UFC middleweight fighter Mike Swick wants to fight in front of a hometown crowd at UFC 69 in Houston, Texas, according to a recent interview.
Here's a snip from "Quick:"
"I'm fighting in March, but if Houston is a fact and not rumored, hopefully they can move my fight to April instead of March so I could fight in front of my hometown."
He is tentatively scheduled to appear on the UFC 68 card on March 3 and fight Yushin Okami (19-3) — a bout that Swick reveals he requested.
Here's another snip:
"I asked to fight Yushin Okami, because I see him as a very high ranked fighter, he's done really well for himself. We'll see if it pans out. I don't know if it's going to happen, but I've showed interest to the UFC that I would like that fight. Obviously, any contender in the UFC, but they're all kind of taken right now. Marquardt vs. Lister, Franklin's fighting, all the guys are fighting. But I see Yushin Okami, he's moving up, he's got a great record, he's got good wins over tough guys. It would be interesting for me to fight him."
Swick, of course, would truly prefer to fight current UFC 185-pound champion Anderson Silva (17-4). After the "Spider" crushed Rich Franklin (20-2) at UFC 64, Swick had this to say:
"I want to fight Anderson Silva for the title in my next fight. I don't want any more elimination fights or tune-ups. I want Silva next. I would get to fight for the title against a guy who is an absolute beast — a guy [who] everyone is afraid of. It doesn't get more challenging than that, so it would be the ultimate fight for me."
Silva, however, needs to get past Travis Lutter (9-3), who got in the E-Z Pass lane and bypassed all the other contenders in the division by winning season four of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF).
While still unofficial, it is expected that the UFC will make its Texas debut on April 7 at the Toyota Center in Houston. If recovered from a minor knee injury, UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre (13-1) would take on TUF 4 Champion Matt Serra (7-4) in the main event.
With star power like Matt Hughes (40-5), Franklin, Tim Sylvia (23-2) and Randy Couture (14-8) already confirmed for the March 3 show, it wouldn't kill the UFC 68 card to move the Swick bout.
Even though I think it's probably the most competitive match up of the evening.
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