Patrick Cummins announces retirement
Patrick Cummins | Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
“Durkin” his hanging up the gloves.
On Tuesday, UFC light heavyweight Patrick Cummins announced via social media that he is retiring from MMA competition following a nine-year fighting career.
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A post shared by Patrick Durkin Cummins (@officialdurkin) on Dec 24, 2019 at 9:19am PST
“I’ve given the idea of retirement a lot of careful consideration of the past six months. Today is the day that I officially say goodbye to my 20-plus-year-long career as an athlete,” Cummins wrote. It’s not an easy decision to make especially when a competitive life is all I’ve ever known.”
Cummins, a two-time Division-I All-American wrestler at Penn State University, did not provide details on what may be next for him, only stating that he didn’t feel he was “100 percent” dedicated to fighting anymore and that the UFC is not a place where one can just “go through the motions.”
The 39-year-old wraps up his career with a 10-7 record, including a 6-7 mark in the UFC. His debut took place at UFC 170 on Feb. 22, 2014, in Las Vegas, where he fought Daniel Cormier. Cummins was a short-notice replacement for an injured Rashad Evans and he had a history with Cormier having worked with the future two-division champion ahead of the 2004 Olympics.
Though he lost to Cormier in just 79 seconds, Cummins went on to win his next three fights and pick up notable victories over Jan Blachowicz and Rafael Cavalcante during his UFC tenure. He lost his last three fights, most recently competing at UFC Rochester in May.
See Cummins’s full retirement statement below:
I’ve given the idea of retirement a lot of careful consideration over the past 6 months. Today is the day that I officially say goodbye to my 20+ year long career as an athlete. It’s not an easy decision to make especially when a competitive life is all I’ve ever known.
I’m not quite sure what the next chapter will be titled, but I know one thing for certain. I won’t spend any more time involved in something that my heart isn’t 100% into. I spent over year in the UFC where that was the case but I wasn’t completely aware of it. Turns out that’s probably one of the hardest places to go through the motions. Live and learn.I want to thank my friends, family, loved ones, coaches, sponsors and training partners who’ve had a hand in shaping me over the years. You all know who you are and I love you.
One group of people I’ve left out is my fans. I’ve been able to do extraordinary things with your moral support. In good times and especially bad, many of you have reached out with motivation or praise over the years that I could never understand. For that, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I don’t think anyone can look back at their career and be completely satisfied with it, but one thing I wouldn’t change for anything is the unique group of amazing fans I’ve managed to curate. I love you all too. Thank you!! Cheers
