In a recent appearance on the Jaxxon podcast, UFC featherweight Cub Swanson opened up about the challenges he faced when preparing to fight jiu-jitsu royalty Kron Gracie back in 2019. Swanson revealed that many Brazilian jiu-jitsu gyms refused to allow him to train there once they found out he was scheduled to face a member of the famous Gracie family.
“They said that they just didn’t want the beef,” Swanson explained. “They were like, ‘No disrespect, we like you, but it just wouldn’t look good and they would take it personal.’ So I had to go back to my hometown, to my original instructor, and a kid that I had gotten into jiu-jitsu with when I started training.”
The lack of access to top-level training partners was a major obstacle for Swanson, who was taking on one of the most respected names in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Despite the challenges, he managed to prepare for the fight by working with his original coach and longtime training partner back in Palm Springs.
The backstory between Swanson and Gracie ran even deeper. The two men had previously competed against each other in jiu-jitsu tournaments when they were teenagers, with controversies arising around the scoring of their matches.
“I had just won the Pan Ams, and it really pissed me off because they wouldn’t give me any points in the match with Kron,” Swanson recalled. “Sixteen years later, I’m on a four-fight losing streak…and they go, ‘You wanna fight Kron Gracie?'”
Fairness in IBJJF competitions has been a longstanding issue with many competitors reporting the IBJJF seemed to favor Brazilians. Recently, 10th Planet’s Matt Walsh reported on very odd refereeing of his match resulting in an incident in which his UFC signed opponent spat on him.
In the end, Swanson’s striking prowess proved too much for Gracie, with the veteran earning a hard-fought unanimous decision victory. However, the path to that win came with the stigma and difficulties of being ostracized from many top jiu-jitsu academies simply for accepting a fight with a member of the legendary Gracie clan.
