UFC light heavyweight Patrick Cummins got starched by top contender Daniel Cormier at UFC 170 in February, but he still thinks he has the tools to take out DC if they ever meet again.
As a matter of fact, Durkin, a former barista, believes he would beat Cormier 90 percent of the time, according to a recent interview with Submission Radio.
The biggest thing I learned is just to keep my focus. No matter how the fight's going, you have to stay in the zone or stay in the moment, because as soon as you break your concentration, that’s when you’re giving your opponent an opportunity to capitalize. ... I truly believe any time I step into the cage with Daniel, I’ll be able to beat him. And I think, you know, maybe nine times out of 10 I can beat him right. I’m just happy that I got that one loss—that one time that I could possibly lose to him—I got it out of the way.
The former Penn State University wrestler is 5-1 as a professional mixed martial artist, with all of his victories coming via a finish.
However, outside of Cormier, he hasn't fought anyone noteworthy (to the point where his past opponents don't even have Wikipedia pages).
Cummins last competed at UFC Fight Night 42 this past Saturday, scoring a Round 2 TKO over Roger Narvaez. It was his first bout since the loss to Cormier.
He will see a step up in competition when he faces veteran Kyle Kingsbury at UFC on Fox 12 in July.
As far as Cormier, a former Olympic level wrestler, is concerned, he is currently 15-0 inside the cage, having dealt with very little opposition up to this point.
The Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix winner has beaten plenty of quality competition along the way, too, including the likes of Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva, Josh Barnett, Frank Mir and his latest victim, Dan Henderson.
Cormier has recently expressed his intent to sit on the sidelines and wait for a title shot against the winner of Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson II, set for UFC 178 in September, per MMA Fighting.
Despite a lopsided beatdown that lasted just 79 seconds, is there any shot Cummins would perform better in a rematch with the American Kickboxing Academy standout?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
