UFC on Fox: Cub Swanson vs. Ricardo Lamas Breakdown

On the stacked undercard of the UFC on Fox, Cub Swanson makes his much anticipated UFC debut against Ricardo Lamas.

Swanson was supposed to make his debut twice before against Erik Koch, but was forced out of the fight due to injury both times.

Lamas, on the other hand, made an incredible debut on the UFC on Versus 4 show. Lamas nailed a switch-head kick and some impressive ground and pound to defeat Matt Grice.

Both men will look to increase their title chances by putting on an exciting fight.

Striking

Ricardo Lamas is coming off a win that showed he has knockout power. Unfortunately, his record has shown he also has the tendency to get knocked out himself as well.

His losses against Danny Castillo and Yuri Alcantara both came by way of knockout.

Cub Swanson, on the other hand, has some of the most exciting striking in the featherweight division. He's not a world-beater on the feet, but if this fight remains standing, he's going to find the openings to put Lamas down.

Swanson will look to turn this into a brawl and swing for the fences with punches and kicks.

Advantage: Swanson

Wrestling

Ricado Lamas was a Division III All-American at Elmhurst college. It's no secret his greatest strength is his wrestling.

Lamas may be more inclined to stand up with Cub Swanson due to winning two out of his past three fights by knockout, but his greatest chance to win lies at taking the fight to the ground.

Swanson has had trouble with wrestlers, as evident by his loss against Chad Mendes. Lamas should find plenty of openings for his takedowns considering how aggressive Swanson tends to be.

Advantage: Lamas

Submissions

If or when Lamas gets the bout to the ground, he has a couple of options open to him. In the past, Lamas has shown to have some strong ground and pound and could finish the fight by TKO.

Lamas could also use his well-versed submission game to force Swanson to submit.

Swanson has fallen victim to submissions before, including a guillotine choke against Jens Pulver.

Lamas has a good guillotine, as evident from his first two professional victories coming by way of the choke.

Advantage: Lamas

Experience

Cub Swanson has been in the cage against some of the best featherweights in the world. Unfortunately, he's also lost in those bouts.

Lamas has only been in the cage against one quality opponent, which was his WEC debut against Bart Palaszewski. Lamas emerged victorious, using his wrestling to take the decision win from Palaszewski.

Swanson has faced tougher competition and also has been fighting longer than Lamas.

Advantage: Swanson

Prediction

This fight has a number of X-factors involved, the first being Cub Swanson's long layoff.

We've seen fighters be drastically affected by a lack of fighting, but we've also seen fighters come back better than ever in their return. Which Cub Swanson will show up?

The other unknown will be Lamas' strategy. We've seen fighters get "punch-happy" when they string together some knockouts. Will Lamas forget that he is a wrestler first and go punch for punch with Swanson?

My guess is he's smarter than that and will look to take the striker down.

Winner: Lamas by decision