Pat Cummins Wants Match With “Rumble,” Plans On Taking Revenge Against Daniel Cormier

After a disappointing start to his UFC career, Pat Cummins showed a glimpse of his full potential last month when he picked up his first win inside the Octagon by steamrolling Kyle Kingsbury into retirement.

Now after a short break, “Durkin” is ready to get back to training and look for his second straight win in the UFC’s light-heavyweight division:

“I’m not exactly sure what the next step is for me, who were going to go after, but I’d like to know pretty quickly,” he said in a recent interview with Submission Radio.

One man who has caught the standout wrestler’s eye is Anthony Johnson who picked up his second straight win in the light-heavyweight division the same night Cummins beat Kingsbury with a vicious knockout over Antônio Rogério Nogueira. Despite being a lot further down the 205 pound ladder, he thinks he has what it takes to stop “Rumble”.

“I think I can weather that storm and I think conditioning is still his issue. I still think if someone pushes him hard, he’s gonna have those same problems that he used to have when he was making 170, and I’d like be the guy to exploit that weakness.”

In his return to the Octagon, Johnson was able to defeat Phill Davis with relative ease and stuff all “Mr Wonderful’s” takedowns in the process. Cummins doesn’t think the former welterweight would have the same success against him.

“Yeah, I definitely think I can. You know Phil is a great wrestler, but we’re very different wrestlers. I mean, it’s sometimes very difficult for him to go out and get that explosive take down that he needs, where that’s my strong point.”

As much as he wants to face Johnson, the chances of him getting that fight are very unlikely. But, the 33-year old is keeping his expectations reasonable and just plans on breaking the top ten by the end of the year.

“Realistically by the end of the year I’d like to be in the top 10, and next year I think I can be starting to challenge. As long as I can have as many fights as I’ve had this year, I think I can find myself in the hunt.”

Still, Cummins says he’s not one of those guys who fight purely for recognition. He has his eyes set on the top. And if things go his way he would love to get there while also taking revenge against Daniel Cormier.

“I wanna be the champ. And more than anything I want revenge against Daniel Cormier,” he said. “I think he has a great shot of taking the belt, and I’d love to kill two birds with one stone eventually and take the belt from him.”