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Sometimes the smartest path to victory also happens to be the easiest way to bore an audience of UFC fans.
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Mike Swick didn't add any jaw-dropping footage to the UFC's archive of highlight reel knockouts with his win over Josh Burkman, but he still left the Octagon with the W at Wednesday's Fight Night 12 in Las Vegas.
Swick landed occasional strikes, but otherwise spent the evening avoiding Burkman's takedown attempts in gutting out a win by majority decision. The live audience -- when they weren't sitting in silence -- greeted the fight with jeers.
Burkman (9-5 overall, 5-3 UFC) immediately forced Swick against the cage in Round 1 and spent the majority of the round getting the better of Swick in stand-up. Burkman whiffed on a spinning roundhouse kick at one point, which was probably the most exciting move of the bout even though it missed.
Swick (11-2, 6-1 UFC) caught Burkman with a head kick in the second round, but played it cautious and didn't rush in to follow up. Burkman backed off a little for the remainder of the round and was unable to take Swick down, while Swick became increasingly aggressive in moving forward.
Burkman once again tried and failed to secure a takedown in the third round, as the crowd grew restless with the lack of action. When he wasn't stuffing Burkman's takedown attempts, Swick stayed cautious with his striking attack, landing occasional shots but doing very little damage.
Swick was very subdued after his performance, aware that his winning strategy resulted in a dull show.
"Sorry for my performance not being as exciting," he said. "I don't know what else to say."
Swick respected Burkman's wrestling ability coming into the fight. He acknowledged afterward that keeping Burkman from taking the fight to the ground was a tall order.
"It took everything I had to stop his takedowns."
The victory turned Swick's debut at 170 pounds into a success, especially considering the fact that the win came against the highly regarded "People's Warrior." Swick had previously fought in the UFC's 185-pound middleweight division, where he last fought Yushin Okami in March of 2007 and suffered his only UFC loss.
In the semi-main event, Patrick "The Predator" Cote won his fourth consecutive fight, beating Drew McFedries via TKO in the first round.
Cote (12-4, 3-4 UFC) has won his last three UFC fights after an 0-4 start in the promotion. He expressed gratitude for McFedries (6-3, 2-2 UFC) taking the fight despite his recent personal problems. McFedries lost his mother last month, the victim of an apparent murder.
