Mike Swick

Michael Timothy Swick (born June 19, 1979) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist, who spent most of his career competing for the UFC's middleweight division.

Swick, who trains at American Kickboxing Academy alongside fellow welterweight standout Jon Fitch, entered the UFC after appearing on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Swick was born in Houston, Texas, on June 19, 1979.

Swick attended Katy High School.

Aspiring to become a Navy Seal and inspired by The Karate Kid, Swick started training taekwondo in his youth as his first combat sport.

He then participated in amateur fights in Texas before sanctioning was formed.

Swick began his professional career in smaller shows, including early events of World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC).

He amassed a record of 5–0 before challenging Chris Leben for the WEC Middleweight Championship.

He lost the fight by knockout at 45 seconds of the second round.

After his first professional loss, Swick entered the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, a reality television series produced by the UFC.

Swick participated as a light heavyweight on Randy Couture's team.

Chris Leben also participated as Swick's teammate.

Leben insisted on talking about his victory over Swick, which irritated him.

Swick's first fight in the show came during the semi-finals.

He faced Stephan Bonnar, but was defeated by triangle armbar at 4:55 of the first round, eliminating him from the show.

At UFC Ultimate Fight Night, Swick defeated Gideon Ray by KO just 22 seconds into the first round, earning the nickname "Quick" from UFC announcer Mike Goldberg.

Swick lived up to his nickname with several quick stoppages in his subsequent fights.

He followed up with two first-round guillotine choke submissions over Steve Vigneault and Joe Riggs at UFC 58 and UFC 60, respectively.

Swick jokingly called the move his "Swick-otine".

At UFC 63, Swick faced former title challenger David Loiseau and earned a unanimous decision victory.

He suffered ligament damage to his hand during the fight.

Swick's first UFC defeat came at UFC 69, losing by unanimous decision to Japanese middleweight Yushin Okami.

He had Okami noticeably rattled toward the end of the second round with a flurry of punches, but ultimately succumbed to Okami's superior wrestling and physical presence, as he was taken down comfortably and suffered an onslaught of ground and pound for the majority of the fight.

Chris Leben was then asked to fight a rematch with Swick at UFC Fight Night 11, but Leben turned down the fight, later claiming that his management turned down the fight without his knowledge.

Swick was then scheduled to fight Jonathan Goulet, but withdrew from the fight due to a rib injury.

Swick dropped down to welterweight and headlined UFC Fight Night 12 against Josh Burkman, winning by majority decision.

Swick next appeared at UFC 85 against Marcus Davis, who was riding a six-fight win streak in the UFC coming into the bout.

Swick controlled the fight with disciplined striking skills en route to a unanimous decision victory.

He next faced Jonathan Goulet at UFC: Fight for the Troops.

Swick opened up with a characteristically aggressive flurry of punches, knocking Goulet out on his feet.

Swick rushed in with ground strikes before the referee stopped the fight.

Swick next faced Ben Saunders at UFC 99.

After he reversed Saunders' takedown attempt with a quick sprawl and takedown of his own, Saunders held Swick in his guard for several minutes, stifling any offense and prompting Swick to taunt him for stalling.

In the second round Swick's hands loosened up and he dropped Saunders with a clean straight right after landing a few punches, following up with a quick flurry to round off an impressive performance.

In the post fight interview, Swick pointed out his record of 9–1 in the UFC and announced his interest in a title shot.

Swick was scheduled to fight Martin Kampmann on September 19, 2009 at UFC 103.

The winner was set to receive a title shot against Georges St-Pierre.

However, this changed when it was announced on September 4 that Swick had suffered an injury while training and would be unable to fight Kampmann at UFC 103.

Paul Daley, who made his UFC debut on the undercard, stepped up as Swick's replacement and defeated Kampmann via TKO.

Swick replaced an injured Dong Hyun Kim and faced Dan Hardy on November 14, 2009 at UFC 105.