Patrick Cummins had to dig deep tonight after being rocked a few times early in his fight with Gian Villante tonight at UFC On FOX 25, but his persistence and pressure eventually paid off with a split decision win on the scorecards.
Round One:
Villante with an early kick. He looks for a right, then a left, but Cummins connects with a counter.
Cummins for his first takedown attempt of the fight, but Villante stuffs it. Cummins resets and goes in for another takedown, but again Villante stops it and that’s big for him.
Villante starting to let his hands go and he hurts Cummins. Villante lands again and Cummins legs are threatening to give out from under him.
There’s a clash of heads and ref ‘Big’ John McCarthy stops the fight momentarily and gives Cummins time to recover as he’s got a big cut high on the left hand side of his scalp.
Back to it they go with Cummins again failing on a takedown attempt. Villante just looking much more comfortable at striking range than his opponent and he even throws up a head kick attempt.
Cummins with yet another takedown attempt, but it’s just not happening for him tonight and after hanging in the clinch for a moment they are back to striking range.
Villante with a kick, but Cummins partially catches it and tries for a single-leg. Villante tries to stay upright, but Cummins clinches and partially gets him to the mat. Villante able to use the cage to stand back up though.
Back out of the clinch Cummins lands a punch. The left hand side of his face is soaked in blood as the round comes to a close, but despite some early scares he’s still in the fight.
Round Two:
Cummins with a right hook. Solid low kick for Villante. Another right lands for Cummins. Big uppercut for VIllante. Cummins ducks a punch and then counters with a hook.
Cummins in for the takedown, but Villante gets his leg free. Low kick for Cummins. Left hand for Cummins as he moves in for the takedown against the cage, but despite his wrestling prowess he’s just getting shut down repeatedly in that regard.
Cummins with a body kick. Right for Villante and then a combination for Cummins. Lazy left hook for Cummins.
Single-leg takedown fail for Cummins. Both men land a punch at the same time. Villante looking a little fatigued at this stage and he’s coming off second-best in a good few of these striking exchanges.
Nice right hand scores for Villante. left for Cummins. Cummins gets caught as he moves in. Combination of left and right hands lands for Cummins. Hard leg kick for Villante.
Villante with a head kick that doesn’t really work out. Cummins latest takedown is stopped as the round comes to a conclusion and Villante looks weary as he walks back to his corner.
Round Three:
Both men throwing heavy leather in close to start the final round. Cummins a little busier, but then Villante connects with a solid right hand. Another big right follows from Villante and Cummins legs give way for a brief seconds and his head is smeared with blood again.
Cummins hanging tough, but his attempt to get the fight to the floor doesn’t pay off. Villante with a kick. Villante connects with a nice jab. Right for Cummins. Now a superman punch that connects. Cummins trying to just gut this one out and continue to march forward.
Cummins starting to land again as VIllante shows signs of fatigue again. Looping right hook for Cummins connects clean and then he goes back for second helpings and appears to have his opponent a little dazed. Cummins targets the body with a knee as he moves into the clinch.
Cummins working in the clinch here and as he maintains control from this position. Not much happening though and the ref soon separates them.
Tired looking punches from both men, but Villante connects with a right. Villante suddenly coming to life in the final 10 second with a few punches and we’re headed to the scorecards.
Decision:
Cummins looks the more beaten up of the two, with his right eye practically swollen shut and a big cut on his scalp, while his gameplan to get Villante down to the mat failed all night long.
However, he kept pushing the pace against a tiring Villante in the later rounds and landed his fair share of punches, which appears to have swayed at least two of the judges in his favor, leading to Cummins earning a split decision victory (29-28 x2, 28-29).
