Despite a strong showing, and big win, against Cub Swanson at UFC Ottawa, Shane Burgos wasn’t happy with two things: judging, and the lack of a post-fight bonus.
Ottawa, ON — Heading into UFC Ottawa, Shane Burgos was careful not to build opponent Cub Swanson up too much. While acknowledging the Swanson bout as the biggest of his career to date, rising featherweight Burgos was well aware that treating Swanson as a legend wouldn’t help. Instead, Burgos looked at his opponent as just another man.
He beat that man Saturday, though one judge saw it differently. In one of those special MMA scoring moments, a single judge had it 30-27, for Swanson. That didn’t sit well with Burgos, he told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight.
“It pissed me off. It kind of rubbed me the wrong way. It took a little bit away from my win, I feel like,” Burgos said. “No disrespect to [Cub Swanson] or anything, but I don’t think that was a split decision. I feel like I won all three rounds.”
“If anything,” Burgos allowed, “2-1 maybe, but it shouldn’t have been 30-27 for him.”
Iffy scorecard aside, as Burgos noted, the “game plan went perfectly. I wanted to use my jab, stay patient, not get overzealous” — and that’s exactly what he did. Getting overzealous had seen him caught in his last bout, and he applied that lesson against the deadly Swanson.
The plan coming in had been to “show that I’m not just a brawler, just coming forward using my hands.” Instead, what Burgos wanted to, and did, show was that he could “use my hands, use my jab, use my length, use my kicks. Which I haven’t really showed at all in any of my fights, and I felt like showed up good tonight. Used some switched stances, and yeah, felt good tonight.”
While Swanson has now fallen to 0-4, Burgos doesn’t think anyone should read too much into the slump. “Watch when he comes back and wins. Then it’ll make me look even better, honestly.”
Ultimately, the name value from Swanson, “it’s huge,” said Burgos. “You look at my record now, 12-1, that name is going to stick out obviously more than the other names, because he’s a legend in the sport. Somebody that I grew up watching and I’m a huge fan of.”
As to where it lands him, “I beat the top ten, so I feel like I should automatically be in the top ten. But we’ll see what I get next.”
The fight did not, however, meet Burgos’ expectations heading in. “I didn’t get Fight of the Night, so no, it didn’t meet my expectations,” he told reporters Saturday. “I wanted Fight of the Night, or at least Performance of the Night. Or something. So no, it didn’t meet my expectations. It went great, I’m happy with the win, but first, [I’m] pissed that it’s a split decision, I thought it should definitely be unanimous. But yeah, I would have loved to get a bonus.”
