In an interview with Zak Cummings, he explained to me why he took the fight against Gunnar Nelson and what he expects to happen in Ireland .
Cummings is a Glory MMA Fit fighter out of Missouri that has fought in quite a few weight classes in his career, but has chosen to fight at welterweight as of late. He’s a replacement for the injured Ryan LaFlare and stepping up to face undefeated #13 fighter Nelson. Cummings knew Nelson was probably the toughest test he could get outside of the top ten, but he believes his size, skill, and overall knowledge of mixed martial arts will be enough to overwhelm the Icelandic fighter this coming weekend. Cummings really wants to be the guy that puts an end to the hype of Nelson. “I know I can beat him, or I would not have stepped up to take this fight” said Cummings.
His main training partner for this fight has been James Krause. Krause was able to simulate Nelson’s unorthodox karate style quite well. Nelson is very undersized for a welterweight and Krause is a lightweight that is actually quite larger than Nelson in the off-season, so it was a great benefit to Cummings to have this partner at this gym.
The weight cut has gone really well for Cummings. He walks around at 200 lbs in the off-season and maintains a strict diet, and feels rather good as he is heading into another country. He went to Ireland with enough time to adjust to the different time zone and atmosphere. He doesn’t really care where the fight is and he loves playing the role of the underdog in this fight.
The final question that I asked Cummings is what to expect in his fight this weekend. He replied, “a full arsenal of mixed martial arts. I want to take this fight everywhere and show Gunnar Nelson that I am better than him in all aspects of the game.” Cummings realizes that as this will be the co-main event, this is his opportunity to really put his name on the map in the always-tough UFC welterweight division.
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