Zak Cummings isn’t happy with his UFC Vegas 8 win over Alessio Di Chirico.
Cummings was coming off a loss to Omari Akhmedov and looking to return to the win column. He even entered as the betting underdog which surprised him.
“I honestly thought I would be a pretty big favorite,” Cummings said to BJPENN.com after the win. “About a week out my buddy told me I was the underdog. Obviously the fight was close but I believe I am the much better fighter. I didn’t use about two-thirds of my tools. I let it stay close and that is on me.”
As Cummings mentioned, the fight was super close but he ended up getting his hand raised by decision. Yet, many thought he could’ve got a knockout win as he dropped the Italian at the buzzer and Di Chirico stumbled to get up. The ref ended up deeming Di Chirico was still in it so the fight went to the scorecards.
When the scorecards were about to be read, Cummings was confident he did enough to get his hand raised but knows you can’t trust the judges.
“I know everyone is all over the place on this but I’ve been under the assumption that you can’t be saved by the bell after the final round,” Zak Cummings said. “He did try to get up pretty quick but he fell over again and was dazed when he got up. The ref noticed it but it caught everyone by surprise. You don’t see it often so it is a hard call to make.
“I felt pretty good but you never want to go to trust judges,” he continued. “I knew the first round was really close, I thought I did enough to win it. Then in the second and third, I thought I won it pretty convincingly.”
Although Zak Cummings got his hand raised he is disappointed in his performance. He knows he is better than that and is mad he didn’t get the finish. So, despite him getting his hand raised and improving to 3-1 at middleweight, he doubts a ranked opponent will be next.
“Honestly I don’t feel like I had a good enough performance to call out anyone. I beat someone who has lost two in a row and I know 3-1 at middleweight seems good but man I don’t know,” he explained. “To be honest, I truly don’t think I deserve a ranked guy after that. I probably need another win but this is weird time and maybe a ranked guy needs a fight and I would jump on the opportunity.”
For now, Cummings is resting up after the fight with the hope he can get another fight this year.
Who do you think should be next for Zak Cummings?