If this was the last time we saw Cub Swanson in the Octagon, he went out with a bang by pulling off a devastating knockout of Billy Quarantillo in the co-main event of UFC Tampa.
The two pulled off an entertaining first round, with both men looking to pick the other apart and each having their moments of control and rocking the other. They then fought another competitive second frame before the fight came to an end in the final round.
Swanson landed a one-two that dropped Quarantillo out cold, giving “Killer” a walk-off victory.
Swanson has traded wins and losses consecutively since the start of 2021, and he may increase his record for the most post-fight bonuses in UFC/WEC featherweight history.
“Billy Q,” meanwhile, has now lost three of his last four.
Topping the lineup will be former interim welterweight titleholder Colby Covington. A year on from his third failed shot at the undisputed championship, “Chaos” will look to insert himself back into the equation by stalling the charge of Joaquin Buckley.
Before they go to battle, the co-main event will see two veterans collide in Cub Swanson and Billy Quarantillo. And also set to make the walk on Saturday will be the likes of Manel Kape, Vitor Petrino, and Michael Johnson.
UFC Tampa: Covington vs. Buckley Betting Odds
Listed below are the latest betting odds for UFC Tampa (as of 12/13), courtesy of DraftKings.
Main Card:
Colby Covington (+200) vs. Joaquin Buckley (-245)
Cub Swanson (+124) vs. Billy Quarantillo (-148)
Manel Kape (-380) vs. Bruno Silva (+300)
Vitor Petrino (-340) vs. Dustin Jacoby (+270)
Adrian Yañez (+185) vs. Daniel Marcos (-225)
Navajo Stirling (-750) vs. Tuco Tokkos (+525)
Preliminary Card:
Michael Johnson (-230) vs. Ottman Azaitar (+190)
Joel Álvarez (-425) vs. Drakkar Klose (+330)
Sean Woodson (-155) vs. Fernando Padilla (+130)
Miles Johns (+200) vs. Felipe Lima (-245)
Miranda Maverick (-600) vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth (+440)
Davey Grant (-122) vs. Ramon Taveras (+102)
Josefine Knutsson (-245) vs. Piera Rodriguez (+200)
At the UFC’s upcoming return to Tampa on December 14, Billy Quarantillo is looking to get back in the win column when he takes on a veteran of the featherweight division. In what will be the 25th fight of his UFC tenure, “Killer” Cub Swanson will also look to bounce back.
In a recent interview with James Lynch for Fight Bananas, Quarantillo provided an interesting key point about his preparations for his next fight that in turn, will bring a significant change to his corner for this particular contest. The 35-year old has spent a large amount of 2024 training alongside PFL and ex-UFC fighter, Shane Burgos.
The two men faced off inside the Octagon three years ago at UFC 268 in Madison Square Garden where they put on one of the best fights of the year. Unfortunately, they had the tough task of following the undisputed fight of the year between Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler which opened the main card.
During Burgos’ time in the UFC, he fought and defeated Swanson via split decision in May of 2019 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Quarantillo said that the time that he has spent training with Burgos and the fact that he has experience sharing the cage with Swanson made him the right man to have in his corner for this fight.
“We’re locked in. We got Shane Burgos, my old nemesis, he’s actually going to be in my corner which is pretty cool. He has a win over Cub Swanson and he moved down here to Tampa about six months ago and we just hit it off right away. He’s been at my gym pretty much every week helping me out with different aspects of my game, he obviously knows Cub’s game really well and he has some things that he knows will work well on him so I invited him out to my corner.”
