ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Patrick Cummins has spent the better part of the past nine months recovering from a nasty staph infection and relocating his training camp to a comfortable area.
Cummins (10-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) is healthy and happy now, though, and said that’s an encouraging situation going into Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 128 showdown with Corey Anderson (9-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC).
“The staph thing really threw me off, but it’s only given me time to improve,” Cummins told MMAjunkie. “When I started off camp I started feeling really good. You have that confidence, and you have that momentum. Everything really starts to come along. When you’re an old man, and you have to take two or three months off, it’s probably not a bad thing. It was good. Get me refreshed and get me refocused.”
UFC Fight Night 128 takes place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., with Cummins vs. Anderson set to open the FS1-televised portion of the card following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.
Although Cummins, 37, has a positive attitude about everything now, there were some dark times between current day and his most recent bout, a split-decision win over Gian Villante at UFC on FOX 25 in July. He said most of it was caused by the ordeal with MRSA, or what’s more commonly know as staph infection.
Cummins has only fought once in the past year, so the financial stress of paying $700 for medication, as well as the other expenses that come with recovery and not fighting, were a major stress. There were some worrisome times, but Cummins managed to overcome and vows he’s in a better place because of it.
“Durkin” believes the issue with staph was partly brought on by the weather conditions in Florida. For that reason, he relocated to Denver and is now fighting out of Genesis Training Center, which is home to the likes of UFC strawweight champ Rose Namajunas.
Cummins’ issue with MRSA got so severe that he was forced to pull out of a scheduled bout at UFC 217 in November. He was slated to fight Anderson on that card, and even though “Overtime” lost to replacement Ovince Saint Preux, the UFC opted to book the fight again for UFC Fight Night 128. Cummins said that made him happy.
“This was the fight I really wanted,” Cummins said. “You train through a camp and for a specific person. At the time I was like, ‘Aw, that work is kind of lost.’ But I was excited when we got it booked again.”
Despite Anderson coming off two-straight knockout losses and Cummins riding a pair of decision wins, Cummins still thinks it’s a logical booking of the light heavyweight division. He likes how his style meshes with Anderson and said he’ll be looking for a submission on fight night.
“It’s an ideal matchup for me,” Cummins said. “I really want a submission this fight. I’ve got a couple tricks up my sleeve.”
For more on UFC Fight Night 128, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
