strikes in doing so, much more than the other five-round main events he’s fought, his brutal stoppage loss to Edgar and his strong decision win over power striker Jeremy Stephens:

It’s fair to wonder when all these wars will eventually catch up to the 33-year-old veteran, and he also took two some huge beatings and endured serious resulting injuries in the two-fight skid to the division’s elite in Holloway and Edgar prior to the success he’s been building today.

That’s not to trash the accomplishments of the currently surging Jackson-Wink MMA product, because he’s looked nothing but rejuvenated and deadly after returning from almost a year off after the Holloway fight. But this is the fight game, and it’s notoriously cruel. We’ve seen and will continue to see top-level fighters fall off a cliff in terms of skill without any prior notice, something Dana White constantly cites about the fight game when talking to the press.

It may or may not happen to Swanson anytime in the near future, and he’s clearly one of the hottest fighters in MMA right now regardless.

Could that change overnight, however? Or will he continue his run of winning slugfests until he reaches his ultimate goal of being the UFC featherweight champion?

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Cub Swanson Calls For Next Featherweight Title Shot

Cub Swanson wants a crack at the 145-pound throne. Last night (Sat. April 22, 2017) Swanson bested UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor’s longtime training partner Artem Lobov in the main event of UFC Nashville with a unanimous decision win. Per usual, Swanson delivered quite the performance in a tremendously competitive bout. After the win Swanson

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Cub Swanson wants a crack at the 145-pound throne.

Last night (Sat. April 22, 2017) Swanson bested UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor’s longtime training partner Artem Lobov in the main event of UFC Nashville with a unanimous decision win. Per usual, Swanson delivered quite the performance in a tremendously competitive bout.

After the win Swanson told reporters that he’d love the opportunity to rematch the winner of the upcoming featherweight title unification bout this Summer between Max Holloway and Jose Aldo – both men he’s lost to before (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“I’ve lost to both those guys, so they both equally sting,” Swanson said. “In my whole career, I’ve never fought for a belt, so that’s something that I would like to do, or at least have the opportunity to do.

“For the division, I think it’s exciting for Holloway to win, and just kinda build more buzz. But I think my chances of fighting for a title, it’s more likely if Aldo wins, because then there’s not going to be a rematch (between Aldo and Holloway), things like that. So I see both sides.”

When asked about fighting Aldo in particular, since losing their initial match-up back in the WEC in only eight seconds, Swanson believes he and the Brazilian would put on a spectacular fight after having eight more years to study his Octagon work:

“I think it’d be a great fight,” Swanson said. “I’ve studied him for a long time. I know what he’s good at, I know what I’m good at, and I just know that I can make any fight a war and make it my fight, so I think it’d be a good match-up. I’m excited to do it again. I took a lot of lessons away from that fight, some that have molded me into who I am. All my losses, really, but that one in particular, and I’d like to get it back.”

Photo by Christopher Hanewinckel for USA TODAY Sports

Swanson also noted that he didn’t have any nerves heading into his bouts with Holloway or No. 2-ranked Frankie Edgar, diminishing his awareness and sense of urgency in the midst of battle:

“It was all mental in the Holloway fight,” Swanson said. “It was funny because my whole career, I’ve been afraid of being nervous. I’m like, ‘when do you get to a point where you’re not nervous anymore?’ And I realized in the Frankie (Edgar) fight and the Holloway fight, I went in there with zero nerves and I got beat up both fights. That fear, it heightens your senses.

“It makes you aware, and it makes you fight on a different level. And that can turn into an actual fear that shuts you down, or you can turn it into excitement that it’s going to be the greatest night of your life, and that’s what I’ve been able to do. I’ve been able to say, ‘yeah, that’s pressure, cool, let’s do it.’ Rather than, ‘man, I don’t want to lose. I don’t want to be embarrassed on TV,’ or anything like that. It’ all mental. So I’ve been able to conquer that and every fight has been a progression.”

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UFC Fight Night 108 Results: Matches to Make for the Winners and Losers

UFC Fight Night 108 in Nashville provided quite a bit of action and quite a few interesting results.
Artem Lobov proved many doubters wrong by hanging with one of the featherweight elite for 25 minutes. It was a losing effort, but Lobov’s stock undoubt…

UFC Fight Night 108 in Nashville provided quite a bit of action and quite a few interesting results.

Artem Lobov proved many doubters wrong by hanging with one of the featherweight elite for 25 minutes. It was a losing effort, but Lobov’s stock undoubtedly rose after the performance.

What’s next for Conor McGregor’s training partner? What about Cub Swanson, who failed to put away an unranked fighter in a main event spot?

Al Iaquinta knocked Diego Sanchez out in the first round of their co-main event contest. Iaquinta’s return from a two-year absence thrust him right back into the hunt at 155 pounds. Sanchez now has to come to grips with his inability to compete with the top lightweights in the world.

Twenty-six fighters in total hit the cage Saturday, but what’s next?

Here’s your look at the matches the UFC should book for the winners and losers after UFC Fight Night 108.

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Conor McGregor Reacts To Artem Lobov’s Slugfest With Cub Swanson

Artem Lobov may have lost to Cub Swanson in the main event of last night’s (Sat., April 22, 2017) UFC Fight Night 108 (watch highlights here) from Nashville, but the unranked “Russian Hammer” gained a ton of fans in the process by meeting the No. 4-ranked featherweight in one of the most entertaining bouts of the

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Artem Lobov may have lost to Cub Swanson in the main event of last night’s (Sat., April 22, 2017) UFC Fight Night 108 (watch highlights here) from Nashville, but the unranked “Russian Hammer” gained a ton of fans in the process by meeting the No. 4-ranked featherweight in one of the most entertaining bouts of the year so far.

Lobov’s previous claim to fame was his close friendship with UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor, but his brawl with Swanson proved the SBG Gym product was a game challenger with a chin of iron and the heart of a lion. After the bout, McGregor, the man many feel is directly responsible for Lobov even being in the UFC. took to his official Instagram account to offer some encouraging words of support and respect for his close friend:

Not surprisingly, McGregor revealed he was proud of his sparring partner, choosing to focus on Lobov’s courage in the face of the many ups and downs in a fighter’s career:

“That was a great fight. Proud of my brother Artem! What a ride it’s been for the Russian Hammer. In a career filled with ups and downs he has never backed down from anything. Nothing but love and respect always my brother.”

Legions of fans were quick to jump all over Lobov for his seemingly undeserving record and his perceived riding of McGregor’s coattails, but he proved he deserved to be in the cage with the best 145-pound talent in the world last night by absorbing an absolutely insane amount of flashy, technical offense from Swanson, including a spinning wheel kick, spinning elbow, head kicks, and an endless barrage of power punches.

The “Russian Hammer” earned every bit of his nickname last night, and it’s hardly a surprise to see the man who got him there show his respect for the all-out brawl fans were treated to last night.

Now, only if “The Notorious” would return to the UFC to hand fans his own brand of mixed martial arts entertainment.

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UFC Fight Night 108 Reebok Fighter Payouts: Cub Swanson & Diego Sanchez Top List

UFC Fight Night 108 is in the books, and now it’s time for Reebok to pay the fighters their sponsorship money. UFC Fight Night 108 took place on Saturday, April 22, 2017 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The prelims aired at 6:30 p.m. ET with three bouts on Fight Pass and FOX Sports 2

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UFC Fight Night 108 is in the books, and now it’s time for Reebok to pay the fighters their sponsorship money.

UFC Fight Night 108 took place on Saturday, April 22, 2017 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The prelims aired at 6:30 p.m. ET with three bouts on Fight Pass and FOX Sports 2 at 8 p.m. ET with four bouts. The main card started at 10 p.m. ET with six bouts.

A featherweight bout between Cub Swanson and Artem Lobov headlined this event while Al Iaquinta vs. Diego Sanchez in a lightweight bout served as the co-main event. Rounding out the main card is Ovince Saint Preux vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima in a light heavyweight bout, John Dodson vs. Eddie Wineland in a bantamweight bout, Joe Lauzon vs. Stevie Ray in a lightweight bout and Jake Ellenberger vs. Mike Perry in a welterweight bout.

The full payouts include:

Cub Swanson: $20,000

def. Artem Lobov: $2,500

Al Iaquinta: $5,000

def. Diego Sanchez: $20,000

Ovince Saint Preux: $15,000

def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima: $5,000

John Dodson: $10,000

def. Eddie Wineland: $15,000

Stevie Ray: $5,000

def. Joe Lauzon: $20,000

Mike Perry: $2,500

def. Jake Ellenberger: $15,000

Thales Leites: $15,000

def. Sam Alvey: $10,000

Brandon Moreno: $2,500

def. Dustin Ortiz: $5,000

Scott Holtzman: $2,500

def. Michael McBride: $2,500

Danielle Taylor: $2,500

def. Jessica Penne: $2,500

Alexis Davis: $5,000

def. Cindy Dandois: $2,500

Bryan Barberena: $5,000

def. Joe Proctor: $5,000

Hector Sandoval: $2,500

def. Matt Schnell: $2,500

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