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Mike “Quick” Swick (born 19 June 1979) is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter.

He was a participant in the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, a reality television series produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is one of the reasons for his popularity. He was eliminated from the competition after a semi-final loss to Stephan Bonnar.

Since joining the ranks of the UFC, Mike has gone 5-0 and is considered on of the top Middleweight contenders in the UFC

MMAToday: How did you get involved in martial arts and MMA?

MS: I started in Tae-Kwon-Do at the age of 8. I have just been progressing from there every since…

MMAToday: Once you got started did you ever think you make it all the way to the UFC?

MS: I hoped! Ha-ha

MMAToday: How much did your appearance on TUF affect your training and your career?

MS: It made my career what it is today. It was the exposure that I needed and it made me train harder than ever.

MMAToday: What is it like going from fighting in smaller shows to fighting in the UFC? Were you nervous or did you feel you were ready to be there?

MS: It’s a big difference. The UFC is the Big Show. I felt ready.

MMAToday: Your first 4 fights in the UFC lasted a combined 6 minutes or so, what was the rush?

MS: I am just an aggressive fighter… ha-ha

MMAToday: How has your training been coming? And how is the hand?

MS: Training is going great! Hand is almost 100%. I am still sparring and doing mitt work, I am just still a little careful with it.

MMAToday: Can you give us a little insight into your training regimen?

MS: We train 2-3 times a day, 6 days a week.

MMAToday: Who are you currently training with?

MS: We have a great crew in now… As far as training, I have Lynn Schutz, Bob Cook, Dave Camarillo, and Javier Mendez. As far as teammates I got Fitch, Koscheck, Thomson, Prangley, Southworth, Fukada, plus a lot of great up and comers. Baroni should be back soon as well.

MMAToday: What motivated you to keep going and fighting?

MS: Wanting to be the best…

MMAToday: Your next opponent is Yushin Okami on March 3rd, anything special planned for that fight?

MS: This fight is not for sure. Nothing is signed. We are still working on it. I want this fight though.

MMAToday: Where do you see yourself in the Middleweight title picture if you are victorious there?

MS: I guess it depends on how I perform. I plan to perform at my best.

MMAToday: How well do you stack up against the current champ Anderson Silva?

MS: Wouldn’t mind finding out… ha-ha

MMAToday: Is there any other Middleweight out there in the UFC you would like to fight? And why?

MS: All of them!

MMAToday: Would you still like a rematch with Chris Leben?

MS: That fight will happen eventually and yes I will be happy when it does. After his performance against MacDonald though, it wouldn’t be a step up as far as my career goes. I want to fight top contenders right now.

MMAToday: What fights in your career are the most memorable to you?

MS: All my UFC fights have been very memorable.

MMAToday: How much longer do you have on your current contract?

MS: A little over a year…

MMAToday: Any possibilities of jumping ship to another promotion when it’s up?

MS: Nope.

MMAToday: Is there any fighter outside the UFC you would like to mix it up with?

MS: Haven’t thought about it really.

MMAToday: What fighters do you enjoy watching and why?

MS: GSP, Liddell, Couture, CroCop, Riggs, Loiseau, Silva, etc… All the exciting ones! I am a huge MMA fan myself.

MMAToday: What fighters do you look up to?

MS: Too many to list!

MMAToday: Who do think would be your toughest fight and why?

MS: Right now, I think Anderson Silva. It would be a good test for me.

MMAToday: What are your hobbies outside of MMA?

MS: Traveling. I love traveling! Whatever happens after you die happens, but this is the only earth we will ever have and I want to see it all. I like playing poker as well.

MMAToday: Who do you think the best over looked fighter in your weight class is?

MS: I am not sure. I don’t follow the forums too much to know who is favored more and stuff…

MMAToday: What do you think of Randy coming back?

MS: I am excited, I like him a lot.

MMAToday: What do you think of the UFC bringing in fighters from pride etc?

MS: I think they are just getting the best fighters from all over the world from all organizations and I think it’s great. I love competition.

MMAToday: If you could fight anyone who would it be? Why?

MS: Silva for the title. I want the belt! Ha-ha

MMAToday: Thank you very much for your time Mike, is there anything you would like to add here to your fans or anyone in general?

MS: Thanks for all your support guys! Please check out my webpage at MikeSwick.com and my Myspace at http://Myspace.com/mikeswick. I am also running a UNICEF campaign to raise money for underprivileged children worldwide. You can check out that page at http://unicefusa.org/ert/mikeswick. Thanks!

More than anything else, professional boxing was inspired by sheer love for manly fights and the price. Thus, the term “prizefighting”.

The popularity of professional boxing begun in 18th century England where the working classes were the first avid fans and participants. It grew on until boxing caught the attention of top-hatted gentlemen and royalty. Today, professional boxing bouts are held around the globe where champions are drafted from various countries.

Scoring system
In professional boxing, unlike in amateur boxing, score is awarded based on the 10-point must system. This means that the three ringside judges should award the maximum number of points to the boxer who displayed better exchanges during a round while the loser for each round only gets 9 points. The scores are tallied on score cards which are totaled at the end of the fight. However, this may be skipped in case of a knockout (where one boxer receives a hard blow and is not able to stand up before the count of 10) or when there is a technical knockout (where the game is stopped by the referee due to various reasons).

Scoring
Scores are awarded based on the cleanliness of the punches, the defensive tactics the boxer uses and the display of effective aggressiveness. As it is, the scoring system is subject to lack of objectivity which often gives rise to questionable results.

Each knockdown deducts one point from the boxer who fell and penalties are awarded if the rules are infringed. On very serious violations, the game can be stopped and the violator can be disqualified.

As was earlier mentioned, scores are tallied at the end of the fight. If all the scorecards agree, the winner gets a “unanimous decision”. It is a “split decision” when the winner only wins two scorecards. If the scores are tied, the decision is draw and it is still a draw if one judge picks a victor and the other two gave tied scores. However this time, it is called a “majority draw”.

Rounds
Professional boxing fights can last for as long as 12 rounds of 3 minutes each and as short as 4 rounds for less experienced fighters. However, prior to 1982, professional boxing can last for as long as 15 pounds. The accidental death of the boxer Duk Koo Kim during a 15-round fight with Ray Mancini forced professional boxing organizations to trim down the rounds to only 12 rounds.

Weights
Weights in professional boxing can sometimes get confusing and for each weight, there could be further subdivisions that add more categories of fighters and champions alike. Below are the more common weight divisions in professional boxing:

Minimumweight
Light Flyweight
Flyweight
Super Flyweight
Bantamweight
Super Bantamweight
Featherweight
Super Featherweight
Lightweight
Light Welterweight
Welterweight
Light Middleweight
Middleweight
Super Middleweight
Light Heavyweight
Cruiserweight
Super-cruiserweight, and
Heavyweight

Other weight divisions include Strawweight, Jr. Flyweight, Jr. Bantamweight, Jr. Featherweight, Jr. Lightweight, Jr. Welterweight, and Jr. Middleweight.  

Champions and Belt Holders
Due to the variety of professional boxing organizations like IBF, WBA and WBC and WBO, it is hard to determine which among the top ranking fighter and belt-holders are the champions. Currently though, there is no one governing body that could really produce champions.

There are, however, title holders, titlists and belt-holders and each sanctioning body, as they are often called, have different parameters for determining who the title holders are and who the mandatory challengers are.

(Props: MrBavers)

This Wednesday’s season finale of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights will be a two-hour mega-episode featuring four fights — the last two quarterfinal bouts and both semifinal matches — along with some heated emotions courtesy of Marcus "Big Baby" Jones. As you can see in the above preview, the eye-pokes that Scott Junk sustained in his fight against Matt Mitrione turn out to be career-threatening. When Jones hears the bad news about his friend, he gets way up in the face of the meatheaded culprit and promises him death. Mitrione figures if he keeps quiet and doesn’t make eye contact, the Babystorm will eventually drift away. Does it work, or does Matt catch a beating that knocks them both out of the competition? And how anti-climactic will this "final twist" be? Only three more days until all the questions are answered and we can finally put this awful season behind us.

After the jump: Speaking of finales, DWtS had theirs on Tuesday, and they brought Chuck Liddell back for a martial arts-themed dance showdown with Mark Dacascos. It was everything we hoped it wouldn’t be, and so much more…

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We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: "Rampage" Jackson will be back.  If this clip from his performance in "Death Warrior" is any indicator — and how could it not be? — the dude just doesn’t have the acting chops to build a real future in the film business.  If we’re being honest, he doesn’t have the chops to hang in a community college production of "A Raisin in the Sun."  There’s a reason fighting and acting are two fields that generally do not compete for the same talent, and Jackson is a good example of why. 

Maybe he’s gotten some formal instruction since then and his "A-Team" performance will be much more polished, prompting a torrent of serious movie offers followed by a really awkward red carpet interview at Cannes that later leads to sexual assault charges.  It’s possible.  Then again, it’s also possible that Alexsander Emelianenko will be named executive director of the California State Athletic Commission, but we aren’t holding our breath.

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ProMMA.info provided a live play by play of Saturday night’s “MMA Big Show: Onslaught” which took place in Florence, Ind., and was headlined by none other than The Ultimate Fighter veteran Junie “The Lunatik” Browning taking on Taekwondo black belt Scott Cornwell.
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