Cub Swanson has been fighting under the Zuffa umbrella for 12 years. He made his World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) debut in 2007, and four years later he made his UFC debut when the UFC made its own debut on Fox with UFC on Fox: Velasquez vs. dos Santos. Swanson would lose that debut to Ricardo Lamas but go on to become one of the most successful UFC featherweights and a mainstay in the top 10 of the rankings. But Cub Swanson is now interested in beginning a new phase in his Zuffa career, which also includes venturing into a new sport: participating in Zuffa Boxing. In fact, he even has a familiar name in mind for whom he would like to face:
“100%, if I was given the opportunity, “Swanson told MMA Junkie radio regarding competing in Zuffa boxing. “When I was a free agent, it was something that I talked to Dana about, I brought up. I told him, hey, you know, I’d be open to fight…you see Aldo training boxing. He wants to box. I’d be open to box him. And he just told me, that’s funny, I’d rather just watch you guys fight MMA. And I was like, well, I’d love to do that, too, but I think a lot of people would be interested in that.
“But I almost switched to boxing a couple times just because I really enjoy it,” Swanson continued. “As a mixed martial artist, you want to try all the different disciplines. The main reason I didn’t is because I knew I’d have to kind of start over. And if I was in an opportunity to do something like Conor did…if I was gonna make more money doing my first boxing match, then I’d be like, let’s do it…and especially under Dana White’s boxing series. I’d love to help show that MMA guys can box, too. So it’s something that would be fun.”
In the meantime, Cub Swanson is slated to fight young upstart Shane Burgos this Saturday at UFC Ottawa.
Do you believe Cub Swanson would have a successful career in boxing?
