UFC on Fox: Lawler vs Brown Prelim Breakout Star: Patrick Cummins

(Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports)

The Prelim Breakout Star is a once per event article that helps fans get to know those who will be entertaining them from the undercard. The intention of the article is not to bring attention to the most talented guy on the preliminary card, but rather one that the common fan may have overlooked or underestimated.

If you watched an episode of UFC Tonight, SportsCenter or visited an MMA-themed website you likely already know this Breakout Star. From the time he was announced as a part of the UFC roster, his story inspired and his mouth made us curious. While his first go round didn’t go as planned, there’s plenty to look forward to when watching the career of this character.

Patrick Cummins
Nickname – Durkin
Affiliation – Reign MMA
From – Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Height – 6’2”
Weight – 205 lbs (Light Heavyweight)
Record – 5-1 (1-1 UFC)

What makes him impressive

When Patrick Cummins was brought in to fight Daniel Cormier as the co-main event of UFC 170, his wrestling, along with his job as a barista, was the talk of the town. Having trained with Cormier as an American Olympic hopeful, there was absolutely no doubt in his abilities to take someone down. As a matter of fact, his accounts of their training sessions had enough people believing he could take out the Strikeforce Grand Prix champion. Although Cormier’s hands proved to be too much, Cummins did show that he was a very game opponent.

With Cummins takedown prowess stealing all of the attention, few heard much else about his submission game. In half of his pre-UFC bouts, he had choked out his opponents with a wrestling inspired submission game that includes plenty of arm triangles. This game is sneaky and shows up when his opponents least expect it – in between a load of hammer fists.

Why he has been overlooked

After building such hype leading into UFC 170, Cummins had everyone’s attention. Sadly, he did not get the ‘W’ and many turned their back on his prospective skills. This is very similar to what happened to Ilir Latifi. Much like Latifi and his post-headlining success, Cummins is likely to get plenty of shots to prove himself.

What makes this a good matchup

It has been almost two full years since the last time Kyle Kingsbury fought, and at that time he was on a three fight losing streak. Part of the reason for that losing streak was facing some very impressive competition in Jimi Manuwa, Glover Teixeira and Stephan Bonnar. Another part of the reason was that he was very easily taken down in two of those bouts – Stephan Bonnar used his superior size to take him down numerous times. If he can’t fend off Cummins’s attempts, he’ll likely spend the night crying like… er… a big baby.

Prelim Breakout Star History:

Record: 39 Wins, 19 Losses, 2 Did Not Fight (DNF)

1. Francisco Trinaldo – UFC on FX: Belfort vs Bisping (W)

2. Simeon Thoresen – UFC on Fox: Johnson vs Dodson (L)

3. Tyron Woodley – UFC 156 (W)

4. Vaughan Lee – UFC on Fuel: Barao vs McDonald (W)

5. Dennis Bermudez – UFC 157 (W)

6. Cristiano Marcello – UFC on Fuel: Stann vs Silva (L)

7. Daron Cruickshank – UFC 158 (L)

8. Ryan LaFlare – UFC on Fuel: Mousasi vs Latifi (W)

9. Bart Palaszewski – TUF Finale (L)

10. Yoel Romero – UFC on Fox: Henderson vs Melendez (W)

11. Rustam Khabilov – UFC 159 (W)

12. Fabio Maldonado – UFC on FX: Belfort vs Rockhold (W)

13. Khabib Nurmagomedov – UFC 160 (W)

14. Antonio Braga Neto – UFC on Fuel: Nogueira vs Werdum (W)

15. Roland Delorme – UFC 161 (W)

16. Seth Baczynski – UFC 162 (L)

17. Jorge Masvidal – UFC on Fox: Johnson vs Moraga (W)

18. Ednaldo Oliveira – UFC 163 (L)

19. Mike Brown – UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Sonnen (L)

20. Dylan Andrews – UFC Fight Night: Condit vs Kampmann (W)

21. Soa Palelei – UFC 164 (W)

22. Elias Silverio – UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs Bader (W)

23. John Makdessi – UFC 165 (W)

24. Alan Patrick – UFC Fight Night: Maia vs Shields (W)

25. Andre Fili – UFC 166 (W)

26. Jimy Hettes – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Munoz (W)

27. Germaine de Randamie – UFC Fight for the Troops 3 (L)

28. Omari Akhmedov – UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs Henderson (W)

29. Sergio Pettis – UFC 167 (W)

30. Roxanne Modafferi – TUF Finale (L)

31. Takeya Mizugaki – UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Bigfoot (W)

32. Alptekin Ozkilic – UFC on Fox: Johnson vs Benavidez (W)

33. Siyar Bahadurzada – UFC 168 (L)

34. Mairbek Taisumov – UFC Fight Night: Saffiedine vs Lim (W)

35. Charlie Brenneman – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Philippou (L)

36. Walt Harris – UFC on Fox: Henderson vs Thompson (L)

37. Clint Hester – UFC 169 (W)

38. Joe Proctor – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Mousasi (W)

39. Aljamain Sterling – UFC 170 (W)

40. Zak Cummings – TUF China Finale (DNF)

41. Cyrille Diabate – UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs Manuwa (L)

42. Mats Nilsson – UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs Manuwa (L)

43. Alex Garcia – UFC 171 (W)

44. Hans Stringer – UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Henderson (W)

45. Jim Alers – UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs Nelson (W)

46. Ryan Jimmo – TUF Finale (W)

47. Caio Magalhaes – UFC on Fox: Werdum vs Browne (W)

48. Joe Ellenberger – UFC 172 (DNF)

49. Kyoji Horiguchi – UFC Fight Night: Brown vs Silva (W)

50. Francisco Trinaldo – UFC 173 (L)

51. Iuri Alcantara – UFC FIght Night: Mousasi vs Munoz (W)

52. Paulo Thiago – TUF Brazil Finale (L)

53. Jon Tuck – UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs Khabilov (W)

54. Mike Easton – UFC 174 (L)

55. Ian Entwistle – UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs Te Huna (L)

56. Ray Borg – UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs Stevens (W)

57. Rob Font – UFC 175 (W)

58. Derrick Lewis – TUF Finale (W)

59. Jessamyn Duke – UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs Miller (L)

60.  Nikita Krylov – UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Brandao (W)