UPDATE: Cub Swanson sent out a tweet Monday saying that he won’t be ready for UFC 233 and proposed a Feb. 17 fight on ESPN.
I love this fight but unfortunately somebody spoke too soon. I am not fighting on 233 but I am willing to do it February 17th on ESPN 1
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) December 3, 2018
Two of the featherweight division’s longest lasting names will square off for a second time at UFC 233 according to a report from Combate.com. Jose Aldo is set to face Cub Swanson at the pay-per-view event from Anaheim, CA in a rematch of their 2009 WEC fight that Aldo won in eight seconds with a flying knee.
The quick knockout has been a black cloud over Swanson’s career as the quick knockout lead to a WEC featherweight title shot for Aldo. Aldo won the title over Mike Brown, was brought into UFC as the inaugural UFC featherweight champion and held on to that title until another famous quick knockout out – this time on the losing end to Conor McGregor. The loss to Aldo in such convincing fashion likely prevented Swanson from getting a shot at Aldo’s title during an impressive UFC run for Swanson.
After two consecutive losses to current champion Max Holloway, Aldo returned to classic form with a win over Jeremy Stephens this past summer. From his WEC run to today, Aldo has only lost to Holloway and McGregor.
Swanson is on a bit of a skid, losing three straight – most recently a first round submission loss to Renato Moicano at UFC 227. The other two losses on this current streak are to perennial contender Frankie Edgar and to current number one contender Brian Ortega, so Swanson certainly has a “strength of schedule” argument to justify his difficult run.
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UFC 233 will be headlined by a flyweight title fight between Henry Cejudo and UFC bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw. Also scheduled for the event is Ben Askren making his UFC debut against Robbie Lawler. UFC 233 takes place Jan. 26.
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