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Two time All-American wrestler Patrick Cummins has stepped up to fight Daniel Cormier on just nine days notice. Cormier was slated to fight Rashad Evans as the co-main event for UFC 170, to be held next Saturday.
Unfortunately for Evans, a leg injury forced him out of the bout with just a week and a half until the fight. UFC president Dana White, initially unable to find a replacement, cancelled the matchup.
However, Patrick Cummins, former wrestling training partner of Cormier, offered to fill in for the injured Evans. Despite the fact that his career as a pro fighter has a short history of only four fights, the UFC signed him almost immediately.
Cummins, virtually unknown in the world of mixed martial arts, appears on paper to be a true underdog in this fight. With only a few fights under his belt and nine days notice, he is stepping into the octagon against Daniel Cormier, a former Olympic wrestler, former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, and currently one of the UFC’s top fighters.
Despite the odds stacked heavily against him, Cummins has made it expressly clear that he believes he will get his hand raised next weekend. Considering that the underdog claims to have gotten the best of Cormier regularly in wrestling practice when he was training for the Olympics, he may manage bring about one of the biggest upset’s in UFC history.
Dana White was quick to bring the fighters onto Fox Sports Live in a last minute effort to hype the new fight. In a surprise turn of events, Cummins, the brand new UFC fighter, verbally pounded on Cormier and certainly helped sell a few more tickets.
“I broke him everyday in practice and I’m going to break him in this fight,” asserted a confident Cummins.
Furthermore, Cummins also stated that he made Cormier cry in practice, a claim that his opponent never even tried to dispute. Though Cormier did have some pointed words in response.
“You have completely put yourself in my crosshairs…you got punished, because you have to step into that cage with me next weekend,” a visibly agitated Cormier fired back.
Overall, Cummins appeared to remain unbothered by anything his opponent had to say to him.
Whether or not Cummins will pull off the upset will remain a matter of speculation until they square off in the octagon, but there seems to be no questioning that he will show up fight either way.
It is very possible that this fight will decide the number one contender for the light heavyweight division. If Cummins is victorious in his UFC debut, he may have a quick path to a title shot. Even if he does lose, his spirited entry into the UFC against a high level opponent will undoubtedly make him a fan favorite.
Regardless, if their trash talk is any indicator of how their bout will go, both Cormier and Cummins could walk out of the octagon with fight of the night bonuses.
