Patrick Cummins won’t go down as one of the most all-around skilled fighters in the history of mixed martial arts.
His toughness and heart, though, should never be questioned.
The light heavyweight from Dana Point, Calif., withstood a wicked early onslaught from Poland’s Jan Blachowicz on Saturday night at UFC 210.
But, despite nasty cuts on his nose and over his right eye, Cummins persisted. And he rallied over an exhausted Blachowicz in the final two rounds to win a majority decision. The judges’ scores at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center were a pair of 29-28s and a 28-28.
Blachowicz (15-7) rocked Cummins on several occasions early on, but never quite finished the fight. And by the middle of the second round, Cummins, a former wrestler at Penn State, managed to find a second wind while Blachowicz faded.
Cummins used his wrestling to take control over the remainder of the fight, and in case there was any doubt left, landed a big series of knees in the clinch late in the third round.
With his second win in his past four fights, Cummins improved to 9-4, while Blachowicz lost for the fourth time in his past five fights.