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Swanson moving to bantamweight, will make debut in October

Carmen Mandato / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Longtime UFC featherweight Cub Swanson is dropping down to the bantamweight division, he announced Tuesday.

Swanson said he'll face Jonathan Martinez in his 135-pound debut at the UFC Fight Night event scheduled for Oct. 15.

The 38-year-old is following in the footsteps of former opponents Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar, who moved to bantamweight from featherweight in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Swanson is coming off a stoppage win over veteran Darren Elkins last December. He's 2-1 over the past two years, with the other results being a knockout loss to top-15 featherweight Giga Chikadze and a knockout win over Daniel Pineda.

The California native was a top contender in the featherweight division for years but never challenged for UFC gold. His 2016 fight with Doo Ho Choi - which Swanson won by unanimous decision - was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame earlier in July.

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