Cub
Swanson enjoyed a memorable farewell at UFC 327. |
Getty/UFC
Cub
Swanson went out on a high note.
The 42-year-old Palm Springs, California, native wrapped up a
22-year mixed martial arts career at UFC 327,
where he defeated Nate
Landwehr via technical knockout 4:06 into Round 1 of their
featherweight clash at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Saturday
night. Swanson made it look easy against the former M-1 Global
champion, dropping him twice en route to earning the stoppage.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” Swanson told the UFC. “I was really
worried about him picking up the pace late in the fight. And I was
expecting him to to come after me a little bit more. And I was
trying to calm it down. And so once I kind of realized that he
wasn’t having a lot of success, I was like, all right, I need to I
need to start pulling the trigger.”
Farewell fights don’t always go as planned, but with his family in
attendance, Swanson couldn’t have scripted a better ending to an
accomplished MMA career.
“I feel fulfilled. Fulfilled is the is the right term,” Swanson
said. “I was so stressed out. I wanted to have a good send off. I
just wanted to have a good performance I could be proud of. And
then to to do it like that, to have my family here, have
everything. I feel blessed.”
Swanson squared off against a who’s who of the sport over the
course of his WEC and UFC career. His December 2016 victory over
Doo Ho
Choi was enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame’s “Fight Wing,” and
he also earned noteworthy wins against the likes of Charles
Oliveira, Dustin
Poirier, Jeremy
Stephens, Tatsuya
Kawajiri and Darren
Elkins, to name a few. Swanson was on the verge of title
contention in the UFC after compiling a six-fight win streak from
2012 to 2014 before a loss to Frankie
Edgar derailed his momentum.
More than just wins and losses, Swanson is proud to have been able
to inspire and motivate people he encountered along the way.
“For me, it’s very personal. I’m so grateful to have been an
inspiration to some and to kind of mentor people and inspire
people. But ultimately, this was my journey and I’m proud of where
it brought me to,” he said.
“It takes a lot of a lot of pain and a lot of low points. But when
you get through on the other side, it’s it’s pretty amazing what
you can accomplish as a human.”
Growing and Maturing
Earlier in his career, Swanson had tunnel vision when it came to
fighting. As he matured, he found that he was able to balance more
aspects of his life.
“When I was coming up and I had nothing, I was so focused on myself
and so selfish,” Swanson said. “And that’s what you’ve got to do.
You’ve got to sacrifice. But along the way, I learned to become a
strong enough person to be able to handle being a father and a
husband and a coach and a manager and a business owner and all
these things while still competing. That shows like the strength of
what I’ve become as a human. That’s what I’m proud of.” As he bids
farewell to the UFC, Swanson demonstrated that he still had
something left in the tank by winning three of his last four
Octagon appearances. With that being said, Swanson is still looking
forward life as a retired fighter.
Peace [is what retirement looks like.] This job is stressful, man,”
he said. “I’m always like, ‘Why do I do this?’ I want to have a
more mellow life. I enjoy coming to the fights and getting some
excitement here and there. But man, 22 years I’ve been doing this.
So somebody should talk me out of it.”
“I feel fulfilled.”
Cub
Swanson (@CubSwanson)
talks about his final fight in the UFC and the legacy he created
for himself in the sport.
#UFC327Complete Main Card Results ➡️ pic.twitter.com/SIOqQCD8ky
— UFC News (@UFCNews)
April 12, 2026