Before Saturday’s UFC Tampa event, Cub Swanson complained about being kicked out of jiu-jitsu schools because he was fighting a Gracie. His opponent Kron later responded, pointing to the UFC veteran’s supposed lack of loyalty.
“The way I grew up in training, and fighting, and martial arts is basically you have a clan, you have a team, and you’re with your team forever,” Gracie said during the open workouts. “And if you leave your team, you’re a traitor. That’s the way I grew up. And in Portuguese, they call that ‘creonte.’
“I have this instilled in me, and no matter how things are going with me or my team, it’s always my team. I don’t get to just pick and choose as I go along with this career, whether it’s jiu-jitsu or whether it’s fighting.”
Swanson ended up with a one-sided unanimous decision victory over Gracie during their co-headliner fight. At the post-fight scrum, the more experienced Swanson responded to Gracie’s statements, while giving some unsolicited advice to the younger fighter.
“One of the biggest things he said that maybe I’m not loyal,” Swanson said. “And in his day – which is old school – is you stick it out with somebody. But we’re in an era where you’ve got to learn what everyone knows. You’ve got to be a student of the game. You’ve got to travel. That’s what a real samurai does.
“My advice to him is travel. Go be humble,” he added. “Go out and get as good as possible. Train with everybody. You stick at one gym, you’re not gonna grow. I feel like he was wrong in that aspect.”
Swanson’s victory over Gracie snapped a four-fight skid, as he improves to a record of 26-11 (with 15 wins by stoppage). He also took home an extra $50,000 for Fight of the Night honors.
About the author
