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 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

division. Swick, who trains at American Kickboxing Academy alongside fellow welterweight standout

Jon Fitch Jon Fitch (born February 24, 1978) is an American retired mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He has competed in the Welterweight (MMA), Welterweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the Professional Fighters League ...

, entered the UFC after appearing on the inaugural season of

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

Background

Swick was born in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, on June 19, 1979. Swick attended Katy High School. Aspiring to become a

Navy Seal The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

and inspired by

The Karate Kid ''The Karate Kid'' is a 1984 American martial arts drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by Robert Mark Kamen. It is the first film in ''The Karate Kid'' franchise. The film stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, an ...

, Swick started training

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

in his youth as his first combat sport. He then participated in amateur fights in Texas before sanctioning was formed.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Swick began his professional career in smaller shows, including early events of

World Extreme Cagefighting World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion founded in 2001. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in 2006. In its final incarnation, it was mad ...

(WEC). He amassed a record of 5–0 before challenging

Chris Leben Christian Cyrus Leben (born July 21, 1980) is an American former mixed martial artist, referee, and bare knuckle boxer. A professional MMA competitor from 2002 until 2013, he most notably competed in the UFC in the Middleweight division, compiling ...

for the WEC Middleweight Championship. He lost the fight by knockout at 45 seconds of the second round.

''The Ultimate Fighter''

After his first professional loss, Swick entered the first season of ''

'', a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series produced by the UFC. Swick participated as a

light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

Randy Couture Randall Duane Couture (; born June 22, 1963) is an American mixed martial arts commentator, actor, former United States Army sergeant, former professional mixed martial artist, and former Collegiate wrestling, collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestlin ...

'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.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

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 Mike Goldberg (born November 24, 1964) is an American Sports commentator, play-by-play commentator currently working with BYB Extreme Fighting Series and ProBox TV, both alongside color commentator Paulie Malignaggi. He is mainly known for his ...

. 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 Joseph Jonathan Riggs (born September 23, 1982) is an American professional bare-knuckle boxer and former mixed martial artist who was most recently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship where he lost via KO to Lorenzo Hunt. He former ...

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 ''UFC 69: Shootout'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday, April 7, 2007, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. In the main event, Matt Serra shocked the UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pie ...

, losing by unanimous decision to Japanese middleweight

Yushin Okami is a Japanese mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2002, Okami has competed for the UFC, PRIDE, Pancrase, M-1 Global, World Series of Fighting, DEEP, Professional Fighters League, and ONE Championship. He is regarded as one o ...

. 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.

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.

Drop to welterweight

Swick dropped down to

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

and headlined

UFC Fight Night 12 ''UFC Fight Night: Swick vs. Burkman'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 12'') was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on January 23, 2008, at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background ...

against

Josh Burkman Joshua Ray Burkman (born April 10, 1980) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist formerly competing in the Welterweight division. He formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the World Series of Fighting, the XFC, ...

, winning by majority decision. Swick next appeared at

UFC 85 ''UFC 85: Bedlam'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on June 7, 2008, at The O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. Background The card was plagued by a number of injuries sustained by scheduled fight ...

against

Marcus Davis Marcus Paul Davis (born August 24, 1973), is an American professional mixed martial artist and former professional boxer who is perhaps best known for competing in the UFC. A professional MMA competitor from 2003 until 2014, Davis also compete ...

, 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. This fight earned him a $60,000 '' Knockout of the Night'' award. 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 Martin Kampmann (born April 17, 1982) is a retired Danish professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a former Cage Warriors World Middleweight Champion. Background Originally from Aarhus, Denmark ...

on September 19, 2009 at UFC 103. The winner was set to receive a title shot against

Georges St-Pierre Georges St-Pierre (; born May 19, 1981), also known by his initials GSP, is a Canadian former professional mixed martial artist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA) history. St-Pierre was a two-divi ...

. 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 Paul Anthony Daley (born 21 February 1983) is a British former mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and kickboxer. A professional competitor from 2003 to 2022, Daley competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, Bellator MMA, Bella ...

, 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 Kim Dong-hyun (; born November 17, 1981), anglicized as Dong Hyun Kim, is a South Korean retired mixed martial artist who most notably fought in the UFC's welterweight division. He was signed by the UFC after fighting in the Japanese promotion ...

and faced

Dan Hardy Daniel Mark Hardyhttp://boxing.nv.gov/2012%20Results%20Web/05-26-12%20MMA.pdf (born 17 May 1982) is an English former mixed martial artist who fought in the welterweight division. During his professional MMA career, which began in 2004, Hardy ...

on November 14, 2009 at

UFC 105 ''UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on November 14, 2009 in Manchester, United Kingdom at the Manchester Evening News Arena. This event aired on the same day, via tape d ...

. The winner was to get the next shot at

's welterweight championship. In an interview prior to the event, Swick revealed he was pleased to have dropped back to Welterweight but admitted he could not focus on

until after his fight with Hardy. Swick was rocked by a straight right hand from Hardy early in the first round and rocked again in the second and third rounds. He went on to lose the fight by unanimous decision. At

UFC 109 ''UFC 109: Relentless'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on February 6, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background A previously rumoured bout between Renzo Gracie and M ...

, on February 6, 2010, Swick lost to Paulo Thiago via technical submission by a d'arce choke, after taking a counter left in an exchange in the second round. Swick refused to tap to the choke, rendering him unconscious. In early September, Swick stated that he had been mis-diagnosed with a stomach disease. The disease which he was incorrectly told he had, forced him onto a very bland and restrictive diet, which made it virtually impossible for Swick to put and keep on any muscle mass. Swick was expected to return to action against David Mitchell on January 22, 2011 at

UFC Fight Night 23 ''UFC: Fight for the Troops 2'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 23'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on January 22, 2011 at Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas. The event was the third that the UFC has ho ...

. Although it was thought he might return to action at middleweight, Swick and David Mitchell verbally agreed to a January 22 fight in the welterweight division. However, Mitchell was forced out of the fight with a back injury and Swick felt as if his stomach condition was not completely healed, so the bout was scrapped from the card altogether. Swick was expected to face promotional newcomer Erick Silva on August 27, 2011 at

UFC 134 ''UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami'' (also known as ''UFC Rio'') was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 27, 2011 at the HSBC Arena (Rio de Janeiro), HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The ...

. However, on August 4, 2011, it was announced that Swick had to withdraw from the bout due to a knee injury. Swick faced DaMarques Johnson on August 4, 2012 at UFC on FOX 4. He defeated Johnson via KO at 1:20 into the second round. The finish came when Swick caught a leg kick, tripped Johnson to the ground, and landed a diving punch that immediately knocked Johnson out. The performance earned Swick ''Knockout of the Night'' honors. On August 28, 2012, it was announced that Swick has signed a new four fight contract with the

. In the second match since his return, Swick faced Matt Brown on December 8, 2012 at UFC on Fox 5. Swick lost the fight, after being knocked out in the second round. Swick spent all of 2013 in Phuket Thailand, building his dream gym, AKA Thailand. The gym, one of the biggest in the world, hosts Thailand's largest indoor matted MMA/BJJ training facility. After two-and-a-half years away from active fighting, Swick returned from hiatus and faced Alex Garcia on July 11, 2015 at UFC 189. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. On July 16, 2015, Swick posted on his Facebook page that he was officially retiring from active MMA competition to focus on running his gym AKA Thailand.

Championships and accomplishments

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

** Knockout of the Night (Two times) vs. Ben Saunders and DaMarques Johnson ** UFC Encyclopedia Awards *** Knockout of the Night (One time) *** Submission of the Night (One time) **UFC.com Awards ***2005: Ranked #9 Knockout of the Year

Personal life

Swick got married in 2008. Now retired from professional fighting, Swick currently owns and runs his own gym in Phuket, Thailand, known as AKA Thailand, which is linked to the main American Kickboxing Academy headquarters in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

. On February 16, 2022 Swick announced he was diagnosed with cancer, and subsequently announced he was cancer-free in 2023.

Television and film

Swick was featured in ''

Fight Life ''Fight Life'' is a feature-length documentary on the sport of mixed martial arts. The film is directed by independent filmmaker James Z. Feng and produced by RiLL Films. The film focuses on the lives of professional mixed martial arts fighters ou ...

'', an award-winning documentary on the sport of MMA, which was released in 2013.

Mixed martial arts record

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 14–2 , Ben Saunders , TKO (punches) , UFC 99 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:47 ,

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 13–2 , Jonathan Goulet , KO (punches) , UFC: Fight for the Troops , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:33 ,

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-Ameri ...

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WEC 9 WEC 9: Cold Blooded was a mixed martial arts event promoted by World Extreme Cagefighting on January 16, 2004, at the Palace Indian Gaming Center in Lemoore, California. The main event saw Mike Kyle take on Jude Hargett. Results ...

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Lemoore, California Lemoore (formerly La Tache and Lee Moore's) is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Lemoore is located west-southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of . It is part of the Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 252 ...

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Mixed martial arts exhibition record

, - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Stephan Bonnar , Submission (triangle armbar) ,

The Ultimate Fighter 1 The debut season of The Ultimate Fighter (later designated ''The Ultimate Fighter 1'') premiered on January 17, 2005. Sixteen mixed martial arts fighters (eight light heavyweights weighing from 186 to 205 lb and eight middleweights weighing from ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:55 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States ,

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swick, Mike 1979 births American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Texas Living people Welterweight mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American male taekwondo practitioners American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu American expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Clear Lake High School (Houston, Texas) alumni Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters

Background

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

''The Ultimate Fighter''

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Drop to welterweight

Championships and accomplishments

Personal life

Television and film

Mixed martial arts record

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

See also

References

External links