Tag: cub swanson

UFC Fight Night 108 ended with the image that most thought we’d see from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee: Cub Swanson getting his hand raised in victory over Artem Lobov in the main event. 

But it didn’t happen as easily as most anticipated. Lobov survived all five rounds as Swanson was given the unanimous-decision victory Saturday. Bleacher Report MMA tweeted the final scores:

Lobov—who is mostly known for being Conor McGregor’s sparring partner—was a massive 4-1 underdog, according to OddsShark, due to his subpar record and skills compared to Swanson. However, in the early going, Lobov did much more than most thought he would. 

The Russian surprisingly landed an early takedown and got the better of early exchanges to show he could hang around with Swanson, at least for a time. Ben Fowlkes of MMAjunkie gave the underdog some credit:

However, the second frame would be where Swanson took back over. The heavy favorite not only opened up his striking game, but also got the fight to the ground where he took Lobov’s back and landed serious strikes to the head. 

The UFC gave some of the highlights for Swanson in the second round:

That was a sign of things to come as Swanson did just what most thought he would do as the fight progressed: dominate. Swanson’s more technical striking carried the day, and the difference in speed became more apparent. 

The third round also served as a stage for more Swanson highlights:

Still, the Russian Hammer didn’t disappoint. He might not have won, but he made a name for himself in taking a beating from his opponent and continually coming forward. Lobov’s pressure gave him a puncher’s chance throughout. 

Jonathan Snowden of Bleacher Report praised Lobov’s toughness:

Ultimately, it wasn’t enough for him to pull off the upset, but it was enough to provide an entertaining main event from an interesting night of fights. 

After the bout, Swanson used his turn in the spotlight to call out the winner of the upcoming bout between Jose Aldo and Max Holloway. Mike Bohn of MMAjunkie weighed in on the merits of the callout:

Here’s a look at the complete results from Nashville, along with a closer look at each of the main card fights: 

Main card (FOX Sports 1)

• Cub Swanson vs. Artem Lobov via unanimous decision (49-46 x2, 50-45)
• Al Iaquinta def. Diego Sanchez via first-round KO (1:38) 
• Ovince Saint Preux def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima via sub (von flue choke) (R2, 2:11)
• John Dodson def. Eddie Wineland via unanimous decision (29-28, 30×27 x2)
• Stevie Ray def. Joe Lauzon via majority decision (28-27, 29-27, 28-28)
• Mike Perry def. Jake Ellenberger via second-round KO (1:05)

   
Fox Sports Prelims

• Thales Leites def. Sam Alvey via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
• Brandon Moreno def. Dustin Ortiz via submission (RNC) (R2, 4:06)
• Scott Holtzman def. Michael McBride via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 30-26)
• Danielle Taylor def. Jessica Penne via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Fight Pass Prelims

• Alexis Davis def. Cindy Dandois via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
• Bryan Barberena def. Joe Proctor via first-round TKO (3:30)
• Hector Sandoval def. Matt Schnell via first-round TKO (4:24)

Al Iaquinta vs. Diego Sanchez

The return of Al Iaquinta after two years away from the Octagon was one of the things that highlighted this card, and he didn’t disappoint.

The 29-year-old New Yorker turned out the lights on Diego Sanchez in just one minute and 38 seconds to announce that he’s not experiencing any ring rust from his time away. 

Fox Sports: UFC tweeted out the violent finish for Iaquinta:

Obviously, it wasn’t the best news for Sanchez, who has made a 12-year UFC career based on his legendary toughness. One has to wonder just how much punishment he can take at 35 years old. He’s now just 4-6 in his last 10 fights with the last two losses coming by way of knockout. 

But this wasn’t about the fall of Sanchez; this was about the return of Ragin’ Al. Michael Carroll noted that Iaquinta’s win streak, albeit mostly from two years ago, is one of the longest in the lightweight division:

This was clearly a tuneup fight for Iaquinta, but he passed the test with violent colors. It’s time to put the man right back where he was before he sat out due to a contract dispute. 

As long as things between the fighter and organization are truly settled, the lightweight should be able to take time away from his side gig of selling homes to knock out more lightweights. 

Ovince Saint Preux vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima

Ovince Saint Preux came into this bout with a lot of reasons to feel the kind of pressure that can cripple a fighter. With a home-field advantage in Nashville for the Tennessean and a three-fight losing streak going into the cage, Saint Preux’s only option was a win.

Fortunately for the former University of Tennessee football player, his bag of tricks on the ground includes a sneaky-good Von Flue choke.

After a first-round feeling-out process, OSP found his opportunity to end the bout. After a failed guillotine attempt by de Lima, Saint Preux was able to sneak in what has become a signature submission after picking up his second win by virtue of the choke. 

UFC Canada passed along the grappling exchange:

This was a fun way for OSP to break his losing streak and probably bought him more time of fighting under the UFC banner. 

Given the disappointing state of the light heavyweight division, Saint Preux’s win means that a fighter with some name recognition will remain in the Top 10 despite three straight losses.

Ben Fowlkes of MMAjunkie mused about OSP’s potential as a submission wiz in the light heavyweight division:

John Dodson vs. Eddie Wineland

What had potential to be an exciting bantamweight bout on paper quickly turned into the John Dodson show.

While Eddie Wineland’s power was supposed to be a threat to Dodson, Dodson simply showed that he had superior quickness, skills and even power, and the results were three clean rounds that were scored for the former flyweight contender.

The problem for Dodson was that his win was short on style points. Gorgeous George of MMAjunkie highlighted the importance of standing out in a division as stacked as bantamweight:

After the bout Dodson did his best to drum up interest, telling the entire division to stop ducking him, per Shaheen Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting:

The fact is that Dodson proved he’s still a fighter with superior skills, regardless of whether he’s 125 or 135 pounds. He’s going to be a tough out for anyone, but he still has work to do to rebuild his contender status after his loss to John Lineker in 2016.  

Joe Lauzon vs. Stevie Ray

Scottish lightweight Stevie Ray looked like he was going to fell to longtime UFC vet Joe Lauzon through one round of action.

Utilizing his well-known ground game, Lauzon controlled his opponent for the vast majority of the first round after turning an ill-advised kick from Ray into a takedown that he never really gave up. Lauzon poured on the damage from inside Ray’s guard.

But Ray showcased an unrelenting will, while Lauzon showed a fading gas tank.

The 32-year-old was unable to draw the finish in the first round, and it allowed him the glimmer of hope he needed to get back into things. Ultimately Ray landed enough striking in the second round that it gave him a new outlook and set him up to win the third and final round by an even bigger margin.

It was far from unanimous—the fight split the judges and Twitter—but Ray ultimately got the nod in a tough fight. Elias Cepeda was among those who thought Lauzon should have been the victor.

In any event this was a fight that had its moments but should serve primarily to get Ray even bigger fights. A win over Lauzon is never easy, and he was able to find a way to get his hand raised after a difficult first round.  

Mike Perry vs. Jake Ellenberger

Welterweight prospect Mike Perry might have bitten off more than he could chew taking on Alan Jouban in his last UFC outing, but he added some more hype to his halted train with a second-round TKO victory over Jake Ellenberger to kick off the main card. 

The first round appeared to be evenly matched. Ellenberger had moments of control in the clinch and with his offensive wrestling, but Perry responded by getting the upperhand in the striking exchanges. 

As it turns out, the clinch isn’t a great place to stick around with Perry. In the beginning of the second round, Platinum unleashed a devastating elbow that landed flush on Ellenberger’s nose. It was as close to an instant knockout as one can get. 

Fox Sports: UFC passed along the highlight:

The win recoups some of that lost momentum for Perry. His ceiling is an interesting proposition. The 25-year-old has the bravado and swagger of a professional wrestling heel and some power to back up that persona, but the Jouban fight still shows some flaws. 

For Ellenberger, this was  showcase of just how shot his chin is. The Juggernaut is far from living up to his moniker these days. He’s now lost four of his last five and seven of his last nine fights. 

This was a perfect passing-of-the-torch fight as Perry has plenty of time to make noise, while it appears that Ellenberger’s time as a recognizable name with good skills has come to an end.     

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