The long drought of UFC events will soon come to an end when Daniel Cormier defends his UFC light heavyweight championship against Anthony Johnson next weekend at UFC 210. The fight is a rematch of their 2015 contest which saw Cormier survive an early knockdown to submit Johnson in the third round, claiming the vacant 205-pound title. And to hear Cormier tell it, this one might look a lot like their first encounter.
Speaking with the Anik and Florian podcast recently, Cormier said that Johnson is very dangerous early in the fight but he fades after the first round.
“I have to be careful in the first seven minutes because the reality is, I’ve felt him over the course of 14 minutes now and I know the difference in his power from minute one when he dropped me, to minute 13. So I can base that on experience. I felt him at minute 13 and granted, he’s still very powerful, but it isn’t that same explosive power that’s there in minute one, two, three, four, of the very first round. So I’ve really taken into account the beginning of the fight, being very aware, being ready to go from the start, and making sure I’m implementing my game plan from the first bell all the way until I finish the fight.”
But lately, Johnson hasn’t needed to make it past the seven-minute mark. Since his loss to Cormier, Johnson has recorded three stoppage victories in a row over ranked light heavyweights, knocking out Glover Teixeira and Ryan Bader in the first round, and knocking out Jimi Manuwa 28 seconds into the second round for a combined cage time of 7:07.
Johnson’s momentum doesn’t phase Cormier though. The champion says that though Johnson appears to be even more threatening than before, he has also been making improvements.
“I anticipate a much better version of the ‘Rumble’ I fought last time. A guy that’s worked on the areas that he’s struggled in and a guy that’s addressed them. A guy that’s coming in confident and is coming in trying to finish the fight. I feel like we have trained for a better version of him. I feel like we’ve covered all of our bases, dotted our I’s and crossed our T’s. We’ve worked so much in the areas we feel we struggled in last time, and even in the areas that we were successful, we still have to improve in every facet of our game.”
Daniel Cormier defends his UFC light heavyweight championship in the main event of UFC 210 on Saturday April 8th, in Buffalo, New York.
MUST-READ STORIES
Get him. WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje is now officially a free agent.
Tough. Chael Sonnen says he had a tough time dealing with “absolutely terrible” loss to Tito Ortiz.
Balls. Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva had a lewd exchange at the Bellator press conference.
Fedor. Fedor Emelianenko says he doesn’t “condone” the antics of Sonnen and Silva.
Progress. Scott Coker says Bellator intends to continue doing PPV events when “the time is right.”
Nerd alert. Michael Chandler fires back at “nerd” Dillon Danis for his comments on Bellator pay.
VIDEO STEW
Bellator presser.
Free fight from UFC Espanol.
Another episode of The Bas Rutten Experiment.
Freddie Roach on GSP vs. Bisping.
Jean Pascal is an ass.
Smart takes.
There have been claims of fight fixing here but if not, he got Anderson’d hard.
TTTHS.
LISTEN UP
Beatdown.
TFATK.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Yoel doesn’t seem hopeful.
#fakenews https://t.co/zcXOGv0Tca
— Peoples Champ (@YoelRomeroMMA) March 28, 2017
I think @bisping will do as gsp wants. He doesn't have the heart nor the juevos to fight me. If he did he would fight me in July. #ynuevo https://t.co/AOy8wUU548
— Peoples Champ (@YoelRomeroMMA) March 28, 2017
Cro Cop’s retirement isn’t set in stone it seems.
Who wants to see my farewell fight against Fedor?If Fedor dares..
Posted by Mirko CroCop Filipovic on Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Nate Diaz is awesome.
Nate Diaz is the best and anybody who says otherwise is a straight-up liar (h/t @BoxingBusch) pic.twitter.com/AjKUqyuAmu
— Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) March 29, 2017
Paige is out here on breaking ground being on Chopped.
@FoodNetwork @CancerTrainOrg #chopped pic.twitter.com/VIQkiKySJD
— Paige VanZant (@PaigeVanzantUFC) March 28, 2017
I now want this fight to happen just so I never have to see him Tweet again.
Yo chump @RdosAnjosMMA all the top ranked welterweights are booked or hurt. Call uncle dana for me when you ready for #retirement
— Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) March 28, 2017
@RdosAnjosMMA or tell the fans and public the REAL reason you ain't booked. Your holding onto something that ain't there anymore. #fraud
— Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) March 28, 2017
Matchmaking.
Hey @EliasTheodorou you need a fight, so do I. Make you a bet, if I lose, I'll put you up in Vegas for a week. You lose, shave your head!
— Brad Tavares (@BradTavares) March 27, 2017
Well, I do need a fight. :) https://t.co/Sy3BPopKJ3
— The Spartan (@EliasTheodorou) March 28, 2017
Perfect! Let's make it happen! @Mickmaynard2 @ufc @AliAbdelaziz00 https://t.co/DMkbxSsApf
— Brad Tavares (@BradTavares) March 28, 2017
Should be a banger.
You don't want to miss this fight! #BellatorNYC pic.twitter.com/5d70lzxo3S
— Douglas Lima (@PhenomLima) March 29, 2017
Belal Muhammad calling out Mickey Gall.
Dont be scared homie https://t.co/b7St9wSFOl
— Belal muhammad (@bullyb170) March 29, 2017
Cordeiro’s still got it.
Ugh.
Retired life indeed.
USADA.
First USADA experience happening right now. Not too bad
— Andre Soukhamthath (@AndreSoukMMA) March 28, 2017
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Andrei Arlovski (25-14, 1 NC) vs. Marcin Tybura (15-2); UFC Fight Night: Singapore, June 17.
Takanori Gomi (35-12, 1 NC) vs. Jon Tuck (9-4); UFC Fight Night: Singapore, June 17.
Ulka Sasaki (19-4-2) vs. Justin Scoggins (11-3); UFC Fight Night: Singapore, June 17.
Kwan Ho Kwak (9-1) vs. Russell Doane (14-7); UFC Fight Night: Singapore, June 17.
Cyril Asker (8-2) vs. Walt Harris (9-5); UFC Fight Night: Singapore, June 17.
TODAY IN MMA HISTORY
1991: Yuichi Watanabe submitted Kazuhiro Kusayanagi with a kneebar to become the inaugural Shooto welterweight (154 pounds) champion.
2008: Cung Le stopped Frank Shamrock to win the Strikeforce middleweight title at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le. In the co-main event that evening, Gilbert Melendez punched out Gabe Lemley to retain the Strikeforce lightweight championship.
FINAL THOUGHTS
One of the absolute best Tweets of all time right here. I remember it just about every time Anthony Johnson fights.
Ppl forget Rumble Johnsons name literaly translates to "vibrator"
— PFTCommenter (@PFTCommenter) August 21, 2016
Take it easy everyone and see y’all tomorrow.
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