Edgar vs. Swanson Original Choice for TUF 17 Finale

Frankie "The Answer" Edgar

Edgar vs. Swanson Was First Choice for April 13th

While the TUF 17 Finale main event of  Urijah Faber vs. Scott Jorgensen definitely has the potential to be an exciting fight, they were the backup plan.

Yes, Faber vs. Jorgensen wasn't in fact the original choice to replace the flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and John Moraga as the main event for this card. The UFC's first pick featured two incredibly skilled, high-profile athletes and a victory for either competitor would have been their biggest in recent memory.

It was featherweights Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson that were first summoned to replace Johnson vs. Moraga, yet the plan was scrapped when Swanson told the UFC that he didn't feel he had enough time to get in the right shape to perform to the best of his ability in the five round battle Edgar had requested.

"I'm still a little banged up from my fight with (Dustin) Poirier and five weeks isn't enough time to prepare for a five-round fight," Swanson wrote via text message.

The fifteen minute war Swanson is referring to was just under 2 weeks ago, and it's safe to say that he would need months and months of rigorous training for what would be the first five round fight of his career.  Cub's huge win over "The Diamond" propelled him into title contention, and Edgar definitely needs to beat a top featherweight contender to prove that despite his recent loss to long time champion Jose Aldo, he is still a legitimate force in the division.

The two are still very interested in fighting each other sometime soon, however, and we are anxiously awaiting a confirmed match from the UFC. We'll see how much earlier Swanson could be ready for action if the proposed match wouldn't be five rounds long and therefore could possibly be booked for an upcoming event.

Check out the full TUF 17 Finale Fight Card  and all of our TUF 17 Finale news