Why Swanson vs Choi Will Make You a MMA Fan

The UFC must have made a boatload of cash in 2017 to have generously uploaded this epic showdown as a free fight on their YouTube channel.

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Watch and learn why this was 2016's Fight of the Year}

Considered to be one the best fights in MMA history, "Cub Swanson vs Doo Ho Choi" was so good that both fighters won "Fight of the Night" and the bout was also awarded "Fight of the Year" in 2016.

If you've already watched the fight, you're probably reading this and nodding in agreement while the highlights of the match do a re-run in your head.

But if you haven't. Let's just say you're in for a treat.

This is the kind of fight that you bug your friends for days just to take a peak, knowing that the first round alone will convert them to MMA-ism. It's got heart, skill, technical brawling, showmanship, ups and downs, ebbs and flows, back and forth excitement, and an ending that won the hearts of fight fans all over the world.

As far as memorable fights go, this has got to be at the top of my list.

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Cub Swanson

In Cub Swanson, you have an incredibly experienced MMA veteran with an unorthodox style, great boxing, Flashy kicks, and solid jiu-jitsu, that has been entertaining fight fans since the WEC days. You know you could always count on the Jackson/Wink fighter to put on a display that was nothing short of flashy.

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^{Movement so smooth like butter}
The first time I had the pleasure of watching the Albuquerque native fight was back in WEC52 where a young Cub Swanson fought Mackens Semerzier to a split decision victory. I was still fairly new as an MMA fan at that point and remember being absolutely blown away by that performance. Although both fighters were extremely impressive that night it was Swanson that left an lasting impression in my mind.

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^{Cub barely missing Siver with the flashy Saenchai Cartwheel kick}

His UFC debut, however, didn't go as smooth as planned as he ended up losing by submission to Ricardo Lamas in a fight that many thought he was winning.

If ever there was a fighter that could learn from a loss, Swanson proved that he was exactly that man. After the fight with Lamas, he went on to rack up a 6 fight winning streak against top fighters starting with the one punch knockout of George Roop.

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^{Knocking out George Roop AND his mouthpiece}

Often seen with his hands down low, it's as if he thrives off the chaos he initiates and lives in the moment of the fight. The moment where he sees everything and expresses himself through the movements that he's practice and drilled for years to the point of becoming instinct and second nature.

And to make matters worse for his opponent, Swanson is equally dangerous as he is unorthodox. Often using huge swinging overhand punches and hooks that have hit their mark over many a fight with great accuracy and have proven to be more high reward than they are high risk.

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DooHo Choi

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^{Like a shotgun to the face!}

Sporting an impressive 12-1 record(11 by KO and 1 by submission) before joining the big leagues, DooHo Choi(Choi Doo-Ho) made his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night : Edgar vs Swanson where he knocked out his opponent Juan Puig with an accurate hard straight right that landed with lightning speed and showed the UFC fans just exactly why he was referred to as "The Korean Superboy".

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^{Another straight right that led to the end!}

With such an explosive start to his UFC career, Choi had already gained the attention of fans and was given the chance to prove that his first UFC outing was no fluke when the UFC booked him against a very battle tested, Sam Sicilia.

Choi, in very similar fashion to his debut, took the decision out of the hands of the judges and knocked Sicilia out cold.

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^{I'm running out of things to say about that straight!}

At this point, having knocked out two of his opponents within the first round, fans were dying to know if he could pull the rabbit out of the hat and get a third straight knockout against UFC veteran, Thiago Tavares.

You guessed it.

The man had a gift for shutting lights off with that missile straight from hell. It was just too bad for Tavares that he happened to be the target for that missile that night.

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Swanson after having recovered from his jaw injury - an injury sustained in the fight against Max Holloway, an injury that left Swanson sidelined for a whole year - managed once again to bounce back from the jaws of defeat and put himself back in the win column with decision wins against Hacran Diaz and Tatsuya Kawajiri.

And for Choi, with three amazing KO victories all ending in the first round, a shot against a top 10 opponent was due for the South Korean fighter.

A top 10 fighter like Cub Swanson.

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^{Big Teaser to the fight. Stop watching this GIF and just click on the video already!}

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