UFC 170: Daniel Cormier admits he nearly 'chickened' out of Patrick Cummins fight

When Rashad Evans blew out his knee and withdrew from the UFC 170 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which takes place this Saturday night (Feb. 22, 2014) inside Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, Daniel Cormier was the saddest light heavyweight in the world.

No, he didn't cry (sorry, Pat).

Instead, he checked himself into the nearest Popeyes and drowned his sorrows in fried chicken, unaware that UFC was recruiting fighters at the local Starbucks. So imagine "DC's" surprise when he found out that he would still be required to make the 205-pound weight limit.

From MMA Fighting:

"I hear I'm not fighting on Wednesday and I'm all sad. The only thing that can make a Louisiana boy feel better is Popeyes. It was bad, it was horrible. I had four pieces of chicken and cajun rice, it was so good. I was laying on the ground I felt so bad because I hadn't eaten anything like that in so long, how could it taste so good and be so bad. I was like oh, my stomach's killing me, but I feel so good. I didn't want to waste that training camp. I spent a lot of time away from my family when I'm training to, so I really didn't want to waste that, but then the question of, what next? Do I take two weeks off and then prepare for another eight-week camp? Can my body hold up to another eight week camp? There were a lot of questions I didn't have the answer to, so I said, you know what, I want to just compete now."

It took three gallons of water to flush the crispy goodness from his system.

The good news is, Cormier suffered no long-term damage. The same cannot be said for the rest of the gang at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), who must share a latrine with the former Olympian. Nevertheless, the heavyweight import sounds like he's back on track and raring to go.

And who knows, perhaps the crowned prince of poultry may have just unearthed a new sponsor.