SAO PAULO – Patrick Cummins said he’s ready to prove he belongs at the top of the UFC light-heavyweight division, and he’ll do it against Glover Teixeira at UFC Fight Night 77.

Cummins (8-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) said he should already be considered among the top contenders at 205 pounds, but a setback against Daniel Cormier in his UFC debut forced him to hit the reset button. Now he anticipates a breakthrough performance against Teixeira (23-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC).

“A lot of my motivation is righting that wrong that I had at the beginning of my UFC career,” Cummins told MMAjunkie. “I just think it’s one of those things that’s been nagging at me. I want revenge, and I think I’m a lot better fighter than what I showed out there. I want to not so much prove to other people, but prove to myself that this where I belong and I can compete with these guys.

“Winning that fight would have really put me on a straight line to where I want to go. Losing that fight – my next fight was on (UFC) Fight Pass, and I really had to take the long, tough road to get back to where I want to be. Now I’m back there I’m ready to prove it.”

UFC Fight Night 77 takes place on Saturday at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo. Cummins, No. 15 in the NOS Energy Drink MMA light-heavyweight rankings vs. No. 7-ranked Teixeira is the co-main event on the FOX Sports 1-televised main card following prelims on the same channel and UFC Fight Pass.

Cummins’ UFC career has been a whirlwind. He accepted the short-notice bout with Cormier and followed with a three-fight winning streak. He suffered anther setback, against Ovince Saint Preux, earlier this year, but he managed to rebound with an impressive TKO victory over Rafael Cavalcante in August to set up the showdown with Teixeira.

The matchup had been discussed as a possibility in the past, Cummins said. However, it never came to fruition. With more experience under his belt, the 34-year-old said it’s the perfect time for the bout to come together.

“It was a fight that I’ve always wanted,” Cummins said. “This is a matchup that I think really, really goes in my favor. I’m excited to have it. I’m looking for big things. … Glover’s obviously a really heavy-handed, big punching guy. I want to be elusive on my feet. I still want to exchange but in a smart way. I want to threaten my wrestling but not press it. I don’t want to just be one-dimensional. I want to mix things up and keep you guessing.”

The majority of Cummins’ in-fight success has come from his wrestling base. He’s completed 25 takedowns in his four UFC victories, and his average of 6.18 takedowns per 15 minutes of fighting is the highest rate of any fighter in UFC history.

Cummins’ wrestling attack has a tendency to slow opponents and take away their will to compete. He plans to implement that same strategy against Teixeira.

“It’s tiring to be on the bottom, but it’s tiring to get taken down constantly and, not so much played with, but I’ll keep taking you down because I know that makes you more tired than me being on top of you,” Cummins said. “I want to push that pace really hard and get him to a point where he says, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’ That to me is the biggest kind of win.

“A knockout is awesome, and submissions are awesome, but I want to get to the point where he says, ‘I can’t hang with this guy.'”

A win over a highly ranked fighter such as Teixeira would put Cummins within striking distance of a title fight. But with current titleholder Cormier and former champ Jon Jones expected to rematch in the near future, it will likely take at least one more win to solidify a crack at UFC gold.

Cummins is content with that path, he said. But ultimately his goal is to hold the UFC belt, and if he can double up by avenging the loss to Cormier, that would make the situation even better.

“I always say I want to climb the ladder,” Cummins said. “Last fight I broke into the top 10 (of the UFC rankings). I’m expecting to break into the top five with this fight, and that definitely puts a conversation on the table of, ‘Hey, this guy can challenge for a title.’ Especially if it’s an impressive fight.”

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