Cub Swanson came up with a win with less than 10 seconds left in the fight tonight at WEC 44 against John Franchi with a guillotine choke. WEC 44 was possibly the most stacked card to date in WEC history-- an amazing night of fights.

Sherdog.com play-by-play:

Round 1

They circle each other with caution. Franchi finally opens up first with a flurry of punches, but Cub defends. They trade briefly and Franchi clinches. Swanson reverses and pins his adversary into the fence. Franchi quickly reverses and slams Swanson to the canvas. Swanson tries to pull guard but he’s squished up against the fence. Swanson finally fights his way back up to his feet and Franchi is all over him. Swanson finally breaks the clinch and creates enough space to regroup at center cage. Swanson delivers two stiff left jabs, which forces Franchi to charge at him and pin him into the fence. Swanson lands two glancing left knees to the head of his foe, but they have little impact. Swanson reverses and fires a series of knees to Franchi’s body which are all blocked. Franchi lands a nice-right uppercut and pushes Swanson away. Back in the center of the cage, Swanson bounces up and down and darts in with a wild right hand. Franchi lands a massive right hand that backs Swanson up and then he shoots in for a double leg. Swanson sprawls and flips his foe over and almost lands in full mount. With a few seconds left, Swanson unloads a barrage of punches, possibly stealing the close round. 10-9 Franchi.

Round 2

They slow things down in the second with only a low kick by Swanson landing in the first 40 seconds. Franchi returns the favor. They square up again and Swanson misses a wild flying head kick. Franchi answers with a right cross that is blocked and then a low kick. Swanson presses the action and tries another flying head kick. It’s blocked. Swanson has his head kick blocked and then Franchi fires a stinging straight right hand. Swanson clinches, but Franchi reverses and presses him into the cage. Franchi then scoops up Swanson and scores a nice double leg against the cage. Swanson fights up but Franchi controls his head and neck. Franchi lets go and then lets his hands go, though nothing hard lands. Nice stiff left jab from Swanson followed by a right leg kick. Swanson really opening up with an array of kicks to the legs, body and head. Swanson clinches and scores a hard double leg. Franchi scrambles back up. With ten seconds left, Cub cracks Franchi with a right cross. The round ends. Very close round. 10-9 Swanson.

Round 3

Crucial round of a fight that’s as close as they come. Both rounds could have gone to either fighter. They touch gloves and hug as the round starts. They trade vicious low kicks and then Franchi lands a right hand. A hard leg kick from Franchi forces Swanson to stumble to his knees. He quickly bounces up to his feet before Franchi can pounce. They clinch after an exchange and Swanson presses him into the cage. Swanson scores a perfect judo throw and almost mounts the New Yorker. Working from his full guard, Franchi briefly tries a triangle. It looks like he thought about an omaplata, but Swanson postures up. Swanson lands two decent right hands. Swanson stands up but dives back in with a left hammer fist that glances off Franchi’s face. With a minute left, Swanson fires a series of strikes and then stands back out. Franchi is up and desperate. He shoots in and takes Swanson down. Franchi passes to half guard and Swanson scrambles back up. He locks on a standing guillotine and then pulls guard. He’s got it. It’s very deep. Swanson torques with everything he has. Franchi can’t pull out, and he taps. It is a terrific end to a thrilling battle. The official time of the submission is 4:50 of the third round.Impressive win by Cub Swanson.