Choi: Cub Swanson doesn't have 'killer instinct' anymore

"The Korean Superboy" isn't afraid to poke the bear ahead of his next fight.

When Doo Ho Choi meets "Killer" Cub Swanson at UFC 206 in Toronto on Dec. 10, it will be an opportunity for the 25-year-old featherweight to vault himself into the title contenders' circle if he can continue his hot streak. Choi has won his last 13 fights, eight in a row by KO including three first-round finishes in the Octagon.

Swanson is no stranger to knockouts himself, but Choi told SPOTV that he believes the 30-fight veteran's best days are behind him.

"He had a three-fight winning streak of knockouts in 2012," Choi said, according to Jim Edwards of FloCombat, translated from Korean. "Since then, you can see in his recent fights that he no longer has that killer instinct. Against Hacran Dias and Tatsuya Kawajiri, he only managed to win by close decisions. If it were me, I would have knocked them out.

"If he watches my recent fights, he would notice who the real 'killer' here is. I would say Swanson is more of a 'veteran' than a 'killer' these days."

Choi is currently ranked No. 14 in the UFC's official rankings. He sees himself as the most threatening up-and-coming fighter in the division and knows he has far more to gain from this fight than Swanson, who owns a top-5 spot at 145 pounds.

"Considering his position, he should feel less comfortable about this matchup because it's me of all fighters," Choi said. "He already fought top-rank opponents and he's not in a position to fight them again. This fight against me will irritate him a lot. Now he has to fight with low-rank fighters and he unfortunately picked the most difficult opponent he could in this group."