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[Cat--Smasher]

After multiple injuries, UFC on FOX 4's Mike Swick took extra precautions in gym

After 29 months away from the octagon, Mike Swick is happy just to get back to work.

"When you've fought as much as I have, you don't like sitting on the sidelines for two-and-a-half years," he today told MMAjunkie.com Radio (MMAjunkie.com Radio | MMAjunkie.com). "I just want to get in there and do my job."

After multiple health issues forced an epic layoff, Swick (14-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC) has made changes to how he prepares for that job in advance of a fight with DaMarques Johnson (16-10 MMA, 4-4 UFC).

In training camp for the fight, which takes place on the FUEL TV-televised preliminary card of UFC on FOX 4 (the event is scheduled for Aug. 4 at Staples Center in Los Angeles), Swick put on more padding than ever to protect himself during sparring.

Those sharp, cutting elbows? Wrapped in the shock-absorbing foam of pads.

He took special care to avoid the kinds of positions that led to his most recent catastrophe. Two weeks prior to a scheduled fight with Erick Silva at UFC 134, he was wrestling with then-teammate Josh Koscheck. His leg stuck in an awkward position on a takedown. He blew out his ACL, MCL and tore his meniscus.

At the time of his knee injury, Swick had already spent 18 months on the shelf as the result of an esophageal spasm that had been misdiagnosed as a stomach condition called dyspepsia. He had already modified his diet to where he wasn't wasting away because he literally couldn't stomach most food.

The veteran of "The Ultimate Fighter 1" was falling further off the radar with every passing month. The last time fans saw him, he was getting choked out by Paulo Thiago at UFC 109 in February 2010.

So when he got notice he'd been fighting Johnson, he made a rule for himself: No more getting into "crazy" positions in sparring that exposed his limbs to the full weight of his teammate's body. He put on more padding. He tried to train smarter.

"You have to train," Swick said. "I mean, that's just the bottom line. It sucks because we train really hard, and you can't predict when these injuries is going to happen. But we did, in this fight camp, take a lot of precautions that we haven't taken in the past."

Of course, he realizes he can't shrink-wrap himself or just stick to the treadmill. He can't predict when injury will strike. There's risk involved just putting on the gloves. But he's tried to minimize the possibility of another career-killing layoff.

"You've got to take your chances, but we're calculating them so we take them at the right time, and for the right reasons," Swick said.

After multiple injuries, UFC on FOX 4's Mike Swick took extra precautions in gym | MMAjunkie.com

[rivethead]

I wish him the very best.

rh

[Masscore]

Good move by the UFC to have Swick fight Johnson. Even with the ring rust this is still a pretty winnable fight for Swick.

[Cat--Smasher]

Swick takes this fight. Welcome back Mike, it has been way too long.

[IceCold48]

Swick always had a lot of potential but has been derailed by injuries. Even in his last fight he was obviously hurt going in and still almost beat hardy for #1 contender and that was a loooooong time ago UFC 105 I beleive. It's good to see him fight back and get back in the octagon after such a long time. He didn't look right against thiago either. Hope he's at full strength.

[disposableassassin]

Eh we will see. I always liked swick but he just seems like one of those that just wasn't meant to be. He is too injury prone. That guy is less likely to make it to a fight than alessio sakara. Here's to hoping that he can get his career back on track though. I always liked to watch him fight.

[W.Silva>C.Norris]

Real glad to see swick back. Not a favourite of mine, but a great fighter who always puts on a show. He's still at 170 I assume?

[rivethead]

Originally Posted by W.Silva>C.Norris

He's still at 170 I assume?

I'm pretty sure I read some discussion of him going back up to MW after he had a treatment that paralyzed the spasming muscles in his throat and he was able to eat again and put on weight, but that was before he was slated to face Erik Silva, back in the day.

He's on the books to face Johnson at WW in a couple weeks, I think that's going to be a determining factor. If he can make 170 and still have power, I'd imagine he'd try to stay there. He was undersized as a MW, he wasn't cutting any weight, and guys like Okami were coming in 20lb+ to face him.

rh

[Sniggles]