The second bout of Saturday’s UFC on Fox 25 main card featured light heavyweights Gian Villante and Patrick Cummins facing off. It was your standard striker vs. grappler bout for UFC Long Island, with Cummins entering the evening off a win over Jan Blachowicz. Villante, meanwhile, was most recently finished by Brazil’s legendary Shogun Rua. He’d be looking to get back on track against “Durkin.”
The pair entered UFC Long Island ranked 12th and 13th in the UFC’s official light heavyweight rankings, so there was a good chance the winner would be breaking into the top ten.
Cummins shot for a single on the lead leg of Villante early, but could not convert it. He next went for a double leg that looked a little sloppy, and ate some hammer fists that opened up a cut for his troubles. Back on the feet he was wobbled by a couple of Villante shots, but managed to clinch and buy some time. The action was then stopped by ref Big John due to an accidental headbutt. That allowed Cummins to recover, and when the fight resumed a bloodied Durkin again sought out a takedown. Again, Villante proved to had excellent takedown defense, which only accented the fact that he was winning the exchanges on the feet with ease. With a minute left Cummins initiated a clinch, which allowed him further time to recover, but his offense was almost entirely shut down in the first.
Round two saw Villante looking for a home for his upper cut, while Cummins was able to connect with a left hook. He then shot in for a single leg but was once again denied as Villante pulled free. Cummins was beginning to find more success on the feet, as Villante may have slowed a little, but each and every shot continued to be denied. At the very least, however, the threat of the takedown was forcing Villante to stay on guard for it, giving Cummins an opening for his standup.
By the third round, both men were exhausted and the action had slowed; they were still engaging however, with Villante circling out of the way of Cummins’ attacks. Villante then caught Cummins in an exchange that hurt the wrestler. Cummins slipped off a takedown attempt that opened him up to more damage, but showed plenty of heart and battled back. With just under two minutes to go Cummins had Villante in trouble up against the fence, but couldn’t make much of it. In the end, the two kept swinging til the end of the fight. It went to the judges, two of whom deemed that Cummins did enough to come back in the later rounds to secure the victory.
Patrick Cummins def. Gian Villante by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
