The UFC's perplexing start to 2017 takes yet another head-scratching turn Saturday, when No. 4 featherweight Cub Swanson takes on the unranked and relatively unknown Artem Lobov in the main event of Fight Night 108.
Even in a year so far typified by mystery-grab bag matchmaking, this one feels notably random.
Swanson vs. Lobov would be right at home as the featured prelim on a Fight Pass internet stream or the curtain-jerker of a UFC pay-per-view. Making it the marquee attraction on this weekend's six-fight main card at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on the other hand, is strange by any metric.