Concussion won’t stop Swick

Mike Swick will make his return from a head injury on Saturday night when he faces Dan Hardy on the UFC 105 card in Manchester, England.

Swick suffered a concussion while training for a scheduled UFC 103 bout against Martin Kampmann, a matchup that was supposed to decide the No. 1 contender to Georges St. Pierre’s welterweight title.

Kampmann eventually lost to replacement opponent Paul Daley, clouding the contender picture in the division

Swick believes he will get the title shot should he beat Hardy, and he insists his injury won’t be an obstacle.

He suffered the concussion when training partner Josh Koscheck slammed him to the ground with a leg sweep, but Swick said it won’t affect his mindset.

“As far as (being) gun shy, absolutely not. It didn’t affect me when I got the concussion,” he said on a conference call. “I mean, I never got knocked out. I never knew I had a concussion, so you know, I got slammed, landed on my head, got back up, continued sparring and sparred two more rounds.”

Swick said the injury was later found by doctors, who would not clear him to fight.

He said he is not concerned about it becoming a recurring problem.

“I’ve never had a concussion before. It was just a random thing,” he said. “I don’t see it happening again, unless I get hit really, really hard or something like that, and there’s nothing I can do about that. But, I’m not going to go out there and be afraid to get hit over it, you know?”

Swick will make his return against Hardy on a card that is headlined by Randy Couture taking on Brandon Vera.

It will be Couture’s first light heavyweight bout since a February 2006 loss to Chuck Liddell. All four of his fights since have all been at heavyweight, but back-to-back losses prompted a drop to the 205-pound class that features more potential big-name opponents.

Michael Bisping will look to bounce back from a knockout loss to Dan Henderson in July when he meets Denis Kang.

The card will air tape-delayed at 8 p.m. Saturday night on Spike (Cable 29).

• LESNAR OUT LONGER — The illness that forced UFC heavyweight Brock Lesnar out of his scheduled Nov. 21 title defense against Shane Carwin was determined to be mononucleosis.

The organization had hoped to reschedule that bout for Jan. 2, but Lesnar will not be able to return to training until at least December, which would make that date an impossibility.

The organization did add a heavyweight bout to the UFC 108 card, however.

Cain Velasquez will take on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Velasquez was thought to have earned a shot at the Lesnar-Carwin winner, but with that fight off indefinitely, the organization will not keep him idle while he waits.

Nogueira, the former interim champion, will be the toughest test to date for the young undefeated heavyweight.

• COUTURE VS. VERA II — While the matchup between Couture and Vera will get far more attention as the main event of a UFC card, it will not be the only bout between fighters of those surnames next week.

Vera’s wife Kerry will face Randy’s estranged wife Kim on a Strikeforce card in Kansas City, Kan., just six days later.

The organization also has announced its next major card will take place in San Jose on Dec. 19.

It will feature a bout between Matt Lindland and Ronald “Jacare” Souza and could mark the return of Cung Le to the organization. Le vacated his middleweight title while he pursues an acting career, but he may take on Scott Smith on the card.

Josh Thomson also is likely to defend his lightweight belt on the card, though an opponent has not yet been named.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.