Life is funny sometimes, as Cub Swanson was recently reminded.
Swanson (30-14 MMA, 20-13 UFC) is in Kansas City, Mo. for UFC on ESPN 66, but he’s not the one fighting. With his competitive career either completed or in its absolute final twilight stages (he’s undecided), Swanson is mainly focused on managing and coaching. It’s been a slow transition that he’s progressed as his career wound down.
While Swanson has mainly focused on a growing mainstay of young up-and-coming fighters, he was surprised to see a veteran walk into his gym and ask for assistance – particularly because this veteran knocked him out in the first round of their May 2021 clash.
Despite their clash years ago, Swanson was able to build a strong relationship with his new fighter, Giga Chikadze. Chikadze (15-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) battles David Onama (13-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in a featherweight bout Saturday on the main card at T-Mobile Center.
“That was a wild one because we had our history,” Swanson recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “There is no real bad blood, but you know me. Every time I’ve lost to people, sometimes I’ve got an ego, too. I try not to. I try to just be a good person. But when someone holds a win over you, it burns. Sometimes, it’s taking me a decade. Sometimes longer to get over. But I do. Giga walked into my gym humbly and asked for my help. I didn’t have a good reason to tell him now. I was like, ‘OK, we’ll see how it goes.’ It’s been great. He’s been a real good addition. It hasn’t been a whole lot of time, but we’ve been working well. He’s been listening to little changes I’ve made in the way he fights to make him more fluid and kind of keep the same pace consistently. So I’m really excited to see what he can do.”
Swanson can’t help but be amazed by what he calls a full-circle moment. He remembers the fight against Chikadze as if it were yesterday, particularly due to the heightened emotional state he was in before, during, and after it.
“When my manager [Kami Safdari] passed away was when I ended up fighting Giga,” Swanson said. “That was a very tough time for me. He beat me in the first round and it crushed me. In that moment, I needed that win in my mind so badly. But what I realized was that I need to start figuring out life after fighting now. Everyone says don’t put one foot in, one foot out. That’s how you get hurt. But to me, it was like, ‘Why wouldn’t I get a running start?’ So that way when I do get out of fighting, I’m not panicking and freaking out like a lot of people. That was very important to me so I wasn’t panicking before fights, putting so much into my performance every fight. Because if I already know I’ve got something cooking for after fighting, I’m not going to put so much pressure on myself. That became my mentality. It’s kind of crazy that full circle. Giga comes into my gym. I’m starting to train him, and now I’m starting to take on more of the coaching role. It’s weird how life works out.”
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