A UFC 99 Interview: Mike "Quick" Swick

It’s fair to say Mike Swick is on the brink of something big.

After losing a hard fought decision to a physically superior Yushin Okami at UFC 69 as a middleweight, he made the trek down to the welterweight level and has found a wealth of success in the process.

So far it is the best career decision he has made to date.

The American Kickboxing Academy product has rattled off three consecutive victories at the 170 pound limit over formidable contenders Josh Burkman, Marcus Davis, and Jonathan Goulet. 

As a result, he is knocking on the door for a potential title shot.

An impressive win over the young and hungry Ben “Killa B” Saunders at the upcoming UFC 99 event would go a long way in convincing UFC President Dana White and matchmaker extraordinaire Joe Silva that he deserves the opportunity to fight for the strap in the near future.

First thing is first though. Take care of business on June 13 in Cologne, Germany, and let the chips fall where they may.

“Quick” took some time out of his hectic schedule to share his thoughts on life inside and outside fighting including his poker game, Maury Povich, and last but not least, Ben Saunders.

Check it out.

Derek Bolender: I understand that outside of fighting you’re quite the poker player. What I don’t get is how a guy nicknamed “Quick” Swick could ever sit at a poker table for hours upon hours. Explain this dynamic to me.

Mike Swick: I think what draws me to poker is the strategy and the thinking and reading people. It’s more of like a rehab. It’s real relaxing. It keeps you thinking but you’re not getting punched in the face. It’s kind of a cool little game to play and I’ve been playing a long time.

I’m with (sponsored by) Full Tilt. I play online more than anything so it’s not as boring because I can multitask with doing other things at the same time. The dealer goes a lot faster online than it does if you’re sitting at a table. If you play live for high stakes it’s not too boring. It’s pretty interesting.

Derek Bolender: I want to ask you about your AKA teammates Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck. How much of an advantage is it to have two top ten welterweights in your gym with you on a daily basis?   

Mike Swick: It’s amazing to have those guys. Not only do we have Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch but Jake Shields as well. He’s another top ten guy that spars with us. Getting ready for this fight, just like all my fights, it’s amazing to having guys like Fitch and Kos and Shields because they’re better than anyone I’m fighting at this point. We use each other to help. We’re all good at different things. We go round after round with each other.

I’ll go one round with Fitch, my second round with a fresh Kos, and a third round with a fresh Shields. It’s like, you can’t win, none of us can win because we’re always going in fresh on each other and it’s just great training. Everyone brings so many good attributes to the table and we’re constantly learning and helping each other out, so I couldn’t have a better training team, especially in my division.

To read the rest of this interview with Mike Swick, click here.

This interview was originally posted on MMAmania.com where Derek Bolender is a contributor.