White says Patrick Cummins will get another shot in the UFC
LAS VEGAS – His UFC debut may not have been anywhere close to what he was planning or hoping for, but Patrick Cummins will get another shot in the octagon.
Cummins (4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) lost for the first time in his career when new light heavyweight Daniel Cormier (14-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) tore through him on Saturday night at UFC 170 for a 79-second TKO in the co-main event (watch the Cormier vs. Cummins video highlights).
It was a fight Cummins took on short notice against a man he 10 years ago helped train for the 2004 Olympics. But in the buildup to the fight, all the focus was on Cummins talking out of school by regaling the media with stories of making Cormier cry when he “broke†him during that training.
Cormier said Cummins would pay for the talk, and that he did at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. But after the card, UFC President Dana White said Cummins won’t just be cast off back into relative obscurity following the loss.
“Yeah, we’ll give him another fight,†White said at the post-event news conference. “We’ll give him a fight he can prepare for.â€
White said the book on Cummins was one that said he should be in the UFC, anyway. That he stepped up to fill a void when Rashad Evans fell out of his fight with Cormier at the 11th hour was a signing of necessity in order to save Cormier’s spot on the card. But it also was a roster addition that White has been led to believe was a smart one, regardless.
“A lot of people said a lot of good things about Patrick Cummins,†White said. “Even tonight, guys who were on the Olympic Committee for wrestling were texting me saying this guy’s a tough kid, this guy’s this, this guy’s that.â€
And despite Cormier having massive odds in his favor – as much as 16-to-1 at some online sports books – White said the intrigue behind the fight made it a good one.
He also said Cormier may have been in a rough position, at least in the court of public opinion, if he didn’t steamroll Cummins the way that he did. Cormier pushed hard for a fight – any fight – after Evans dropped off because it was his first cut to 205 pounds after a career at heavyweight. He didn’t want all the effort to be for naught right out of the gate.
But he probably couldn’t have predicted things would go the direction they did after Cummins, a ghost from his past, stepped up 10 days before the show.
“(Cormier) wanted this fight really bad,†White said. “I don’t mean to say this in a disrespectful way to Cummins because I like the kid. But Cormier needed to come out and treat him like that. He needed to do what he did to him. But the question was, could he? The fight was intriguing. These guys had competed together before and wrestled and trained. I wanted to see it. Better than pulling it off and not having the fight.â€
With many backers besides White, the Reign MMA-trained Cummins will have to wait and see what he gets next. But at least, according to White, he can be assured he’ll have another crack at the UFC.
