Well, UFC 170 has its co-main event, but it’s not a fight anyone expected. Ultimate Fighting Champinoship announced yesterday that Daniel Cormier will still be making his light heavyweight debut on the card, but with Rashad Evans out with an injury, Cormier will now take on undefeated newcomer Patrick Cummins in the new co-main event of the UFC 170 pay-per-view. Yes, someone you’ve likely never heard of is going to be in the co-main event of a $60 UFC PPV card. And no, I don’t agree with it. I understand DC wanted to fight. I know he busted his ass in training camp for the last three months in an effort to get down to 205lbs, and I know he must have been devastated when Evans was scratched from the card. But this fight against Cummins is extremely risky, and if I was Cormier, I don’t know if I would have taken it. On paper, sure, Cormier should destroy this guy, and he should probably be a massive favorite of -1000 or even higher. But Cummins is a big guy, and with four-once gloves, just one punch behind the ear can end someone’s night. In Cormier’s case, it could end his title shot aspirations. Additionally, Cormier is a fighter who has broken his hand numerous times in the past. Say he beats Cummins, but breaks his hand in the process. He could wind up sitting on the shelf for the next six months. If that happens, was it worth taking this fight? There is no such thing as a “stay-busy” fight in the UFC, and I feel like anyone assuming Cormier (and/or Cummins) is going to enter and leave this fight with their full health intact is just plain wrong. This is MMA, and bones are flying and accidents happen. So that’s why I think this is a very risky fight for Cormier to take. Imagine he loses to this guy? Then the UFC loses a contender in a division that needs every single one it can get. I’ve seen a lot of people say, well at least we still get to see DC fight. Yes, we do — against someone who was literally working in a coffee shop on Wednesday. Someone that is so unknown that UFC president Dana White spelled his name wrong on Twitter when announcing the fight. Someone that most hardcore fans have never heard of. And to get the pleasure of seeing DC fight this guy, we have to pay $60 dollars. If this was a free card, like Gegard Mousasi vs. Ilir Latifi last year, then I’d have no problem with it. But asking fans to shell out a regular PPV price for a card that is less than stellar and that is co-headlined by a complete unknown is a tough sell, and I expect the PPV buyrate for this event to really suffer without the inclusion of Evans. The last thing I’ll say about this fight is that I’m almost shocked by the positive support for it among the media and fans, many of whom don’t even know who Cummins is. Don’t buy wolf tickets, guys — this fight makes no sense on any planet. It serves no purpose other than to give DC the opportunity to make the cut to 205 and see how he feels at the weight. Maybe Cummins is a decent prospect, and maybe he does deserve to be in the UFC, but he has NOT earned a fight against Cormier, and the UFC would have been better off paying DC his show money and moving him to a future card instead of giving him a nobody. After all, if Cummins was as good as supporters of this fight are making him out to be, he would have already been in the UFC. I’m looking forward to UFC 170, but it’s because I want to see Ronda Rousey vs. Sara McMann, Jessica Eye vs. Alexis Davis, Robert Whittaker vs. Stephen Thompson and Rory MacDonald vs. Demian Maia, not because of this stay-busy fight between DC and a 32-year-old unknown with four pro fights. By the way, here’s one of Cummins’ fights if you haven’t seen him fight yet.
