TAMPA, Fla. — Cub Swanson has had a long and illustrious career, and he still believes he has some good years left in him.
At 35, Swanson sees himself competing for another five years, but he wants to make sure his body is up for it.
“I think my cutoff might be 40 if it’s my choice, and I want to make sure I still feel good,” Swanson told reporters, including MMA Junkie, on Thursday at UFC on ESPN+ 19 media day. “You start to feel things a little different. I recover a little longer now. I still feel when I’m warmed up and going, I feel better than ever. But when I’m cooled down and at home, I’m like damn alright, going to take a little bit more time to recover. So that’s the only difference between now and my 20’s, but I don’t want to push it so long that I regret it.”
Having competed at 145 pounds for the majority of his career, Swanson (25-11 MMA, 10-7 UFC) admits that he thought about moving up to lightweight before, as he enters the latter years of his career.
“Yeah, I’ve definitely thought about it, and I always told myself I probably would as I got older,” Swanson said. “But I sometimes I go with one of my teammates, Rafa Garcia. He’s an up-and-comer, one of the strongest humans I ever met, and when I roll with him, I’m like man I can’t be fighting 55’s. I’d have to put on some size, but yeah I could do it, though.”
Swanson will look to snap a four-fight losing skid when he takes on Kron Gracie Saturday at UFC on ESPN+ 19.
And for someone who’s been willing to compete against anyone throughout his career, Swanson just wants to represent himself in the best way possible. A veteran of the fight game, he’s done a good job of keeping his name out of the headlines, and he plans on keeping it that way.
“That’s one of my biggest things. I don’t want to lose control of myself,” Swanson said. “I don’t want to be on TMZ Sports. I don’t want to be the headlines of being an idiot, because I know a lot of people look up to me in my hometown, and I don’t want to let them down.”
To hear more from Swanson, watch the video above.
Cub Swanson sees himself fighting until he's 40 as long as his body allows it