For the third time in UFC history, the company completed two shows in one day from different locations Saturday, with the first card, UFC Fight Night 43, taking place in Auckland, New Zealand.
The second card, UFC Fight Night 44, took place at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, and featured a heated main event bout between Cub Swanson and Jeremy Stephens.
The fourth-ranked Swanson outworked and outclassed the 11th-ranked Stephens in four of five rounds to capture his sixth consecutive win at 145 pounds.
The loss halted a notable three-fight winning streak for Stephens, who suffered his first career loss at featherweight.
4th round could have gone either way! Could be even! They gotta drop bombs in this last round.
— Dana White (@danawhite) June 29, 2014
Although he was ahead on the scorecards, Swanson opened up in the fight's fifth and final round, stunning Stephens with a kick to the body before swarming and nearly finishing the Alliance MMA product.
Stephens got outstruck 27-20 in the final round. Each of Swanson's 27 landed shots were considered significant strikes.
In five rounds, the Jackson's MMA stalwart outstruck Stephens 108-76, including 87-65 in the significant strikes department. Swanson, who for the most part avoided grappling exchanges, stuffed six of "Lil' Heathen's" eight takedown attempts.
Swanson likely did enough to earn a crack at the winner of the Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes featherweight title fight, which will take place in August at UFC 176.
In the case that the UFC doesn't award Swanson a title shot in his next fight, then the Palm Springs, California, native could instead face either the loser of Aldo vs. Mendes or the winner of Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn.
Stephens, conversely, holds just one win over a world-ranked featherweight (Darren Elkins) and could move up the ladder with a win over a number of opponents.
All stats gathered via Fightmetric.com
