"First I want to apologize for the lackluster fight last night. I do take my fans very seriously and it obviously hurts to let them down. I am not the most experienced fighter out there yet and last night was a tough lesson I had to learn. There was a lot of pressure coming off a disappointing loss, cutting for the first time, and hosting a Main Event. I did gain a wealth of knowledge through this experience that will help me in my next outing. Though everyone here is saying how skinny I looked and this and that, I was 2 pounds lighter than when I fought Okami. The difference is that I bulked up after the Okami fight and then over cut myself the 2 months leading to this fight. Next time I will come in bigger and cut more at weigh ins. Burkman is strong and I wanted to prove that I could resist his takedowns and strength. I wanted to stuff his takedowns while gassing him then pick him apart on the feet. By the time the 3rd round came I let it get so close that just one takedown could have seen me going home with a loss and so I was more tentative than I should have been. I tried to look for the one punch knockout over using my usual combinations and flurries and deeply regret it now. Though I looked frail as some put it, I felt really strong at 170. My mistakes were mental. Believe it or not this whole experience made me a lot more confident about 170, my strength at 170, and dealing with what I had to go through leading up to this fight. You will see a much more confident me in my next fight and I hope to get back on track and put on the exciting fights I started my career with. I appreciate all the support and criticism."
-- Mike Swick issues a public apology via MMA.tv regarding his "lackluster" debut at welterweight last night against Josh Burkman during the main event at UFC Fight Night 12. Swick barely escaped with a majority decision over "The Peoples Warrior."
(Thanks to MMAmania.com reader "Limey" for the assist.)
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