Matches to Make After UFC Fight Night ‘Swanson vs. Lobov’
Artem Lobov had the desire but not the means with which to bring it to fruition.
“The Russian Hammer” pursued Cub Swanson for five full rounds but wound up on the wrong side of a clear-cut unanimous decision against the longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight contender in the UFC Fight Night 108 main event on Saturday at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Swanson swept the scorecards with 49-46, 49-46 and 50-45 marks from the judges.
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In the aftermath of UFC Fight Night 108 “Swanson vs. Lobov,” here are five matches that ought to be made (bookmakers):
Cub Swanson vs. Chan Sung Jung: Swanson fired on all cylinders, as he improved to 4-0 since suffering back-to-back submission defeats to Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway. The 33-year-old Californian has beaten Lobov, Doo Ho Choi, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Hacran Dias during his current run and could climb back into title contention at 145 pounds -- Holloway will face Jose Aldo to unify the featherweight championship at UFC 212 in June -- with another high-profile win or two. Jung made a triumphant return to the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 104 on Feb. 4, when he knocked out Dennis Bermudez a little less than three minutes into the first round of their main event.
Al Iaquinta vs. Joseph Duffy: Ring rust was not a factor for Iaquinta. Competing for the first time in two years, the Serra-Longo Fight Team standout brought down Diego Sanchez with two right hands 98 seconds into the first round of their lightweight co-headliner. Iaquinta, 29, has now rattled off five consecutive victories, four of them finishes, and has the look of a serious player at 155 pounds. Duffy has compiled a 4-1 record since arriving in the UFC in 2015. The 29-year-old Irishman last appeared at UFC Fight Night 107, where he took a unanimous decision from Reza Madadi on March 18.
John Dodson vs. Aljamain Sterling: Dodson has planted his flag in the bantamweight division after two failed attempts to unseat Demetrious Johnson at 125 pounds. “The Ultimate Fighter 14” winner rebounded from a controversial loss to John Lineker in October, as he picked apart onetime World Extreme Cagefighting champion Eddie Wineland across three rounds in his latest performance, a dizzying array of speed, power and skill carrying him to a unanimous decision. Sterling on April 15 snapped a two-fight losing streak by outpointing Augusto Mendes at UFC on Fox 24. The former Cage Fury Fighting Championships and Ring of Combat titleholder owns a 5-2 mark in the UFC.
Mike Perry vs. Belal Muhammad: In an early frontrunner for “Knockout of the Year,” Perry wiped out Jake Ellenberger with a standing elbow in the second round of their welterweight showcase. The abrasive 25-year-old Flint, Michigan, native has won three of his four fights as a member of the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster, a unanimous decision defeat to Alan Jouban at UFC on Fox 23 in December his only misstep. Muhammad, 28, last competed at UFC 208, where the former Titan Fighting Championship titleholder was awarded a unanimous verdict over Randy Brown on Feb. 11.
Brandon Moreno vs. Tim Elliott: Moreno looks like the real deal. The flyweight prospect pushed his winning streak to 11 fights on the undercard, as he floored Dustin Ortiz with a head kick and then strangled him unconscious with a rear-naked choke in the second round. Ortiz had never before been finished in his 22-fight career. Just 23 years of age, Moreno has hit the ground running in the UFC, with wins over Ortiz, Ryan Benoit and Louis Smolka enhancing the momentum he had built on the regional circuit. Elliott last fought at UFC on Fox 24, where he scrambled past Smolka to a unanimous decision before a partisan crowd at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
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