The Canadian Killer: Mike Swick

The names Brock Lesnar, Kimbo Slice, B.J. Penn, GSP, Fedor Emelianenko, and Anderson Silva have been on everybody's lips recently, and MMA fans tend to forget about other very talented fighters that don't have the same exposure as fighters listed above, and yes, I'm talking about Mike Swick.

Born on June 19, 1979 in Houston, TX, Mike Swick began martial arts at the tender age of eight years old. He continued training in such disciplines as kickboxing, Thai boxing, and BJJ, and he ended up making his professional MMA debut in 1998. He was later called to participate in Season One of TUF and has been a UFC fighter ever since.

For a while after the show, Mike Swick racked up several impressive victories in the middleweight division, winning his first four UFC fights in the first round. UFC announcer Mike Goldberg gave the nickname "Quick" to Mike after his victory over Alex Schoenauer on TUF finale.

Swick went undefeated for five fights before losing a decision to Yushin Okami at UFC 69. Since that defeat, Swick dropped down to welterweight and has defeated both Josh Burkman and Marcus Davis by unanimous decision.

As Kazushi Sakuraba was nicknamed "The Gracie Killer" for his victories over four different Gracie family members, Mike Swick may soon have to drop the "Quick" nickname and replace it with Mike "The Canadian Killer" Swick.

With victories over Steve Vignault at UFC 58 and David "The Crow" Loiseau at UFC 69, Mike Swick has defeated two canadian fighters and may make that three after his fight with Jonathan Goulet at UFC fight for the troops.

With a victory over Goulet, Swick would continue fighting up the ladder in the welterweight division, and who knows, maybe even fight another Canadian in Georges St-Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Title and defeat yet another Canadian.

I think Swick could get a victory over Goulet any day of the week, and after that, let's hope he will be exposed a little bit more, and go on to a GSP fight for the title, a fight I think would be very interesting.

So, you tell me why the name Mike Swick isn't on anybody's lips these days. With a UFC record of 7-1-0, Swick is a guy to watch out for in the welterweight division, as I think he's the sleeper waiting to explode and take the division by storm.