Rafael Cavalcante: Patrick Cummins doesn’t have weak chin, but will get knocked out at UFC 190

RIO DE JANEIRO — Rafael Cavalcante finally returns to the Octagon on Aug. 1, and he wants to erase the image of his last UFC appearance.

A former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, “Feijao” went the distance for the first time in his MMA career against Ryan Bader at UFC 174 after being outwrestled for 15 minutes. Back to the cage 14 months later, he says he changed his approach to the game after the decision loss.

“I have to attack first,” Cavalcante told the media in Brazil. “Unfortunately, wrestlers developed a game to take the talent away from their opponents, especially Brazilians. They hang in there and do nothing. They don’t want to take you down, just keep you close to the fence. And if they take you down, they don’t even try passing the guard or hit you. So I’m going to be more aggressive and attack first. When they close the distance, they will get beat up already.

“I was overconfident and let Bader do his thing. He got to positions he wanted, singles and doubles, and I was too comfortable. I let him do what he wanted. When the fight was over, my face was clean and he was cut, but he won the fight. That’s what I’m going to change in my game now.”

Cavalcante scored his first and only UFC win with a 78-second knockout over Igor Pokrajac in November of 2013, and doesn’t intend to fight for 15 minutes again.

“If you see all my fights, it always ends with one of the fighters on the ground, except for this last one — and it wasn’t my fault,” he said. “I don’t take anything away from him, but he didn’t go there to fight me. He went there to hold me for 15 minutes, and that’s not what fans want to watch.”

“Feijao” is set to meet another decorated wrestler inside the Octagon. Facing Patrick Cummins at Rio de Janeiro’s UFC 190, the Brazilian light heavyweight expects a tough battle.

“He’s a tough athlete, only lost to great fighters, like Daniel Cormier, so he’s a prospect in the division. Everybody believes in him,” Cavalcante said. “Those losses to Cormier and (Ovince) Saint Preux don’t take anything away from him. I expect an extremely tough fight, but I’m confident. I won’t let him fight, and I will knock him out in the second round.”

Cummins suffered both of his MMA losses by first-round knockout, but “Feijao” doesn’t think he has a weak chin.

“There’s no such thing about his chin,” he said. “If you’re going to say that based on the guys that beat him, you’ll say that about 10 other fighters that went down like him. It’s MMA, and those gloves are really small.”

RIO DE JANEIRO — Rafael Cavalcante finally returns to the Octagon on Aug. 1, and he wants to erase the image of his last UFC appearance.

A former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, “Feijao” went the distance for the first time in his MMA career against Ryan Bader at UFC 174 after being outwrestled for 15 minutes. Back to the cage 14 months later, he says he changed his approach to the game after the decision loss.

“I have to attack first,” Cavalcante told the media in Brazil. “Unfortunately, wrestlers developed a game to take the talent away from their opponents, especially Brazilians. They hang in there and do nothing. They don’t want to take you down, just keep you close to the fence. And if they take you down, they don’t even try passing the guard or hit you. So I’m going to be more aggressive and attack first. When they close the distance, they will get beat up already.

“I was overconfident and let Bader do his thing. He got to positions he wanted, singles and doubles, and I was too comfortable. I let him do what he wanted. When the fight was over, my face was clean and he was cut, but he won the fight. That’s what I’m going to change in my game now.”

Cavalcante scored his first and only UFC win with a 78-second knockout over Igor Pokrajac in November of 2013, and doesn’t intend to fight for 15 minutes again.

“If you see all my fights, it always ends with one of the fighters on the ground, except for this last one — and it wasn’t my fault,” he said. “I don’t take anything away from him, but he didn’t go there to fight me. He went there to hold me for 15 minutes, and that’s not what fans want to watch.”

“Feijao” is set to meet another decorated wrestler inside the Octagon. Facing Patrick Cummins at Rio de Janeiro’s UFC 190, the Brazilian light heavyweight expects a tough battle.

“He’s a tough athlete, only lost to great fighters, like Daniel Cormier, so he’s a prospect in the division. Everybody believes in him,” Cavalcante said. “Those losses to Cormier and (Ovince) Saint Preux don’t take anything away from him. I expect an extremely tough fight, but I’m confident. I won’t let him fight, and I will knock him out in the second round.”

Cummins suffered both of his MMA losses by first-round knockout, but “Feijao” doesn’t think he has a weak chin.

“There’s no such thing about his chin,” he said. “If you’re going to say that based on the guys that beat him, you’ll say that about 10 other fighters that went down like him. It’s MMA, and those gloves are really small.”