With one look at Cub Swanson's medical records, you know the guy has suffered more than his fair share of bad luck.
The latest? A sparring injury that resulted in orbital, nasal and cheek fractures, as well as a broken jaw. Seven weeks after the injury, the UFC fighter remains on an all-liquid diet.
Still, there was a little good luck: As the UFC's first fighter to use the organization's recently enacted accident-insurance coverage, he saved himself a whopping $50,000 in out-of-pocket medical costs.
Swanson, a guest on today's edition of MMAjunkie.com Radio (
www.mmajunkie.com/radio), suffered the injury during a June 2 session at Greg Jackson's camp in New Mexico. During an intense sparring session, a training partner inadvertently tagged him – full force – with a knee to the face.
Swanson (15-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who's fought just five times in four years due to an array of injuries, nearly reached a breaking point.
"Right when it happened, I immediately went to the corner and went, 'I need to take a year off. I'm done,'" he said. "I was so frustrated. You train for months at a time, and it just gets taken away like that."
UFC vet Joe Stevenson was one of approximately eight training partners who accompanied Swanson to the hospital. They then immediately called their UFC contact with one question.
"'So yeah, that insurance kicked in, right?'" Swanson asked.
Yes, it had. One day prior.
Back in May, UFC president Dana White announced the first-of-its-kind coverage, which protects Zuffa LLC's approximately 400 contracted fighters from various injuries and ailments year-round (regardless if it occurs during a training session or not). Zuffa pays 100 percent of the premiums up to $50,000 per year per fighter. For fighters who usually have insurance coverage solely on fight nights, it is a remarkable perk of fighting for the world's biggest MMA promotion.
"I'm officially the first person to ever use it," said Swanson, who used every penny of this year's coverage allotment. "But I guess if I do something, I do it big. That's kind of my thing."
Swanson said such out-of-pocket costs would have drained essentially all the money he's saved during an up-and-down, seven-year fighting career. A three-time "Fight of the Night" winner in the WEC, he's now just anxious for that long-awaited UFC debut, which is unlikely to come before December as his face heals from the injuries and multiple surgeries.
But when it comes, Swanson just wants a chance to prove the organization's money was well spent.
"We knew it'd be tough for them to find a company willing to insure 400 ultimate fighters," Swanson said. "I'm glad they found it. And they said the coverage that we have is a start, and I believe it'll evolve into even better coverage.
"I'm super thankful. I can't wait to get back in there and repay them."
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