Daniel Cormier (13-0, 2-0 UFC) vs. Patrick Cummins (4-0, 0-0 UFC)
The co-main event of UFC 170 has picked up a lot of steam since being announced just over a week ago as we have a top contender facing an unknown new signee on short notice, but there is a bit of history between them. Strike force Heavyweight World Grand Prix Champion Daniel Cormier will make his 205-pound debut against newcomer Patrick Cummins, who takes the place of the injured Rashad Evans. Cormier looks to remain undefeated in his career after scoring a decision over Roy Nelson at UFC 166. Cummins debuts in just his fifth professional fight, but all four of his fights have been first-round stoppage wins.
Fight Breakdown- Daniel Cormier was one of the top heavyweights in the world, but his time there seemed to be coming to a screeching halt fast. It wasn’t due to his ability as he has won all 13 of his fights, many coming against bigger opponents. It was solely due to his friend and training partner Cain Velasquez being the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Had it not been for that, we’d likely still be talking about Cormier as a heavyweight title contender despite probably being better suited for light heavyweight action. Cormier won the Heavyweight Grand Prix in Strikeforce, defeating Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva and Josh Barnett to win it. He defeated Dion Staring in his final Strikeforce fight and then moved over to the UFC. He won a decision over Frank Mir in his UFC debut at UFC On FOX 7 in April 2013, and followed that with another decision win, this time against Roy Nelson at UFC 166 in October. He was slated to make his light heavyweight debut in a five-round bout on this fight card, but with Ronda Rousey making the short turnaround, it moved Cormier to a three-round fight, which will make the transition to the new weight class a smoother process.
Cummins is one of the more interesting stories to enter the UFC in a while. When Rashad Evans was forced out of this fight against Cormier, it looked like Cormier was going to be pulled from the card altogether, and despite his pleads to stay on the event, he was briefly pulled. Cummins was one of the first to campaign for the fight on his Twitter page, but it wasn’t until it was discovered that Evans would be out for longer than originally anticipated when Cummins got the call from UFC President Dana White. Cummins was working at his job as a drive-thru attendant at a coffee shop in California when the phone call came, and he was actually fired from his job for taking the phone call in the middle of his shift. It doesn’t matter now as he will likely make more for this fight than he has ever made at that job. Cummins has a 4-0 record as a fighter, and all four wins have come by first-round stoppage, but the quality of opponents has been really low. Cormier will definitely be the toughest opponent he has faced, and possibly will ever fight. However, there is a history between them, and Cummins has seemingly gotten under the skin of Cormier.
Cormier is an Olympic wrestler, and his credentials in wrestling are among the best, if not the best, in the sport. Cummins was a training partner of Cormier while he was preparing for the Olympics, and he has gone as far as claiming that he made Cormier cry. Cormier denies this, and he is out to make Cummins pay for these claims when they step inside the Octagon on Saturday night. Cormier and Cummins did meet in a wrestling match in 2007, and that was won by Cormier. Cummins is a two-time NCAA All-American in wrestling out of Penn State University, while Cormier comes from Oklahoma State University, so these guys are coming from programs with establish backgrounds. Cummins is a quality wrestler, and he was improving his skillset against that low level of competition, but with his wrestling background and skill, it was getting hard to find him opponents on the regional circuit. Thus, he has been out of action since 2012, and the jump from being a coffee shop barista to a UFC co-headliner against an opponent like Cormier looks to be a daunting task. However, what is working in the advantage for Cummins and perhaps against Cormier is that Cormier is expected to thrash Cummins, so there isn’t much for Cummins to lose and a whole ton to gain if he were to pull off a miraculous upset.
What made Cormier such a threat in the heavyweight division, and what could hinder him at 205 pounds as he moves up against stiffer competition, is his footwork and quick punching ability. He has a lot of power as well, as evidenced in his knockout wins. As he has gotten more experience, his stand-up has become increasingly better, and his striking attack has become more diverse. He can mix in his kicks effectively, and he goes after all parts of the body. Cormier will work a lot in the clinch, where he will attack the head with elbows and the body with quick combinations. He has good strength as well, but it will be interesting to see how much, if it does at all, the weight cut affects him. We are talking about a man who had to pull out of the Olympics due to his kidneys shutting down while cutting weight, and that made it difficult for him to fully consider making the move down in weight. It has been a gradual process, and he has been showing up to recent fights much lighter than the fights before that.
This fight looks a lot similar to Cormier’s final appearance in the Strikeforce cage. He had a high-profile opponent who was forced out due to injury, but he still wanted to fight, and he took on an outmatched opponent who was dominated from the moment the fence was locked. Cummins has to rely on his wrestling, but that will be tough against Cormier, who will assuredly outmatch him. Cummins does have power and athleticism, and he is a representative of Reign MMA, so he trains with a lot of tough guys. He does have potential if he can get fights, and while he is in the UFC early, the circumstances dictated that. He would have been a good prospect to go through The Ultimate Fighter, and it has been a while since light heavyweights have been on the show. Hopefully he will get more fights inside the Octagon, and with the payday he should receive, it will give him the leeway to train more consistently. Cormier just has all of the tools, and if there is such a thing as a five-tool MMA fighter, Cormier is pretty close to being one, though not all the way there as we have yet to see much of a submission game from him. However, that likely won’t be necessary here as his agility, footwork, clinch work and wrestling will overpower Cummins from the get-go. Cummins will show off some of his potential and put up a fight, but the experience and skill of Cormier will shine as he finishes Cummins in the first half of the fight.
Why It Matters- Cormier has made his intentions be known in his dropping down to the light heavyweight division- he wants to fight Jon Jones and he wants to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. He doesn’t like Jones and feels like he will be the man to end Jones’ reign as champion. While a win over Rashad Evans may have secured Cormier the next title shot, a win over Cummins is just something that is expected to happen, and while it will get Cormier a paycheck and a chance to see how he feels at 205 pounds, it won’t give him a guarantee of the next title opportunity. That is, unless Jimi Manuwa pulls the upset of Alexander Gustafsson off. Cormier knows he needs to win this fight if he wants to get to that title fight. Cummins is in a no-lose situation. He finally has that UFC contract and will be around for a good while as long as his fighting skill can back up his personality. He has plenty of that, and he will finally get to fight again after being out for such a long period of time. While anything can happen in a fight and upsets do happen, look for Cummins to put up a valiant effort but suffer a loss, but show flashes of what could become a solid addition to the 205-pound division. The light heavyweight division is in major need of some new faces, and here are two of them.
Prediction- Cormier
