Coming into his UFC 206 fight against Doo-ho Choi, Cub Swanson was on a two-fight win streak. With “The Korean Superboy’s” then undefeated run in the UFC, he came off as the betting favorite entering the contest.
Swanson did end up winning the fight via unanimous decision, along with $50,000 to boot for the Fight of the Night bonus. But even so, he admitted to being offended by his pre-fight underdog status.
“I mean, at this stage of my career, I enjoy what I do and I take it one fight at a time. But to fight a guy like [Choi] and be an underdog was a little disrespectful,” Swanson said during Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting). “For me, that tells me people think you’re on your way out, and I hate that.”
The 33-year-old Swanson has been touted as one of the top contenders in the featherweight division, but his big losses to Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway were ones that he admitted to have knocked him back. But after he was able to bounce back via his recent wins, he now feels he deserves to get bigger fights in his future.
“I’m just not into the whole begging for a title fight, managers try to get a whole campaign going,” Swanson said. “If you want to give me the title shot, then just give it to me, I’ll show up and I’ll perform, but for me, my fighting speaks for itself.”
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