Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. It may come as a shock that these two grizzled veterans
with 44 combined Ultimate Fighting Championship appearances have
never crossed paths. The UFC added a
featherweight matchup on its event lineup to the upcoming
UFC Fight Night card on Dec. 18 on Thursday. With 20 UFC fights
or more apiece, Cub Swanson
(27-12) and Darren
Elkins (26-9) had never faced one another, and the two will
throw down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
For the first time in over a decade, Swanson fell to strikes when
he faced Giga
Chikadze in May. The Georgian finished Swanson with a body kick
and follow-up punches in 63 seconds to put an end to Swanson’s
first win streak since 2017. Before beating Kron Gracie
and Daniel
Pineda in 2019 and 2020, respectively, “Killer Cub” had dropped
four straight bouts to Brian
Ortega, Frankie
Edgar, Renato
Carneiro and Shane
Burgos.
The most experienced featherweight on the roster is Elkins, whose
22 appearances are tied with Max
Holloway for the most in divisional history – and Swanson is
alone in third with 20. Elkins holds the second-most amount of cage
time at 145 pounds, while Swanson trails him in third place by a
half hour. Elkins has won in his last two outings by stoppage,
tapping Luiz
Eduardo Garagorri in November 2020 before knocking Darrick
Minner out in July. “The Damage” holds more wins on the
scorecards than any other featherweight in organizational history,
with 10.
The currently unnumbered UFC Fight Night card on Dec. 18 will go
down inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and heavyweights will take
pole position when Derrick
Lewis faces Chris
Daukaus. Additional key bouts on the card include a
bantamweight battle between Raphael
Assuncao and Ricky
Simon, while Amanda
Lemos tries to carve out a strawweight title shot at the
expense of Nina
Nunes.
