Zak Cummings is fully supportive of teammate Anthony Smith but believes light heavyweight may be a better fit for the former title challenger.
Training partners Cummings and Smith both competed at UFC Vegas 9 on Saturday, August 29. Cummings earned a unanimous decision after flooring Alessio Di Chirico with a head kick at 4:59 of round three. Smith did not fare as well, losing a unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27) to Aleksandar Rakic in a three-round main event. Some critics have recommended "Lionheart" move back to middleweight while others suggest light heavyweight is best for him.
"He truly is right in between," Cummings told Fightful after the event. "He either needs to make some changes on the lifestyle change to make 185. I think he matches up well at 205 still. His style, his size and everything. I think he does better and does well and has a better quality of life at 205. And he has a big frame."
"I think he needs to spend a little bit of time putting more horsepower on him and stay at 205. That way he can still have that better quality of life that he has really been enjoying since moving to 205," he continued. "I know he's really right in the middle but I think he's probably better that way. That gives him the balance he wants, and he has the frame to hold a little more meat. He just needs to change some training stuff and add a little muscle onto his frame. I'll support him either way. If he decides to go down, I definitely think he can do it and I think he'll do well there too."
Cummings also touched on his near-finish of Di Chirico in the closing moments of their fight. Viewers debated whether or not the fight should have been stopped. Cummings understands both sides of the argument but believes it should have at least been ruled a 10-8 round.
"I think it's an interesting talking point. I think some of the refs should get together and talk about that and get on the same page. We don't see it very often so it's a good learning point. I understand both sides of it," Cummings said. "I understand the whole round wasn't a dominant round but, especially with Vegas trying to give out more 10-8 rounds to try and make a difference in the judging, that was definitely fight-changing. It was a big event for that to happen. If you're not going to stop the fight, it probably should be a 10-8."
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