Cummins: Cormier is mentally weak
“His weakness is mental. A guy comes out there, doesn’t make weight for the Olympics. I mean, c’mon guys, that is about as mental of an issue as you can get.”
Responses varied when Patrick Cummins was plucked out of the drive in window of a coffee shop, and put into the co-main event vs. Daniel Cormier. For many the Rocky angle resonated, along with the built in backstory that in wrestling practice Cummins had left Cormier in tears. Others were not impressed, including ONE FC fighter Ben Askren.
Askren got stuck in a public relations battle between Bellator and the UFC, and ultimately ended up in neither. Bellator founder Bjorn Rebney said the Askren’s wrestling-heavy style was not suited to the Bellator roster, which is heavy on Russian kickboxers. UFC president Dana White said Askren was not yet ready for the competition in the UFC, noting a split decision win over Jay Hieron, who went on to drop two in the UFC.
“@danawhite so I haven’t fought anyone, but a guy who is 4-0 and opponents comb. record is 9-19 gets an immediate co main fight,” tweeted Askren. “Lets hear the real reason. Didn’t a former @BellatorMMA fighter to come and prove he is the best in the world! #fatbaldmansegoistoobig”
Cummins responded to Askren in an interview with USA Today, saying it was not the wrestling pedigree that matters, but how the wrestler fights.
“I get it, Ben Askren is a little sore about the whole, ‘Hey, how come I’m not the guy? I’m the decorated wrestler here, what’s the deal?'” said the two-time NCAA All-American as transcribed by MMAMania. “I know that to a lot of people, one wrestler is the same as another, but that’s not the case. I’m not out there looking to grab an ankle and roll around and get all funky. That’s not my style of wrestling.
“My style of wrestling is explosive, in your face and I want to exploit the conditioning issue as much as possible. That’s what you want, you want to see two guys pushing, leaving it all out there. And I think that’s what I bring. Ben Askren is more of a, ‘I’m going to play the chess game to win,’ and I’m going for broke. I’m getting after it hard. I mean, maybe that doesn’t come across in the four fights that they’ve seen, but, I got four finishes in four fights all in the first round. I think that says something.”
Cummins naturally also talked about Cormier.
“His weakness is mental,” said Cummins. “A guy comes out there, doesn’t make weight for the Olympics. I mean, c’mon guys, that is about as mental of an issue as you can get.”