Mike Swick returned to action tonight after two years out through illness and injury, and he put in a typically entertaining display against DaMarques Johnson before a dream finish arrived in the form of a clean KO early in the second round.
Swick made a good start to hsi first fight in two years, landing a big right hand in the opening minute that hurt Johnson and had him grabbing ahold of Swick while he regained his bearings.
To his credit Johnson recovered quickly though and as they got back to exchanging blows Johnson landed a blow that have Swick pause for thought and put him on the back foot momentarily.
Swick then tried to fire back, landing hard again to Johnson’s jaw and then looking for a knee to the head. Johnson saw it coming though and used it to take Swick to the floor. He was able to hold him down momentarily, but before long Swick was able to get back upright.
They start trading again, and Swick lands some nice knees from the thai clinch, but Johnson locks up and gets a trip takedown, taking his back in the process. They transition so Johnson’s on top and he lands a few blows from the position, and Swick’s showing some signs of damage under each eye.
They scramble again and Johnson is looking for a d’arce choke, but he can’t get it and Swick craftily works his way back to full guard as the round draws to a close.
So, an entertaining first round and they go back to the stand-up battle in the second.
Neither man is getting the upper hand until a minute in Johnson looks for a combination and finishes with a kick. Swick is able to catch the kick and uses it to take opponent down, and as they fall to the mat he unleashes a huge right hand that instantly knocks out Johnson.
It all happens so fast that Swick is able to land two more hard shots before the referee rushes in to stop the fight with 1.20mins of the second round gone.
Both guys put on a great fight here that was the perfect way to kick off the live FOX card, and it’s great to see Swick back looking healthy and and still capable of the ‘quick’ finishes that he earned a name for in the past.
