It was a sound like no other. Through 12 previous fights and almost ten years as a fighter, Mike Swick had never heard boos during one of his fights. And why would he – 10 wins, seven first round finishes, five knockouts, three submissions, and an aggressive approach to the game ensured that he was always going to be on most fans’ top ten list of fighters to watch.
But on January 23, Swick – making his welterweight debut – heard the fans’ displeasure for the first time as he eked out a three round majority decision win over Josh Burkman. It wasn’t vintage Swick that night – and wasn’t vintage Burkman either – but the native of Houston, Texas got the win and that’s the important thing, right?
Not to Swick, who even posted an apology on internet message boards about his performance. For him, winning that fight was worse than any loss, and he takes 100% of the responsibility for it.
“I’m not blaming the fight on Burkman at all,” said Swick, who improved to 11-2 with the victory. “I definitely could have done more and I’m not gonna make excuses about why my performance was the way it was – I’m just gonna say I should have done more and I plan on doing so in the future. In my defense I’ve had some of the most exciting fights each time I’ve fought in the past and that was pretty much my worst fight ever. I don’t think anyone’s entitled or that you should have a bad fight in your career, but everyone seems to get those. Everyone, at some point or another, seems to have a bad fight, and considering the variables going into the fight, I’m fortunate to even have gotten the win. So for me to show up like that, give that kind of performance, and have what I would consider to be the worst fight of my career, I’m surprised I even got the win. I don’t consider it a win in my mind and I obviously took that fight worse than any loss I ever had. I’ve had two big losses and I took this fight worse, even though it was a main event victory. You dream of fighting in a UFC main event and dream of winning it, and I did that and I still took it worse than any loss I ever had.”
For the 28-year old, who first came on the UFC scene as a member of The Ultimate Fighter’s first season cast, life had been good for him at middleweight as he reeled off five straight wins that included four first round finishes. But when he was overpowered by Yushin Okami in April of 2007 en route to a three round decision loss, a long talked about drop to 170 became a reality. But after never making 170 for a fight before, Swick was plagued with doubt and his focus went on the scale as opposed to the fight and he wound up losing too much weight too early. According to Swick, none of this reflected on his performance; he claims his problem was all in the head.
“Looking back I definitely should have let my hands go,” he said. “That was the biggest regret that I had because I felt I could have knocked him out. And I wasn’t afraid to go to the ground either. I think I would have submitted Burkman on the ground as well. I just got into this whole thing of defending takedowns and not letting him do what he wanted to do and not letting him bully me around versus the mindset of just going in there and kicking his ass, like I usually have. I was in the wrong mindset.”
And though he did enough to pull out the win, it didn’t stop the vultures from swooping down on him.
“Now I’m a boring fighter who doesn’t punch,” he chuckles. “I’ve lived my whole life being the exciting fighter and that’s how I built my fanbase, by being exciting. That’s why it hurt me so bad because I didn’t give the fans what they love the most about me.”
That’s the nature of all sports, where you’re only as good as your last game, match, or fight. In other sports, you get a chance to redeem yourself the next week, month, or day. In Swick’s case, he has to wait five months. So what’s the remedy for this situation? Agree to a fight with an aggressive battler who has a reputation for being in exciting wars every time out – a fight against a guy like Marcus Davis.
“I was hoping for the fight before he asked,” said Swick, who will face Davis on the pay-per-view portion of this Saturday’s UFC 85 card in London. “He’s been on tear, doing good, winning in exciting fashion, and he’s got some hype behind him, so we were thinking and hoping that was going to be the next fight, and sure enough (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva called with it, and I’m excited. I think it’s going to be a very exciting fight, no doubt.”
What makes this fight must-see TV and a ticket away from the boos of the last fight for Swick though?
“My last two fights I fought guys who predominantly wanted to take me down,” he said. “I went out there with a specific game plan, but I knew that I faced the chance that I was going to face them trying to take me down, me fighting the takedown and that it was going to be that type of fight. Davis is like the old style of fights that I had with (Alex) Schoenauer and Gideon Ray and with (David) Loiseau and (Joe) Riggs, guys who wanted to strike it out and be exciting. It’s back to the type of fight that I like, where both guys are aggressive and trying to win the fight.”
But what if Davis – who has developed from a pro boxer trying to fight MMA into an MMA fighter with top-notch boxing skills, looks at Swick’s bouts with Okami and Burkman as the blueprint for how to nullify Swick and beat him and decides to take the fight to the mat?
“I don’t think he’s gonna try doing that,” Swick responds with no hesitation. “Both Okami and Burkman are both better at takedowns than he is and Okami took me down but Burkman couldn’t. I think he (Burkman) tried like 18 times, and if Burkman couldn’t take me down I don’t think he (Davis) is gonna be super confident in his takedown ability, and he obviously doesn’t want a boring fight so he’s probably not gonna try it. But he might think he’s the guy that’s gonna beat me on the ground, and he feels really confident in his ground game from the interviews. He feels like he’s got a really good ground game and is stronger than me and better than me in wrestling, but if he thinks that, it’s just not true. I train with really good guys and I don’t believe that he’s even close to me on the ground in any area – wrestling, takedowns, takedown defense, jiu-jitsu. I agree that I haven’t shown my ground game a lot in the UFC, and I can see how people can get the misconception that I’m afraid of the ground and that maybe I’m weak and don’t have the jiu-jitsu, but I do and it’s one of my strongest things. So if he wants to take it to the ground, I think he’s gonna be a lot worse off. In his playbook, he should stick to what he’s best at.”
Swick does admit that Davis is not the same fighter he was when he first came into the public’s consciousness on season two of The Ultimate Fighter, and that he is as dangerous – if not more so – than any of his peers at 170.
“He’s definitely a legit MMA fighter now,” he said. “The most complete MMA fighter? I don’t know. Time will tell, and it just depends on his performances, but he’s definitely evolved. He’s got a decent ground game now, he’s explosive, so he’s definitely an MMA fighter. He’s exciting, he goes for the knockouts, and he gives everything he’s got.”
Davis also has a bit of a homefield advantage in London’s O2 Arena, having won his last three fights in the UK. That doesn’t bother Swick though.
“What matters to me is when the fight’s over and I’m walking out of the Octagon that I’ll be cheered,” he said. “I’m gonna make my impression in the ring instead of worrying about the things I can’t change right now. He’s gonna feel more comfortable fighting in England because he’s fought there three times. It’ll be my first trip and I’m excited, and I feel really good. I’m in great shape, I’ve been training since Burkman, and I’ve been pumped to get in there and give a better performance than I gave last time. The British fans love exciting fights and I think I’m gonna give ‘em one.”
That’s all the matters for Swick now. To hear the cheers again will wash away any memories of the boos he heard in Vegas in January. And when the crowd is roaring, that’s when Swick will be back to his old self again. As for where he stands in a crowded welterweight division, he asks everyone to reserve their opinions until after June 7th.
“I don’t see myself anywhere right now,” said Swick. “I came into the welterweight division humble and knowing that I needed to prove myself and that I wasn’t bringing anything from middleweight, saying I did this or I did that. I’m gonna work my way up like anybody else. I had the main event fight with Burkman, which was a great opportunity to prove myself, but I didn’t do so. I did get the win over a contender like Burkman, but I don’t feel like I’ve proved myself yet as a contender as a welterweight. So I feel like this is a fight where I’ll get to prove it.”
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