With Cummings fighting right down the road from Kansas City this Sunday, he’ll no doubt have the local crowd in his corner. That’s something he appreciates before and after the bout, but during, it’s not as much of a factor as you might think.
“When I step in the cage to fight, it’s a fight” he told us. “I don’t really care where I’m at. I’ve traveled the world and fought, I’ve fought right here in my backyard.”
On the plus side, “the whole fight week experience is pretty cool, being close to home. I don’t even think we’re doing the official weigh-ins this time. That was really cool in Kansas City, having everyone there being real loud.” Yet once he’s in the cage, “it’s game time. I don’t really focus too much on that aspect; after the fight, I’ll enjoy it. Before the fight I’ll enjoy it. When I’m in there, it’s all business.”
Not to look past the dangerous Alves, but getting a fight in so early in 2018, what’s Cummings plan for the rest of the year, fight-wise?
I don’t think Darren Till has an opponent in two months. I would love that match-up.
“I would love to get four in, I really would” he said. “I feel like before I got in the UFC, I was really active, fought all the time. Then I had these stupid little injuries, little things that happened, and really I haven’t been as active as I wanted in the UFC. I would like to change that. I can’t look past anybody, but I have a certain match-up, a certain fight that I would love to get directly into after this one, about two months after.”
For Cummings, who has an infant daughter at home and has been in training camp for most of her life thus far, family is a concern. So he’ll sit down with his wife, talk things out, but that certain fight is definitely attractive. If all goes well, he’s angling for a fight with Darren Till across the pond.
“I can’t look past Alves, but if everything goes how I think it can go, I don’t think Darren Till has an opponent in two months” Cummings stated. “I would love that match-up. I’ve fought in Europe multiple times, I’ve got a good-sized fan base over in Europe. He’s another opponent who has a whole lot of hype behind him that, I’m not really on the hype train yet. I would love it.”
“He’s a big welterweight, I’m one of the biggest welterweights out there” Cummings added. “I’m not really worried about the size. We both fought Dalby, and he got 10-8’d in the third round. I’m not on the hype train yet, I know he has a ton of hype behind him, so that could be a good name to take out.”
“Obviously I’ve got to finish Alves first.”
Does Cummings enjoy the opportunity to derail a hype train now and then?
“Yeah, I do” he admitted. “I feel like I’m always the underdog, I really don’t feel a lot of respect. If I start getting respect or I’m the favorite, I still kind of act like I’m the underdog. I put a chip on my shoulders sometimes, I have a lot to prove.”
“If I’m the champion some day, I won’t know what to expect” he said with a chuckle.
Turning back the clock for a minute, talk switched to season 25 of The Ultimate Fighter, on which Cummings’ friend and training partner James Krause appeared. If given the chance, would Cummings have gone back on?
“Funny you brought that up, I was actually going to be on the show” he said. “I pulled my name out of it. It was supposed to be an All-Star season, instead of Redemption. They wanted all UFC-signed people that were on The Ultimate Fighter. So me and James decided to do it. I went out there, did all the medicals, all the interviews.”
Cummings was even an early favorite to win the show. “I’m the only welterweight who showed up who had fought in the UFC [Krause generally fights at lightweight]. I was kind of the number one pick, and picked to win the show. The producers were joking around that they’d have to come to Kansas City for the finale, that it would be against James. Business partner, best friend and training partner against each other.”
However, weight cutting concerns gave Cummings cold feet. “The more I thought about it, and it got more serious, I was really concerned about making 170, over and over again in the house. I ended up pulling my name out and just decided to back James up. I actually got to go on as a guest coach a couple times.” Cummings concerns were not unfounded, given the struggles seen in season 26 with Sijara Eubanks trying to make weight.
Still, “it was an opportunity I actually kind of wanted, and now after watching the show, it would have been kind of fun to do. Once I decided to pull my name out, I said I wouldn’t regret anything. I was just one hundred percent rooting for James and helping him, supporting him.” In the end “it was definitely kind of a cool thing to see how it went.”
“If it was 185 I would have done it.”
Ultimately, the entire concept for the show changed. Why? Said Cummings, “my guess is, they couldn’t get enough people that were signed with the UFC to do it. There’s probably not a whole lot of people still fighting with the UFC that were on TUF, and some of them are ranked. Probably making quite a bit more money.”
Then, he added, “once they realized there were a whole bunch of guys trying to get back in, they just realized it’s probably a better name, to go with Redemption than with All-Stars.”
What could have been. It still would have been interesting to see Zak Cummings on TUF again, but with a fight against Thiago Alves, perhaps things worked out for the best. Circling back to the present, what are Cummings’ final thoughts for UFC St. Louis?
“Alves is one hard dude to finish, but if there’s one thing I’m great at, it’s finishing fights” he told us. “I see me hurting him on the feet, and probably ending up on the ground somehow and catching a submission.”
“If you can take him down, he’s really good at working back to his feet. I thrive on catching submissions on guys in scrambles. Every time I think about it, that’s where I see it.” Pressed for a prediction, Cummings went with a second round submission.
We’ll find out Sunday, when Zak Cummings faces Thiago Alves to open the televised portion of UFC Fight Night 124 in St. Louis. The televised prelims go down on Fox Sports 1 (The Fight Network in Canada) at 8PM EST.
