Cub Swanson Mulls Late-Career Move to Bantamweight Division

Cub Swanson was in top form at UFC Fight Night 199, as he overwhelmed fellow veteran Darren Elkins in a first-round technical knockout victory this past Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Although the 38-year-old featherweight has been victorious in three of his last four Octagon appearances, he is considering a change in weight class late in his UFC career.

“I had talked about maybe dropping to 135, just to switch it up, try something new. I know I can make it,” Swanson said at the post-fight press conference (via MMAjunkie.com). “I don’t know how difficult it would be. This was one of the easier cuts I’ve had. I just feel like I’m naturally a little lighter than I used to be. I guess I’m just not holding on muscle like I was before. That’s a possibility.”

Swanson’s promotional tenure reached 21 fights on Saturday, and he has at least one item left on his bucket list, though it involves the UFC hitting the road again for Fight Night events. Currently, the Las Vegas-based promotion has set up shop at the UFC Apex for all of its smaller events during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Swanson is a Palm Springs, Calif., native, and he hopes to be able to fight in front of his hometown fans before all is said and done.

“The one thing that I would love to do still is they’re building a big arena, a 10,000-person arena, in Palm Springs,” Swanson said. “That’ll be done by the end of the year. If I can get the UFC to have a Fight Night in Palm Springs, I’d stick around for that for sure.”