Closing in on a title shot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s featherweight division, Swanson tipped the scales at 145 pounds for his five-round clash with Jeremy Stephens (145) in the UFC Fight Night “Swanson vs. Stephens” main event on Saturday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Welterweight co-headliners Kelvin Gastelum (173*) and Nicholas Musoke (171) also met their mandatory weight requirements without incident at Friday’s official weigh-in.
Swanson has rattled off five consecutive victories, emerging as a top-shelf featherweight. The 30-year-old Jackson-Wink MMA representative last competed at UFC 162 in July, when he put away Dennis Siver with third-round punches at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Wins over American Top Team’s Dustin Poirier, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 9 winner Ross Pearson and “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 8 semifinalist George Roop anchor his resume. A Palm Springs, Calif., native, Swanson has compiled a 5-1 mark since touching down in the UFC in November 2011.
A move to 145 pounds has breathed new life into Stephens, as the 28-year-old Alliance MMA representative has pieced together a three-fight winning streak. He last fought at UFC on Fox 10 in January, when he captured a unanimous decision over Darren Elkins and announced himself as a real player in the featherweight division at the United Center in Chicago. Stephens owns a 10-8 record inside the Octagon, having spent much of his time at 155 pounds. A powerful puncher, he has secured 15 of his 23 professional victories by knockout or technical knockout.
UFC Fight Night “Swanson vs. Stephens” -- which airs at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Fox Sports 1 -- will also feature a featherweight clash pitting Ricardo Lamas (146) against Nova Uniao’s Hacran Dias (146), a lightweight scrap pairing Joe Ellenberger (155.5) with James Moontasri (156) and a pair of middleweight matches, as Cezar Ferreira (186) meets former Legacy Fighting Championship titleholder Andrew Craig (186) and Clint Hester (186) faces two-time Mundials gold medalist Antonio Braga Neto (185).
Two hours prior, Fox Sports 1 will carry four preliminary bouts: Colton Smith (156) vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira (155), Johnny Bedford (136) vs. Cody Gibson (135), Marcelo Guimaraes (186) vs. Andy Enz (186) and Ray Borg (126) vs. Shane Howell (125). The lone remaining undercard tilt will stream to UFC Fight Pass at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT, as Russian submission specialist Alexey Oleinik (240) collides with Anthony Hamilton (253).
UFC FIGHT NIGHT ‘SWANSON VS. STEPHENS’ WEIGH-IN
RESULTS
Cub
Swanson (145) vs. Jeremy
Stephens (145)
Kelvin
Gastelum (173*) vs. Nicholas
Musoke (171)
Ricardo
Lamas (146) vs. Hacran Dias
(146)
Joe
Ellenberger (155.5) vs. James
Moontasri (156)
Cezar
Ferreira (186) vs. Andrew
Craig (186)
Clint
Hester (186) vs. Antonio
Braga Neto (185)
Colton
Smith (156) vs. Carlos
Diego Ferreira (155)
Johnny
Bedford (136) vs. Cody Gibson
(135)
Marcelo
Guimaraes (186) vs. Andy Enz
(186)
Ray
Borg (126) vs. Shane
Howell (125)
Alexey
Oleinik (240) vs. Anthony
Hamilton (253)
* Gastelum failed to make weight on his first attempt and has two hours to drop two pounds.
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