Cub Swanson explains choice to stay with UFC despite “huge offers” from other promotions

Cub Swanson’s December submission loss to Brian Ortega marked the final obligation on his most recent UFC contract. Despite the fact that this loss depleted the leverage he had when negotiating his new contract, he says he was still able to hash out a favorable new deal with the promotion.

That said, Swanson claims he did receive some significant offers from other promotions. Ultimately, however, he decided to re-sign with the UFC, not just because they offered a pay increase, but because of the promotion’s longstanding involvement with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

“I feel like when it was all said and done, we were able to see eye-to-eye [financially],” Swanson said on the latest episode of The MMA Hour (transcribed by Shaun Al-Shatti for MMA Fighting). “It was more than they were initially offering me. I did get some huge offers, but the companies weren’t as stable and things like that, and it was really making me really think hard. But one of the biggest things is, I’m all for USADA.

“I spent a long time fighting for the company without the major drug testing, and I feel like I wasn’t a big fan of that, so I just was thinking in my head, ‘Do I really want to be fighting guys who I know are just cheating?’ And I’m not one to do that, so I was happy to sign back with the UFC and be in a clean sport.”

While Swanson is a fan of USADA, he believes some PED users are slipping through the organization’s nets. He also has a tough time with the whole “tainted supplement” excuse.

“I don’t think they’re catching everybody. I think there are some people who are getting around it, but for the most part, they are catching people,” Swanson said of USADA. “A lot of the people who are getting caught, everyone’s making excuses. Maybe a handful of those people are legitimate, but I doubt it.

“I have a hard time believing a lot of those [tainted supplement excuses]. I mean, you’re supposed to be on top of all that stuff. With our coach Sam (Calavitta), everything that we take, he’s putting a stamp of approval on it, and if we were to test positive, he’s basically putting our whole team — like, ‘Hey, we all take this stuff. We give it to USADA, this is what we’re taking. Feel free.’ And I feel very confident every time they test me. I’m like, yeah, come on, test me, I’m good, I’m clean.”

Cub Swanson returns to the cage on the main card of UFC 227 this Saturday, where he will battle Brazil’s Renato Carneiro.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/2/2018.