In a candid video interview with Sherdog.com after his unanimous decision loss to Yushin Okami at UFC 69, UFC middleweight Mike Swick revealed that he's going to consider dropping down to the welterweight division.
Currently, he fights at the 185-pound limit (186 for non-title fights). But he admits, he's often 179 pounds come fight time, which is unlike most other fighters in the division who cut 20-30 pounds before their bouts and put a lot of that back on after weigh-ins.
The welterweight threshold is 170 pounds (171 for non-title fights).
After round one during his UFC 69 bout with Yushin Okami, Swick told his corner, "that motherfucker is strong." That's not surprising, considering Okami is on the bigger side for 185.
It seemed to discourage him, as well as make it difficult to escape while Okami held him down.
For any other fighter, this might seem like an easy decision — especially if it's feasible.
But for Swick, he's got two of the top welterweights in the UFC, Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch, training in the same gym at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA).
It's the primary reason he hasn't made the mover earlier, according to the interview.
Over the next few weeks, Swick mentioned that he's going to test out and see how he performs at 170. If it doesn't work out, he will just have to hit the weights and bulk up.
But if he likes how he feels at welterweight, the UFC's strongest division could possibly get even stronger.
And certainly more interesting.
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