Cub Swanson loves UFC Tampa’s ‘storybook ending’ but isn’t closing the door on a fighting career

Cub Swanson authored the perfect ending to an incredible career on Saturday. But he’s not sure if his story is ready to be finished yet.

The 20-year MMA veteran shined in the co-main event at UFC Tampa, battling tooth and nail with Billy Quarantillo before ending their featherweight bout in dramatic fashion with a third-round knockout. In his post-fight interview, Swanson teased a possible retirement, although he did not make a definitive statement by any means as to whether or not he will fight again.

He maintained the same energy speaking to the media at tonight’s post-match press conference.

“I will always be tempted,” Swanson said. “We’ll see how I recover. I have three young kids who are getting a little bit older now and definitely want my attention more. I have a bunch of fighters, my Team Bloodline, my guys, I lead and coach, I’ve been putting a lot of effort into them and these last few games have really allowed me to show them how to do it and not just talk about it, I was able to be about it and show them , lead by example I’m honestly more excited to be a coach at this point. I love this sport and the good thing about being on the other side of the cage is that I don’t go home with lumps and bruises.”

“It could definitely be a storybook ending, so it’s going to have to be something exciting to get me motivated,” Swanson added.

Swanson has a lot to consider when it comes to retirement talk. Competing 44 times as a pro, he has compiled a 30-14 record with wins over a number of notable names and losses to some of the very best to ever compete at 145 pounds. On Saturday, he received his eighth UFC Fight of the Night bonus, suggesting he still has plenty to offer a month after celebrating his 41st birthday.

According to Swanson, this is far from the first time he has had to consider hanging up the gloves.

“My mom and my stepmom, who are both very close to me, begged me to stop fighting in 2011 when I broke my face, and I could have stopped then,” Swanson said. “I could have stopped at any time, but I just always felt like I had more to do. At this point, I feel like I’ve done a lot and I’m proud of it, so like I said, it should be something really exciting, so we’ll see what happens.”

When asked to pick the favorite moment of his career, he chose his UFC 206 victory over Doo Ho Choi, who was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame’s Fight Wing in 2022. It is a fight that is important to Swanson for several reasons.

“I mean, the Doo Ho Choi fight is hard to top,” Swanson said. “I have so many fights that are special for different moments. People don’t understand that there are so many things that happen in camps and in life that you have to overcome, so there are special fights for different reasons, but definitely Doo Ho Choi game, because I had the game of the year, I made the Hall of Fame because of it, and then I found out I was going to be a dad that night, so it’s pretty hard to top that.”

Swanson said he would be open to a rematch with Choi, who scored an impressive victory over Nate Landwehr at UFC 310 on Saturday.

For now, Swanson is back to basking in the glory of his latest victory. Even though he knew this could potentially be the last fight of his career when he stepped into the cage, he did his best not to focus on what it meant in the bigger picture.

“I try not to put too much on it because at the end of the day it’s my decision and what I want to do, but my biggest thing for this fight was just not getting pressured, putting pressure on myself to perform and be tense and have this war,” Swanson said. “I had a bit of a war, but I tried to be fast and loose and paint a picture and make it beautiful and something that I could be proud of and if it was the last one that I could say, ‘Man, That’s I’m happy.’”