Quiet No More

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Every so often, Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White will do an interview on UFC.com discussing hot-button issues within the promotion. In recent months, he has addressed the state of the featherweight division on multiple occasions. However, the sum of White’s statements has given no clear indication as to the identity of the No. 1 contender at 145 pounds.

Cub Swanson, on the other hand, sees the landscape clearly. The World Extreme Cagefighting veteran has currently won six straight fights inside the Octagon, including four by knockout or technical knockout. In most cases, that would be more than enough to claim the top contender spot.

Instead, Swanson will go for win No. 7 when he squares off against Frankie Edgar in a five-round UFC Fight Night headliner on Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. If he wins there, all doubts would likely be erased as to Swanson’s standing in the division. Then again, the Jackson-Wink MMA product has been led to believe in the past that a title shot was imminent, only to see things change on a whim.

“I was last told that I’m the No. 1 contender already. That’s what it was my last fight,” Swanson told Sherdog.com. “So what’s changed? Nothing, especially after I win another fight. I don’t care what anyone says. I’m fighting for the belt. I beat Frankie Edgar, [and] I’m fighting for the belt.”

Even a seventh consecutive win against a former lightweight champion and 145-pound title challenger might not be enough. The featherweight picture is complicated, in large part because of the emergence of Conor McGregor, the cocksure Irishman whom the UFC has promoted heavily during his rapid ascent to stardom. McGregor is scheduled to headline a UFC Fight Night card against Dennis Siver in Boston on Jan. 18. Considering the promotion already flew him down to Brazil to attend the featherweight title clash between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes at UFC 179, it would appear that the “Notorious” one is being groomed as the division’s heir apparent.

Inside the Jackson-Wink gym in New Mexico, sentiments predictably favor Swanson, but even close friend Isaac Vallie-Flagg recognizes McGregor’s value to the promotion.

“In any company, the guys who earn you more money always get better treatment. That’s to be expected anywhere. He’s found his niche and he’s very good at it,” Vallie-Flagg said. “The guy knows how to market himself and make money for Dana. That’s the aspect that I do get. I’d love to see Cub get a shot before Conor. I don’t think Conor earned it in the sport, but I think moneywise he’s earned it.”

McGregor has been captured publicly schmoozing with White and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, and he makes no attempt to hide the elite company he keeps.

As a clear organizational favorite, McGregor could be in prime position to challenge Aldo with a victory over Siver. Swanson sees that McGregor has become a teacher’s pet of sorts, and he does not like it.

“It does play off, like, favoritism, and that sucks because I’ve never gotten anything like that -- especially for someone who’s been in the division [as long as I have],” Swanson said. “I feel like I deserve a lot of respect and maybe I’m not getting it, so whatever.”

Swanson claims he speaks with White occasionally, but it their relationship is nothing like the type of buddy-buddy interaction that appears to take place between the UFC boss and McGregor.

“He calls me here and there just to see what’s up. It’s strictly business,” Swanson said. “It’s cool to mingle with these guys, but at the end of the day, just give me my fight. I’ll train for it, and I’ll knock ’em down. That’s what I get paid to do. I have a lot of family, a lot of friends -- those are the people I like to spend time with when I’m not fighting. I also like to do my job and get fights and fight.”

That is why Swanson ultimately signed a contract to face Edgar. There was a possibility he could have played the waiting game in hopes of a championship fight, but Swanson already spent the better part of a year in limbo following his knockout of Siver at UFC 162. He did not step into the Octagon again until June, when he earned a five-round unanimous decision over Jeremy Stephens at a UFC Fight Night show in San Antonio.

“I had the option of sitting out, but last time the same thing happened. They were like, ‘Let’s see what happens. OK, well this is happening, so we’re gonna wait.’ So I sat out a year,” he said. “They were like, ‘Uh, sorry.’ I got assed out, and they gave the [title] fight to Chad Mendes, and I ended up fighting Jeremy Stephens. Sitting out, I tried that [and it] didn’t work, so here we are. I figured who’s the biggest name I could fight beside Jose Aldo, and that was Frankie Edgar.”

In Swanson’s mind, a similar layoff would be a waste of his considerable talents. At 31 years old, he is better served staying sharp in the cage than he is honing his short game on the golf course -- something he found himself doing quite a bit during the downtime between Siver and Stephens.

“That was fun and everything, but I’m in my prime,” Swanson said. “Why would I waste it?”

Edgar and his team began angling for the fight before Swanson, who earlier this summer was still holding out hope for a crack at championship gold. That Edgar’s manager, Ali Abdel-Aziz, made it appear that the bout was already a done deal on social media irked Swanson.

“I could see that they were really pushing for me and him to fight, and they were trying to get a big fight. I appreciate that they were trying to push for a fight. I would have totally been on board to help push for the fight because we wanted to be the main event of the Fox card, which is huge, especially during football season,” he said. “We ended up getting this Fox Sports 1 card, which is also cool. That’s the fight that they wanted, and I wanted it, too. It’s just the fact that I was still waiting to find out if I was going to fight for the belt.

“That was all I wanted to know, and for them to make people think I already had a fight pissed me off,” Swanson added. “Once I found out that wasn’t an option, I decided to take the fight with Frankie. It was a fight I wanted. I just didn’t like the way they went about it. I thought that it was a little bit chickensh--.”

Now that the bout is finally set, Swanson believes he matches up well with the former 155-pound king. The Palm Spring, Calif., native went five rounds for the first time in his MMA career against Stephens, which gives him peace of mind heading into a clash with Edgar -- a man who has gone the full 25 minutes in the Octagon six times.

“They specifically asked many, many times for a [five-round] main event -- specifically five rounds,” Swanson said. “To me that means that he feels that the only way to beat me is to take me into deep waters and try to win a decision. That just shows he’s not confident in finishing me; that’s an advantage to me.”

No matter what, Swanson always seems to have one eye on the top of the division. He has worked too hard for too long to be denied a shot at something that has eluded him thus far in his career. Naysayers will point to his eight-second loss to Aldo at WEC 41 as evidence that Swanson is undeserving, but recent history shows he is a changed fighter. Besides, rarely do rematches follow the same path as their predecessors -- the second matchup between Aldo and Mendes was proof of that.

“There’s been times in my career where I had a slow start. It takes a second sometimes to get your head in the game. I’ve learned from those mistakes,” Swanson said. “If you haven’t been watching me fight, then you haven’t seen my improvements. I’ve done enough to deserve another shot at Aldo and my very first shot at a belt. In my entire career, I haven’t fought for a belt, not in any organization ever, so I’d like to do that.”