OTTAWA, Ontario – Shane Burgos means no disrespect to Cub Swanson. Far from it, in fact: Burgos is a longtime Swanson fan.
But Burgos (12-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) sees no way Swanson (25-11 MMA, 10-7 UFC) should have gotten a 30-27 scorecard in his favor after their UFC on ESPN+ 9 fight on Saturday night, and maybe not even a single round.
As such, while the victory over the longtime fan favorite in their featherweight bout at Canadian Tire Centre goes down as the biggest win of the Bronx native’s career, Burgos can’t help but feel a split decision took a little bit of the shine away.
“It pissed me off,” Burgos told reporters, including MMA Junkie. “It kind of rubbed me the wrong way. It took a little bit away from the win. I feel like, no disrespect to him or anything, but I don’t think that was a split decision like that. I think I won all three rounds. … If anything, 2-1 maybe, but it shouldn’t have been 30-27 for him.”
Still, that’s just a footnote at the end of the day, because Burgos, who has been given few favors by UFC matchmakers during his rise, finally has a victory that he can point to and have an average fan understand what he can do.
“It’s huge,” Burgos said. “If you look at my record now, 12-1, that name is going to stick out, obviously, more than any name. He’s a legend in the sport, someone I grew up watching, I’m a huge fan of. Having that name in the record with a win next to it, it’s awesome.”
And besides, it’s not just that Burgos was victorious. Swanson’s stick-and-move style enabled Burgos to show a variety of aspects of his game, which haven’t often come to the fore in his UFC stint, proving to the world he’s a fighter with many tools in the toolbox.
“Gameplan went perfect,” Burgos said. “I wanted to use my jab, stay patient, not get overzealous. In my last fight, I got a little bit overzealous, went for a big shot and got caught. I wanted to stick to the jab and show different facets of my game, show I’m not just a brawler, just come forward and just use my hands. I wanted to use my hands, use my jab, use my length, use my kicks, which I haven’t really showed at all in my fights. I feel like I showed it tonight, use my switch stances; it was good tonight.”
With that, Burgos now has won two straight and five of six in the UFC. And while he won’t call out a next opponent, he expects to see a top-10 number next to his name next time he fights.
“I beat someone in the top 10, so I feel like I should be in the top 10,” Burgos said. “So we’ll see who I get next.”
To hear more from Burgos, check out the video above.
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