One thing's for sure when it comes to Mike "Quick" Swick, one of the premier welterweight mixed martial artists of the world: You're going to remember his name. Born in Houston on June 19, 1979, Swick loved martial arts movies as a child and was taking Tae Kwon Do when he was only eight years old. By 18, Swick (who had progressed to kickboxing, Thai boxing, and mixed martial arts) was involved in amateur fights, and a year later, he made his pro debut with a submission win over Victor Bell.
Fighting wasn’t paying the bills yet, though, so he got a job working with his mother for the US Embassy in Moscow (Swick and his mother were the first mother-son team to be granted top-secret government clearance and to work on such a top-level government project overseas together), where he trained in his free time. But while overseas, Swick was given a life-threatening scare when he was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation (irregular or rapid heartbeat). At 20 years old, Swick had some serious decisions to make about his life: He could either take the medication every day (which made him drowsy) and take a risk if he continued to fight, or he could undergo a dangerous surgery that could kill him.
Before deciding, he traveled alone to Thailand to train in the birthplace of Muay Thai. He didn’t speak Thai and had no place to stay or train, but he went from camp to camp until a camp in Bangkok took him in. When Swick got home, he made the choice to have the operation, even though his doctors advised against it. The operation went well, and just two weeks later, Swick went back to Thailand to get in fighting shape. In 2002, he returned as an active fighter with a first-round TKO win over James Whitfield, and he went on to win three more bouts with just a single loss.
Then he got a life-altering call to participate in the first season of Spike TV’s "The Ultimate Fighter." The two winners of the competition
would win a six-figure contract with the UFC. Swick was eliminated from the show late in the season, but he won his first two UFC fights by
knockout in a combined 42 seconds, earning him the "Quick" nickname.
Swick won two more fights in the first round, as well as a three-round decision over progressively tougher competition to improve to an unbeaten 5-0 in the UFC. After beating the former number-one contender David Loiseau, Swick was one fight away from his long-awaited middleweight title shot, but lost a hard-fought battle to Yushin Okami. Swick has been thinking about dropping weight classes to welterweight, and made the decision to do so after the loss to Okami.
His first welterweight fight was against top contender Josh Burkman at UFC Fight Night 12. Though Swick won via decision, he was not happy with his performance. But he got a chance at a better performance on June 7, 2008, in London, England, against highly touted welterweight contender Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis. Though Swick was injured going into this fight, he knew from past experience that if he was going to take the fight, he had to give it his all, and he did just that. Swick had one of his best performances, winning every round and putting an end to Davis’s 11-fight winning streak.
On December 10, 2008, Swick faced Canadian welterweight contender Jonathan Goulet in UFC’s Fight for the Troops event, which was held at Fort Bragg army base. Swick knocked Goulet out cold in just 33 seconds, further living up to his moniker.
Swick has his own web show on UFC.com, "Real Quick with Mike Swick," and gives various interviews where his self-effacing humor and easy manner have made him one of the most in-demand athletes in mixed martial arts.
"Every time I’m around fight fans or people who’ve seen (the web show), I get a very good response from them and it’s cool because it’s
kinda like I’m giving back to the fans a little bit. I have a show where they can see the other fighters and see behind the scenes a little
bit, so it makes me feel good that I not only can give them fights, but I can give them other stuff. After all, I am an entertainer, so being
multi-dimensional like that is pretty cool and I enjoy the feedback that I’ve gotten."
Despite all of his outside-the-ring gigs and his potential to be one of the UFC’s biggest crossover stars, Swick’s sole priority is getting in the Octagon and winning a world championship. "This is my job," he said. "I’m very passionate about it and I want to move up and be the best in the world, and each fight against a tough opponent is a big step in that direction."
So for Mike Swick, the kid from Texas with big dreams, the best is yet to come. "I went through so much that sometimes it’s hard to get excited about things," admits Swick. "But there’s nothing more exciting than getting in the Octagon and fighting before 15-¬¬¬ to 20,000 people live and millions worldwide. This is definitely the perfect job for me."
