(Stephens puts the stamp on TUF Brazil winner Ronny Jason, while Kenny Florian does his best Joe Silva impersonation in the background. Photo via Getty.)
Since making the cut to featherweight, however, “Lil Heathen” has been a man reborn (also, acquitted). With decision victories over Estevan Payan and Darren Elkins and a brutal KO over TUF Brazil winner Rony Jason (who did not take the loss well), Stephens has gone from a perennial gatekeeper to a fighter ranked just outside the top 10 on the UFC’s totally unbiased rankings system.
And now, Stephens will be given arguably the biggest fight of his career when he faces off against #4 ranked Cub Swanson in the main event of a Fight Night card scheduled for June 28th in San Antonio. The likelihood of the winner receiving a title shot? Kinda sorta maybe. The likelihood that this fight turns into a slugfest the likes of Lawler vs. Hendricks? Definitely maybe.
(Stephens puts the stamp on TUF Brazil winner Ronny Jason, while Kenny Florian does his best Joe Silva impersonation in the background. Photo via Getty.)
Since making the cut to featherweight, however, “Lil Heathen” has been a man reborn (also, acquitted). With decision victories over Estevan Payan and Darren Elkins and a brutal KO over TUF Brazil winner Rony Jason (who did not take the loss well), Stephens has gone from a perennial gatekeeper to a fighter ranked just outside the top 10 on the UFC’s totally unbiased rankings system.
And now, Stephens will be given arguably the biggest fight of his career when he faces off against #4 ranked Cub Swanson in the main event of a Fight Night card scheduled for June 28th in San Antonio. The likelihood of the winner receiving a title shot? Kinda sorta maybe. The likelihood that this fight turns into a slugfest the likes of Lawler vs. Hendricks? Definitely maybe.
Cub Swanson and Jeremy Stephens will fight in the main event at the June 28 UFC Fight Night event in San Antonio, Texas.
The UFC on Fox Twitter account announced the fight Wednesday afternoon, tweeting:
The two top-15 featherweights are pr…
Cub Swanson and Jeremy Stephens will fight in the main event at the June 28 UFC Fight Night event in San Antonio, Texas.
The UFC on Fox Twitter account announced the fight Wednesday afternoon, tweeting:
The two top-15 featherweights are primarily stand-up fighters, and each man possesses big-time knockout power, a fact which will please fans across the globe as the two throw down June 28.
Making the bout even better, both men have found their groove inside the Octagon of late.
Swanson has won five straight since January 2012, with four of those wins coming via knockout or technical knockout. His latest victory—a third-round TKO of Dennis Siver—showcased his entire arsenal, as he overcame early adversity to out-grapple and out-strike the German kickboxer late, snagging the crucial victory.
Stephens, on the other hand, has enjoyed a career resurgence since dropping to featherweight after a three-fight skid at lightweight.
Since being knocked out by Yves Edwards at UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz, Stephens made the cut to 145 pounds and rattled off three dominant victories, his latest a one-sided unanimous-decision victory over former top-10 featherweight Darren Elkins.
In that fight, Stephens successfully defended all nine of Elkins’ takedown attempts and scored one of his own. On top of that, Stephens out-struck Elkins every round, securing the clear-cut win.
Now, Stephens finds himself at No. 11 in the official UFC rankings. A win over Swanson will certainly catapult him into the top 10 and line up a big-time fight moving forward.
Swanson, though, will certainly be favored in this bout, as he has proven his worth as a top-10 145 pounder over the course of his latest winning streak. A win over Stephens may launch him into title contention; the same, I do not think, can be said for Stephens.
Who do you favor in the bout? Will Swanson take care of business, or will Stephens pull off the upset?
Jose Aldo successfully defended his UFC featherweight championship against Ricardo Lamas at UFC 169, and talk at the post-fight press conference immediately shifted to a potential lightweight title fight against Anthony Pettis.
That fight is not set in…
Jose Aldo successfully defended his UFC featherweight championship against Ricardo Lamas at UFC 169, and talk at the post-fight press conference immediately shifted to a potential lightweight title fight against Anthony Pettis.
That fight is not set in stone, but if it does happen, UFC President Dana White says Chad Mendes vs. Cub Swanson makes the most sense, and I agree.
Chad Mendes is the No. 1 ranked contender in the division, and he is next in line regardless of if Aldo moves up or not. That makes his appearance in the hypothetical fight for the vacant belt a no brainer. Mendes has done everything to earn another shot at the gold.
Frankie Edgar is scheduled to coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter alongside BJ Penn. That takes him out of the running due to scheduling conflicts, but it could make their featherweight encounter a potential title eliminator.
That leaves Ricardo Lamas, Swanson and Chan Sung Jung as the likely candidates for the second slot.
Lamas and The Korean Zombie are both coming off losses in title bouts.
Lamas has never been able to excite the MMA fans enough for him to leapfrog anyone, and after his loss at UFC 169, he will need a few wins before getting another shot at the featherweight title. The Korean Zombie, on the other hand, has shown the ability to get the crowd behind him.
However, with his time away from the cage—and coming off a loss—it is not the best for business for the UFC to select him to go opposite Mendes.
Swanson is the right choice.
The Jackson’s MMA featherweight is on a five-fight win streak with four TKO/KO finishes in that run. Moreover, Swanson is a charismatic personality that can connect with the fans better than his competition for this spot.
Also, Mendes and Swanson are the only two contenders ranked in the top five on winning streaks.
A Mendes vs. Swanson fight would be a rematch of a meeting between the two in 2010 during their WEC tenure. Mendes took that fight by unanimous decision, but that fight is in the distant past now.
The two featherweight title contenders are vastly improved since that time. They have continued to develop their MMA skills, and they have shown a propensity to finish fights in recent times. It makes the rematch an exciting matchup.
This is the best fight the UFC could promote for a vacant title with Edgar tied up with other duties.
Of the top-five ranked fighters, these are the only two who make sense in the current landscape of the UFC. Mendes vs. Swanson is the right choice, and should Aldo make the move to lightweight, the UFC should jump to finalize this title bout.
Anthony Pettis and Jose Aldo were scheduled to fight at featherweight last year, but an injury to Pettis forced the bout to be cancelled. He made a quick return and won the UFC Lightweight Championship, while Aldo continued to defend his featherweight …
Anthony Pettis and Jose Aldo were scheduled to fight at featherweight last year, but an injury to Pettis forced the bout to be cancelled. He made a quick return and won the UFC Lightweight Championship, while Aldo continued to defend his featherweight title.
Now, after Aldo’s latest successful title defense, we might be getting the fight we all very much wanted to see last summer. Or, at least we thought we were. Aldo claimed he wanted Pettis after beating Ricardo Lamas at UFC 169. Pettis accepted, and Dana White moved quickly to make it happen.
But then things started unraveling. Aldo’s coach said they wanted the fight at a catchweight of 150 pounds, according to Globo (h/t MMA Fighting). Pettis’ management responded by telling Fox Sports that wasn’t an option and that Aldo would have to do as White said he would: Give up the featherweight title and move to lightweight.
And now we find ourselves in limbo, hoping we’ll see a fight that has the potential to cement Aldo as one of the greatest fighters of all time.
But we aren’t the only ones in limbo. Featherweight contenders Cub Swanson and Chad Mendes await Aldo’s decision; if he vacates the belt, there’s a pretty good chance they’ll square off to determine the new champion. In the meantime, they’re in a holding pattern, and it’s something Swanson would like to see concluded swiftly.
I was pretty…I don’t want to say irritated, but they kept telling me after this fight they’d have an answer. Now, with all this superfight talk, it’s all on Aldo and it’s kind of frustrating. I’d like some answers. If he’s going to stay or go, just do it already, so the rest of us can figure this out.
If I was him, I’d just go. We’re all guys that want to challenge ourselves and be the best in the world. That’s why people love Randy Couture and B.J. Penn; they sought challenges in different weight classes to be the best in the world. Dominating one weight class makes you a badass in the sport, but if you want to be a legend, you have to go to different weight classes and be dominant there, too.
I agree with Swanson. Aldo cannot have his cake and eat it, too. If he wants the challenge of facing the lightweight champ, he’ll have to sacrifice the belt he currently holds.
A catchweight bout may sound appealing to Aldo’s camp, but it effectively freezes other contenders at both featherweight and lightweight from getting their own opportunities while Aldo and Pettis settle their business. Nobody wants to see that, least of all Swanson, and you can’t blame him for being upset at the notion of waiting on the sidelines for a long period of time before getting the title shot he has earned in the cage.
At the end of the day, I suspect we’ll see Swanson get his wish. Aldo will move up to lightweight to challenge Pettis for the belt, and Swanson and Mendes will fight to determine a new featherweight champion.
But for Swanson’s sake—and for the sake of every other fighter in both divisions who are awaiting their own opportunities to strap some gold around their waists—I hope Aldo and his camp make a decision soon.
So much has surrounded UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and his future plans in the promotion.
Will he stay at featherweight and fend off the division’s core group of contenders?
Will he move to lightweight and challenge titleholder Anthony Pettis …
So much has surrounded UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and his future plans in the promotion.
Will he stay at featherweight and fend off the division’s core group of contenders?
Will he move to lightweight and challenge titleholder Anthony Pettis for superfight supremacy?
Or will he take his talents to South Beach and former “The Big Four?”
Either way the cookie crumbles, the immediate pallet of featherweight hopefuls will be there to harvest the crumbs.
Title threats like Chad Mendes, Cub Swanson, Dustin Poirier and even Frankie Edgar have all done their own part to separate themselves in a rather tightly knit weight class. Win streaks, flashy finishes and substantially brutal performances have given each one of them good reason to challenge Aldo.
But what if the 27-year-old Brazilian decides to beef up and leap to 155?
Dana White recently explained the 145-pound division’s future title scene on Fox Sports 1’s “Fox Sports Live,” originally reported by MMA Junkie.
“It would probably be—listen, I’m not making a fight announcement here or anything—but what would make sense is Cub Swanson and Chad Mendes would probably be fighting for that title, and Pettis and Aldo would fight at 155,” said White.
Now nothing is set in stone regarding Aldo vs. Pettis considering Aldo’s longtime manager Andre Pederneirasrecently stated they wanted a catchweight bout at 150 pounds with no belt on the line.
That serves as an immediate wrench in the gears of a potential superfight since Pettis‘ camp only wants Aldo at 155 or they’ll move on to the next contender, according to Damon Martin of Fox Sports.
So what does that mean for Mendes and Swanson, a pair of fighters who met back in 2010 with “Money” winning by decision?
Simply put, they’re going to have to play the waiting game. Mendes has already had to wait his turn to fight Aldo again since he lost to the champ by first-round knockout at UFC 142, so what’s a few more months?
As for Swanson, who is recovering from elbow surgery, more vacation days may be exactly what the doctor ordered.
In any case, whether it’s Aldo vs. Pettis, Aldo vs. Mendes, Mendes vs. Swanson or Pettis vs. Brock Lesnar, 2014 is destined to be the “Year of the Little Guys.”
There is an art to matchmaking in combat sports.
While some fights come together with natural ease, most bouts are formed through a hectic process of evaluation. Several aspects need to be graded on each side of the table before committing to the match…
There is an art to matchmaking in combat sports.
While some fights come together with natural ease, most bouts are formed through a hectic process of evaluation. Several aspects need to be graded on each side of the table before committing to the matchup.
Whether or not a fight makes sense in the divisional scheme, timing and making sure both fighters stand to gain similar rewards are the most pressing issues that come to mind. Then, of course, there is the most important aspect of a potential fight: Will both competitors be willing to mix it up and put on a show?
The unfortunate part of the process comes when all of these criteria are met and the fight fails to deliver. That said, the UFC showcases far more exciting tilts than flat fights these days, which goes to show just how good Joe Silva and Sean Shelby are at their jobs.
While 2013 was perhaps the most action-packed year on record for the UFC, this year’s campaign hasn’t necessarily burst out of the gates. There have certainly been some compelling matchups that have lived up to the hype on fight night, but there have also been a good amount that have fluttered into lackluster or lopsided decisions.
Nevertheless, the current state of things under the UFC banner have several divisional title races on the verge of chaos. A stacked division such as the lightweight collective is currently all kinds of wacky with champion Anthony Pettis injured and verbally committed to a bout with featherweight king Jose Aldo later this year.
That particular situation has put two divisions in flux, which could either prove to be epic or catastrophic as both weight classes have risen to become recognized as talent-rich shark tanks. While things are looking strange in the 155- and 145-pound folds, the bantamweight and heavyweight divisions need contenders to emerge quickly.
For the latest installment of this column, we will take a look at a few matchups that could help a handful of the problem areas on the UFC landscape.
With champion Cain Velasquez on the mend and Travis Browne and Fabricio Werdum set to do battle in a few months, the action at the top of the heavyweight mountain is secure for the time being.
That said, a healthy title picture always has multiple contenders sitting in the upper tier, and a quick look at the heavyweight fold reveals that is just not the case. In what has routinely been one of the UFC’s thinner divisions where elite-level talent is concerned, having a few high-profile fights on the docket is always a good way to keep attention in a place the organization desperately wants it to be.
While pitting two of the biggest names in the division against one another in a fight where immediate title contention is not involved will ultimately sacrifice the losing fighter to the fates, there is quite possibly no bigger bout to make in the heavyweight division than Junior dos Santos versus Alistair Overeem.
Where “Cigano” is coming off a drubbing at the hands of Velasquez, and “The Reem” just got back into the win column against Frank Mir at UFC 169, a matchup between the two powerhouses absolutely makes sense. Both fighters are looking to get back into the title hunt, and a showdown between the two would certainly elevate the winner toward the top of the food chain.
It also doesn’t hurt that there is bad blood and history between the two—neither are bad things where promoting a fight is involved. They were originally slated to square off in the main event at UFC 146 in May of 2012, before a failed drug test forced the former Strikeforce champion off the card. The Dutch kickboxing monster was forced into the realm of suspension while “JDS” continued his reign as the heavyweight champion.
Eventually, both things would come to an end, and neither fighter is currently sitting where they’d like to be. Two losses—and the fashion in which they came—have put a serious dent in dos Santos’ stock.
While there is no doubting he’s still an elite-level competitor in the division he once championed, the way the AKA fighter battered him has cast a wide shadow of doubt over whether the former title holder could get the best of him in a fourth fight.
Nevertheless, the heavy-handed Brazilian still needs big fights, and the same can be said for Overeem. The former K-1 champion was figured to be a major player in the UFC heavyweight title picture when he came over from Strikeforce, but that simply hasn’t been the case. After he starched Brock Lesnar, he went on to eat back-to-back upsets at the hands of Antonio Silva and Travis Browne, respectively.
To Overeem’s credit, he was winning both fights before having his gas tank zapped, but having that huge body slumped over on the canvas is as damaging as things get in the fight game.
Granted, there are a handful of other directions the UFC can go with both fighters as names like Mark Hunt and StipeMiocic could be game matchups. But making the fight with dos Santos and Overeem not only fills the void of keeping the title hunt moving, but it also provides the “big fight” feel necessary to be the main or co-main event on an upcoming pay-per-view.
Chad Mendes vs. Cub Swanson
With Jose Aldo in talks of moving up to lightweight and vacating the featherweight strap, the UFC will have some big shoes to fill at the top of the 145-pound mountain. When one of their champions has vacated a title in the past, the organization has tapped the next two top-ranked fighters to scrap it out to become the next champion.
Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler will throw dukes to lay claim to the belt Georges St-Pierre left behind, and Chad Mendes and Cub Swanson should get the honors in the Brazilian wrecking machine’s absence.
The former No. 1 contender has been on a tear since suffering a knockout against Aldo at UFC 142 back in January, 2012. “Money” has notched five consecutive victories inside the Octagon. Where four of those victories came as the result of impressive knockouts, his most recent win over NikLentz at UFC on Fox 9, came with an element of criticism.
While the Team Alpha Male standout was able to turn back the surging former lightweight, his typical high-paced, high-output offensive attack slowed considerably in the second half of the fight. Following the bout, Mendes revealed he had been suffering from a sinus infection leading into the fight, which he said played a huge factor in the cardio dump he suffered.
Despite not having a show-stopping performance against Lentz, Mendes is easily one of the top fighters in the featherweight division. With Aldo out of the way for the time being, the road to the title should finally reopen for the California native, which is an opportunity he’s been working diligently to recapture.
Where the former title challenger is looking for another shot, Cub Swanson is on a mission to get his first crack at UFC gold. The Palm Springs native has also put together an impressive five-fight winning streak, which has allowed him to climb to the top of the divisional rankings.
Where “Killer Cub” used to be a fighter with all the tools who was just unable to put it all together, those days are long gone for the proud SoCal representative.
The 30-year-old is brimming with a newfound confidence, and the results of this discovery have been astounding.
Throughout the course of his five-fight run, Swanson has ended four of the fights via brutal, highlight-reel knockout. He flushed Ross Pearson while backing up. He leveled Charles Oliveira with a body punch in the first round and hit George Roop so hard there are rumors that the The Ultimate Fighter alum’s mouthpiece still hasn’t landed.
While those performances were dominant, his most recent showing against Dennis Siver at UFC 162 was perhaps the best he’s looked yet.
Swanson was able to out-class Siver in every facet of the fight until he finished the spinning back kick artist with a flurry in the final round. His win over Siver had Swanson on the cusp of bigger things in the featherweight fold, but he became the “odd man out” when the rest of his peers in the upper tier got fights.
Where Swanson has been on the sidelines since last July, his place in the divisional hierarchy is undeniable. With Ricardo Lamas finally getting his title shot at UFC 169 and having to go to the back of the line, this creates the perfect setting for Mendes and Swanson to do business.
Another interesting note is that the two men initially met in 2010 under the WEC banner, with Mendes getting the victory. Both have shown drastic improvements in the three years since, and a showdown between the two top featherweights would be the perfect next step for the division.
Eddie Wineland vs. T.J. Dillashaw
The bantamweight division had its fair share of issues in 2013, but the majority of them were solved at UFC 169. Dominick Cruz’s two-year stint as absentee champion came to an end as an injury forced him out of his unification bout with RenanBarao, and “The Baron” stopped Urijah Faber in the first round of the patchwork title fight.
With the seemingly unstoppable phenom ruling the division with an iron fist, the UFC needs to flesh out the rest of the upper tier of the division in order for future contender’s to be produced. Raphael Assuncao recently made a play for a title shot when his scheduled bout at UFC 170 fell through. While the WEC veteran may not be the biggest name available, he may be the best option where progress is concerned.
The 135-pound division’s brightest prospect, T.J. Dillashaw, is showing spectacular progress. That said, he is still realistically at least a fight or two out from being ready to face an opponent of Barao‘s caliber.
The Team Alpha Male fighter has won five of his seven showings since his stint on the 14th installment of The Ultimate Fighter with his most recent outing being his most impressive yet. The 27-year-old took the fight to a game Mike Easton at Fight Night 35 and cruised to a lopsided unanimous decision victory.
The only two blemishes on his record under the UFC banner came in via knockout at the hands of John Dodson in the finals of TUF and a razor-thin—and heavily debated—split-decision loss to Raphael Assuncao at Fight Night 29 back in October. Had the fight with Assuncao gone the other way, Dillashaw would be standing at six consecutive victories.
Nevertheless, he took an “L” in Brazil, but winning five out of his last six is still impressive.
That said, Dillashaw is yet to defeat one of the marquee fighters in the division, and that is where a bout with Eddie Wineland would provide him the perfect opportunity. And the potential bout would carry equal importance for the former WEC bantamweight champion as well.
The Indiana native has been one of the hottest fighters in the division over the past two years, as he’s won three of his four Octagon showings. His only loss on this current run was the result of the spinning back kick wizardry of Barao when the two men squared off for the interim title at UFC 165 in September.
While Wineland was visibly stunned from the kick and the barrage of punches that followed, he vehemently disagreed with the referee stoppage.
The 29-year-old felt he had been robbed of his chance to fight for the title, and he carried that heat into his next bout with Yves Jabouin last month at UFC on Fox 10 in Chicago. It took Wineland less than two full rounds to dispose of Jabouin as he finished the Haitian-born fighter via strikes in the second frame.
The victory in Chicago kept Wineland relevant in the upper tier of the division and guaranteed his next outing will come against a high-profile opponent.
Should the UFC decided to go with the Dillashaw vs. Wineland matchup, it would not only serve to give both men the fight they need, but prove to be a pivotal bout in the bantamweight title picture.
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report.
