UFC Tampa video: Cub Swanson scores vicious walkoff knockout after absolute war with Billy Quarantillo

Cub Swanson put on a vintage performance with a stunning walkoff knockout following a war with Billy Quarantillo in the UFC Tampa co-main event.

While Dana White might want to go ahead and start filling out some Fight of the Night bonuses for both fighters it was Swanson who delivered the highlight reel finish in the third round. While both fighters definitely had their moments, Swanson unleashed a devastating left hand followed by a right behind it that demolished Quarantillo and sent him crashing to the canvas.

The fight was over instantaneously with the end coming at 1:36 in the third round. Afterwards, Swanson teased that perhaps Saturday would serve as his final fight but he wasn’t quite ready to use the word “retirement” just yet.

“It takes two to tango. Thank you [Billy Quarantillo],” Swanson said. “I kind of told my wife this might be the last one. We’ll see. I’m kind of old guys.”

A crafty veteran, Swanson was sly with his setups until he finally lured Quarantillo into an opening where he blasted him with a hard right hand. Just when it looked like Swanson was in control, Quarantillo caught him off guard with a couple stiff lefts that put the WEC veteran on his back foot.

A split second later, Swanson was returning fire and Quarantillo was backed up against the cage just trying to avoid the finishing blow. As Swanson was settling into a rhythm, Quarantillo unloaded a nasty left-right combination that connected directly to the chin.

Suddenly it was Swanson shifting into survival mode momentarily as the featherweights continued chipping away at each other with reckless abandon.

As the second round got underway, Swanson started launching that same right hand that was giving Quarantillo headaches. But Quarantillo wasn’t going away as he threw a perfectly timed knee up the middle that crushed Swanson and put him on wobbly legs.

Quarantillo continued throwing heavy shots but Swanson did a good job defending the punches so he wouldn’t absorb too much damage. With time ticking away, Swanson then unloaded punches in succession that stunned Quarantillo as the back-and-forth war continued.

The featherweights kept a remarkable pace with Swanson really starting to feel himself as he was throwing punches from the hips with full confidence. While Quarantillo kept coming back at him, Swanson seemed like his confidence was surging and that’s when he unloaded his final two punches to end the fight.

The left hand connected and the right hand was the kill shot with Quarantillo dropping and Swanson erupting in celebration with another all-time performance added to his resume.

If this really is the end, Swanson goes out on a high note as one of the most exciting fighters to ever grace the UFC octagon.

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