Daniel Cormier stepped inside the cage at UFC 170 for his first fight at light heavyweight. He took care of business in less than 90 seconds.
Cormier was the No. 4-ranked heavyweight, and one of the fighters in line for a potential title shot dating ba…
Daniel Cormier stepped inside the cage at UFC 170 for his first fight at light heavyweight. He took care of business in less than 90 seconds.
Cormier was the No. 4-ranked heavyweight, and one of the fighters in line for a potential title shot dating back to his Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix victory. However, his teammate Cain Velasquez stands on top of that mountain.
Thus, Cormier moved to 205, where he has bad blood with the champion Jon Jones. That fight makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately for everyone, Cormier does not deserve the title shot…yet.
UFC 170 was supposed to pit Cormier against one of the best light heavyweights of all time in Rashad Evans. Had Cormier beat Evans, then he would have elevated himself into that top contender position, but an injury forced Evans out. In stepped Patrick Cummins.
Cummins did a good job of talking a big game and making fans care about the fight, but the bottom line is that he is nowhere near Cormier‘s level. It showed.
Cormier annihilating a UFC newcomer like Cummins is not what should earn a title shot. Also, the top contender in the division is Alexander Gustafsson. And Gustafsson has a big fight coming up against No. 10-ranked JimiManuwa.
If Gustafsson defeats Manuwa in any fashion, he has the next title shot. After all, Gustafsson is the only fighter to make Jones look human. He narrowly missed becoming the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion in their first meeting.
Cormier should not leapfrog Gustafsson by merely defeating Cummins.
The Olympian needs to fight at least one top contender in the division to prove he is the rightful challenger. Who will that be? Timing will answer that question. There are a number of possibilities, but it is hard to project this far out.
No one should be pining for Cormier-Jones due to what Cormier did to Cummins. That was what was expected against an overmatched foe who came in on short notice.
Jones vs. Cormier is a premier fight that will garner a lot of press, should it happen, but now is not the time.
If Gustafsson slips up against Manuwa, then we can start to put Cormier in that discussion. Then again, Glover Teixeira could make all of this a moot point by upending Jones at UFC 172 in Baltimore.
There are a lot of moving parts at 205, and those parts all move Cormier out of title contention as it stands today. There is no doubt that Cormier is one of the very elite fighters going today, and the UFC should continue to build towards his title bid.
Cormier‘s next outing should be a title eliminator. He is not far out of the title picture, but he does not deserve next.
At UFC 170, Daniel Cormier stepped into the Octagon against late replacement Patrick Cummins to make a statement at light heavyweight.
Thanks to the verbosity of the latter, Cormier also had the chance to make the most of a sudden bad-blood situation. …
At UFC 170, Daniel Cormier stepped into the Octagon against late replacement Patrick Cummins to make a statement at light heavyweight.
Thanks to the verbosity of the latter, Cormier also had the chance to make the most of a sudden bad-blood situation. Cummins told Dana White that he had made Cormier cry in a previous training camp and that he broke him every time they hit the mat.
Obviously, Cormier didn’t like this one bit and suddenly was faced with a moment and a man he had to master.
Everyone thought that regardless of the Cummins talk, Cormier was simply going to be too much for him in all areas. Cormier was the known quantity; Cummins was the unknown jumping in at the last minute in the enviable role of underdog.
Perhaps the only question to be had about Cormier was based on the fact that this was his first fight at light heavyweight. Other than that, no one could really fathom how Cummins, coming in on nine-days notice, could win.
But after all the expectations were lain on the table, Cormier and Cummins came together and brought action to the script so many fans and pundits had been writing since the bout was announced.
What did we learn once the smoke had cleared and Cormier stood victorious was two-fold.
First, we learned that what happens in training is vastly different than a real fight. In truth, we’ve always known this, but Saturday night Cummins paid a heavy price in order to see us reminded of this fact.
Secondly, we learned that Cormier is simply better than most fighters out there and stands as a viable threat at 205.
Yes, Cummins did not have the benefit of a full training camp, and that is a disadvantage that cannot be overlooked. That being said, Cormier is more experienced and looks like he is improving with every outing.
What many thought would be a wrestling match turned into an old-fashioned beatdown as Cormier landed heavy punches with both hands. After eating a hard uppercut, Cummins was hurt, and the end was near.
Cormier closed the show with punches until Mario Yamasaki finally called it all off, and it was not a moment too soon. Cummins simply wasn’t ready for a fighter as well-rounded as Cormier, who ran him over and, in doing so, notched his first victory at light heavyweight.
It was a brutal resolution to an impromptu feud, and while we did not get to see what would have been a better test for Cormier in the person of Rashad Evans, we did get to see the former fight with the passion of his words.
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…
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.
Daniel Cormier made the drop to light heavyweight for the first time in his career, and he was supposed to meet Rashad Evans at UFC 170. An injury to Evans opened the door for Patrick Cummins to walk through.
Cummins accepted the fight on short notice …
Daniel Cormier made the drop to light heavyweight for the first time in his career, and he was supposed to meet Rashad Evans at UFC 170. An injury to Evans opened the door for Patrick Cummins to walk through.
Cummins accepted the fight on short notice and made his debut on Saturday night against one of the elite in the sport.
Cormier and Cummins had plenty of talk in the lead-up to the bout, and it helped reinvigorate the hype surrounding UFC 170 that was lost due to Evans’ injury. Cummins had the opportunity to make a name for himself in MMA, and Cormier needed a win to become a viable title challenger.
Here is what Twitter had to think about the co-main event of UFC 170.
Pre-Fight
Cummins‘ pre-fight talk helped fire up Cormier for this fight. He was a two-time All-American at Penn State, but Cormier had the more impressive wrestling credentials. A lot of the pre-fight hype surrounded Cummins‘ and Cormier‘s time training together prior to Cormier‘s Olympic bid.
Round 1
Cormier takes his time, finds his spots and annihilates Cummins. Absolutely dominant over a UFC newcomer. Cormier takes care of business in just 1:19. Impressive, but expected. Cormier is a legit threat to the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
Round-by-round results from the UFC 170 main card will be after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and shoot us your own thoughts in the comments section.
Round-by-round results from the UFC 170 main card will be after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and shoot us your own thoughts in the comments section.
Preliminary Card Results
– Alexis Davis def. Jessica Eye via split-decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
– Raphael Assuncao def. Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Aljamain Sterling def. Cody Gibson via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
– Zach Makovsky def. Josh Sampo via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
– Erik Koch def. Rafaello Oliveira via TKO, 1:24 of round 1
– Ernest Chavez def. Yosdenis Cedeno via split-decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Robert Whittaker vs. Stephen Thompson
Naturally, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson comes out to “Wonderboy” by Tenacious D. Whittaker shows love to Australia by walking out to AC/DC’s “Hells Bells.”
Round 1: Thompson opens with a side kick. Whittaker sticks the jab. Whittaker throws a high kick. Thompson marches forward with punches, then lands a leg kick. Body kick then a leg kick from Thompson. He tries an outside axe kick that scores him style points if nothing else. Great head movement and counters from Thompson. Truly, he is the white Machida. A hook kick from Thompson lands. Whittaker pops the jab. Thompson drops Whittaker with a dead-on right straight, then swarms as Whittaker tries to get to his feet. Thompson clinches, fires in some knees, and clubs Whittaker down to the mat again. Thompson with a frenzy of ground and pound until Mario Yamasaki calls a stop to it. Impressive, violent finish from Wonderboy. Stephen Thompson def. Robert Whittaker via TKO, 3:43 of round 1.
Mike Pyle vs. TJ Waldburger
And now Waldburger is coming out to “TNT” by AC/DC. What the hell. He’s not even Australian. And Mike Pyle is rocking the mullet tonight. Waldburger is already dead.
Round 1: Waldburger lands first with a leg kick. Pyle lands a kick but almost eats a big overhand left in return. Pyle fires a pair of leg kicks. They trade leg kicks. Pyle dashed forward with punches. Pyle grabs a clinch and Waldburger pushes him against the fence. Pyle escapes with ease. Waldburger slips while throwing a kick and Pyle chases him when he gets up but can’t capitalize. Waldburger lands a right, then a left, then a leg kick. Pyle tries a front kick to the body, Waldburger grabs him, Pyle sweeps him to the mat and gets on top. Then, Pyle transitions into side control. Very slick work by Pyle tonight. But then Waldburger powers up to his feet and escapes. They clinch against the fence. Knees to the body then to the head from Pyle. Waldburger throws a pair of knees to Pyle’s leg as the round expires. 10-9 Pyle.
Round 2: Uh…I think my dog just erased everything I wrote for this round when he ran across my laptop. WTF. Short version: It was a much closer frame…Waldburger may have had a slight edge in the striking total, but Pyle had some good grappling moments and bloodied Waldburger’s face with knees.
Round 3: Hard right hand from Pyle and he smells blood. They clinch, Pyle shoulder-checks im in the face then lands a hard left hook. And then a spinning back elbow. Pyle is on fire. He lands two nasty elbows in the clinch then fires punches until Waldburger stumbles to the mat. Pyle almost gets a guillotine but Waldburger pulls out. Pyle bears the ever-loving fuck out of Waldburger with punches and elbows from the top. Joe Rogan asks Herb Dean why he’s not stopping the fight. This beating…it just keeps going. Okay, now Herb stopped the fight. Mike Pyle def. TJ Waldburger via TKO, 4:03 of round 3.
Rory MacDonald vs. Demian Maia
Round 1: They meet in the center of the cage and trade haymakers. Demian Maia shoots once, MacDonald defends. He tries it again and single-legs MacDonald to the mat. Maia trying to pass guard. He throws down an elbow. And boom, Maia scores mount. Maia softening MacDonald up with punches to the head and body. MacDonald tries to shrimp out and almost does it. Maia in half-guard now. MacDonald uses double-butterfly guard, trying to prevent the mount again. MacDonald kicks him off and gets up. Maia shoots and Rory defends. The two fighters start brawling and Maia lands the harder shots. MacDonald is bloodied. The round ends, and it’s an easy 10-9 for Maia.
Round 2: Maia landing some serious power punches, but MacDonald comes back with a series of head kicks that have Maia hurt. Maia shoots and fails. McDonald with a hard body kick and Maia shoots in desperation. MacDonald is having a lot of success with his kicks right now, which are landing at all levels. MacDonald lands a head kick as Maia is shooting in. MacDonald has Maia rocked with punches and kicks. MacDonald using his range really well, landing long jabs and straights. Overhand left from Maia, kicks to the body and leg from MacDonald. MacDonald with a kick to the body, a kick to the head. He tries a superman punch. MacDonald measure up Maia and stings him with a cross. He lands another body kick as the round ends. That round was all MacDonald, 10-9. We’re even heading into round 3, but Rory has the momentum.
Round 3: MacDonald with more long punches. Maia lands a left straight. MacDonald with more kicks to the body and head. MacDonald with another clean right hand. Maia shoots, unsuccessfully once again. MacDonald punches him in the face for it. MacDonald thoroughly outboxing Maia. Maia shoots for a single. Then he grabs both legs and slams MacDonald to the mat. Maia on top, MacDonald pushes him off and scrambles away. MacDonald fends off another takedown attempt. And another. MacDonald with a body punch before stuffing another takedown. MacDonald with a front kick to the body. MacDonald stuffs a takedown and makes Maia pay, landing a nice uppercut. MacDonald with jabs and another big uppercut. And a right straight. MacDonald stuffs one last takedown before the bell. Pretty clear 10-9 for Rory as far as I’m concerned. After a couple of back-to-back stinkers, that was a fantastic performance from Rory MacDonald. Hey look, all the judges got it right! Rory MacDonald def. Demian Maia via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3). “The animal is back,” MacDonald says. “I’m ready to kick some ass, I’m ready to kill…I want that belt.”
Ladies and gentlemen, we have now entered the “squash match” portion of the evening…
Daniel Cormier vs. Patrick Cummins
Round 1: Cormier takes the center of the cage. Cummins lands a sharp leg kick. He shoots, Cormier defends. Cummins with a nice body kick. Cormier lands a hard uppercut. Some hockey-fighting from the clinch. Cummins literally turns his back and runs away. Cormier follows him and throws bombs. An uppercut from Cormier glances off the side of Cummins’s head, and Cummins hits the mat. Cormier starts throwing down bombs. Cummins rolls and turtles. More big, nasty shots from Cormier and it’s all over. Cummins tries to get to his feet. He looks disappointed with the stoppage, but come on bro, you were gonna get killed out there. Daniel Cormier def. Patrick Cummins via TKO, 1:19 of round 1.
Ronda Rousey vs. Sara McMann
Round 1: Rousey storms to the center of the Octagon, and McMann lands multiple punches to Ronda’s dome as she’s coming in. They clinch against the fence and Rousey lands a hard knee to the body and a sharp elbow. They trade knees. Rousey lands another knee to the liver and McMann drops to the mat and covers up. Herb Dean steps in…just as McMann grabs a leg and tries to recover. The crowd boos the stoppage as premature. But what are you gonna do, McMann dropped like a corpse. Ronda Rousey def. Sara McMann via TKO, 1:06 of round 1. So that’s what it looks like to see Ronda win by something other than an armbar…interesting.
Well damn, the main card is over in two hours, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to replay any of the prelims. Are Goldberg and Rogan going to have to kill time for a full hour? I want no part of this. Good night, all.
In terms of unfortunate realities, UFC 170 was in a pretty miserable place as recently as two weeks ago: The co-main event was between two top contenders, and pretty much no one cared.
Rashad Evans and Daniel Cormier were set to square off, each perhap…
In terms of unfortunate realities, UFC 170 was in a pretty miserable place as recently as two weeks ago: The co-main event was between two top contenders, and pretty much no one cared.
Rashad Evans and Daniel Cormier were set to square off, each perhaps a win away from a title shot. Evans has been resurgent after a loss in February last year, and Cormier is a long-undersized heavyweight finally willing to fight in his true weight class.
And no one cared.
It could be the UFC’s insistence on pairing Evans with Fox co-workers (next up: Evans versus Karyn Bryant on a card headlined by Joe Buck battling Troy Aikman) or that Cormier needs more of a jerk like Roy Nelson or Frank Mir to make people interested.
It could be that, on a card with Ronda Rousey, neither man is going to be the star because of the promotion’s recent Ronda regimen.
Perhaps the fight just had an air of one happening because two halfway relevant dudes needed to fight in order to justify a pay-per-view in the middle of February, and those two were healthy and available.
Regardless of the reasoning, it wasn’t catching people’s attention.
A lot can change in a few days.
Evans went down last week with a knee injury, on the shelf until later this year after surgery. Cormier, threatened with removal from the card, pleaded with the entire universe to step up and fight him. Pat Cummins, serving coffee in California, said, “Sure, why not?” and signed with the UFC.
Wait, what?
Yeah, totally.
Local cauliflower-eared barista Pat Cummins said he’d fight Cormier, and the UFC was into it. Cummins, a 4-0 prospect with a history with Cormier, said he wanted the fight, and after a little digging by the promotion, the UFC thought it could work.
So far, it has.
Cummins has a natural salesmanship about him, a knack for saying the exact right thing when the cameras are on to make people want to watch him fight. He also has that chance-of-a-lifetime charm that fans are always curious of, and he’s handled the early days of his UFC run with surprising aplomb for an unknown.
When given the chance at Cormier, he immediately let the world know that he’d made the Olympian cry in training. The move drew attention from fans and heat regarding the “code” in wrestling, but Cummins dealt with that as well.
“That’s the business,” he told MMA Fighting‘s Dave Doyle at this week’s open workouts. “We need to come out here and we’re getting in a fight.”
He continued: “The wrestling community hasn’t had a big outcry on the wrestling code thing, I think [that] was him backpedaling a little bit.”
There’s little question that an Evans-Cormier fight would be more competitive, but if we’re being honest right now, that’s not what the UFC needs. It needs a guy who can say some crazy stuff, who has enough history to sell the human element and maybe move a few units come Saturday night.
Evans and Cormier, for all their competitive appeal, weren’t doing that.
UFC 170 is not deep. By most reasonable standards, due to injuries and an unsustainable run of 10 events in 13 weeks, it’s not even good. Rousey or no Rousey, it needed to be sold, and the women’s champion was having a hard time on her own with an opponent so disinterested in making a sale.
Cummins has done that, at least to the extent one could call reasonable. He’s had a short time to work, sold himself well and made it evident that he and Cormier aren’t going to be pals when the cage door closes on Saturday night.
The fight itself is almost irrelevant for the UFC, because it got more than it ever bargained for by signing Cummins. He’s no Rashad Evans, but in a totally different way, he might prove more valuable this weekend.
Daniel Cormier stepped inside the cage at UFC 170 for his first fight at light heavyweight. He took care of business in less than 90 seconds.