This is what happens when you let your mouth write a check your Octagon skills can’t cash.
On Saturday night in the co-main event at UFC 170, Daniel “DC” Cormier embarrassed Patrick Cummins in a minute and 19 seconds, earning a TKO victory. Cummins was a late replacement after Rashad Evans tore up his knee 10 days before the fight.
Both men brought exceptional wrestling backgrounds into the fight, but the difference on Saturday night was DC’s striking. His hand speed and punching power were just too much for Cummins. Cormier first hurt his opponent with an uppercut out of the clinch.
He never let up and continued to bomb him with hard right hands as the staggered Cummins tried to recover.
Cormier was in fantastic shape in his first fight at 205 pounds. He moved well, but still displayed the power necessary to gain advantageous positioning in the standing grapple. He quickly maneuvered himself to a position to throw the strikes that ultimately ended the fight.
Cummins and Cormier had crossed paths in their training past, and apparently the former had gotten the best of those encounters. On Saturday night, Cormier proved that practice and a real professional fight are two different things.
Trash talk from Cummins seemed to ignite Cormier. Cummins claimed to have made Cormier cry in a training session years ago. The talk was a violation of an unwritten training rule, and Cormier did not take kindly to the chiding.
He was bursting at the seams to get a chance to shut Cummins up. How confident was Cormier that he would win? Take a look at the plugger and Twitter message in this tweet:
Before the win at UFC 170, Cormier came off a bit bland, but the emotion and mean streak that were brought out of him for this fight will do wonders for his popularity.
Per this tweet, Sherdog Rewind agrees:
Longtime fight fan Rosie Perez was certainly impressed. She tweeted this after Cormier’s win:
DC has his eye on climbing the ladder at light heavyweight. Obviously, Jon “Bones” Jones is at the top of that heap. Cormier has a few guys to fight through before he can challenge the champion.
Per Mike Johnston of Sportsnet, Cormier is trying to slide into an opportunity to accelerate his ascension up the ranks.
It still remains to be seen whether Cormier is ready to challenge Bones. Cummins was seriously overmatched, but there is no doubt how good Cormier looked at 205 pounds. Cormier will need to beat someone a little more highly regarded at 205 before we’re able to determine that.
If he continues to shine the way he did on Saturday night. Cormier could be one of the biggest stars in the UFC in 2014.
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