Mike Swick says he's moving back to the UFC's middleweight division

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

After a two and a half year layoff from MMA filled with illness and injury, longtime veteran Mike Swick returned to the cage last August at UFC on Fox 4, and picked up a knockout win over DaMarques Johnson in an exciting fight. However, after making a quick four month turnaround for his next fight, he was knocked out himself by Matt Brown at UFC on Fox 5.

Now, Swick's looking to make a bit of a change when he is ready to come back to the cage, as he told a fan on Twitter over the weekend that he'll be switching up weight classes.

I wanna come back at a big and healthy 185. No more sickly 170 for me! ;) @ChrisWhite209 Making that UFC return?

— Mike Quick Swick (@officialswick) June 14, 2013

It would mark a return to his longtime home, where he competed for the first 12 fights of his career. That included six fights inside the Octagon, where he posted a 5-1 record after entering the organization through the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. However, a loss to Yushin Okami sent him down to welterweight, where he went 4-2 before the lengthy layoff.

Penick's Analysis: From a health standpoint for Swick, giving himself that extra 15 lbs. could be huge, though how he fares against bigger, stronger guys at middleweight could be an issue. That was something he ran into against Okami, and it's not an issue that's changed. But if he can feel healthier and stronger up at 185 lbs., perhaps he can put some more wins together there to keep himself around in the UFC a while longer.

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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_17309.shtml

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