Cub Swanson Seeking Fight With Ricardo Lamas or Frankie Edgar
Following his impressive TKO victory over Dennis Siver at UFC 162, featherweight Cub Swanson is riding high on the momentum of a five-fight winning streak. Undefeated since his second-round submission loss to Ricardo Lamas in November of 2011, it’s clear that Swanson is looking to send notice to all of the UFC’s 145 lb. fighters.
And event though Swanson thought he may have deserved the title shot against Jose Aldo when Anthony Pettis got injured, ultimately Chan Sung Jung was pulled from his bout with Lamas to fill the spot. So while a rematch with Aldo is Swanson’s ultimate goal, it’s not something he can sit around and wait for:
“Well, if they are going to give someone else Aldo then that’s way too long for me to wait. I’m in prime position right now. I’m doing well. There’s no sense in me waiting, but I do want that fight and if I have to fight one more time then I would like the Ricardo Lamas fight or the Frankie Edgar fight.” – via Bloody Elbow
Swanson has a point in the sense that he is definitely doing very well, but he also has a strike against him in the form of an 8-second TKO loss thanks to a Jose Aldo double flying knee. It’s never easy to work back up to a title shot against the man that knocked you out convincingly early on. Just ask Vitor Belfort.
But if Swanson keeps winning, it’ll eventually become impossible to deny him another chance at Aldo. I think that Swanson is right, that the only fights that truly make sense for him right now are bouts against Lamas and Edgar. Lamas is undefeated within the octagon, and the case just as easily could have been made for him to be the man who replaced Pettis.
Between Swanson and Lamas, they hold 9 consecutive victories. I say match them up against one another and see whose streak ends first. The winner will no doubt deserve a shot at the winner of Aldo/Korean Zombie. It would be quite the heavy-hitting matchup in the smoking hot featherweight division, perfect for a PPV co-main event or to headline a Fox or FX card. However, where does that leave Frankie Edgar?
