Swanson moving to bantamweight, will make debut in October

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.