Daniel Cormier Says Rematch With Anthony Johnson Will Be ‘Worse Than The First One’
Daniel Cormier will put his light heavyweight title on the line for the first time since Oct. 2015 when he meets No. 1 contender Anthony Johnson in the main event of April 8’s UFC 210 from Buffalo, New York. At 38 years of age, Cormier has dealt with his fair share of injuries over the last few years, which has led some to wonder if he’s slowing down.
“DC” did compete last July at UFC 200, however, scoring a dominant decision victory over former longtime middleweight king Anderson Silva in a fight that he said was the ‘easiest’ of his career:
“I have no idea what people are talking about,” Cormier said Thursday on UFC 210’s media conference call when asked if he may have lost a step. “I fought Anderson Silva on two days’ notice and I beat a guy who people consider the greatest fighter of all-time, 30-26 across the board. There was no danger in that fight. That was the easiest fight of my entire career. I don’t know how I lost a step. If anything, I feel like I’m still able to get these takedowns whenever I choose to.”
Cormier’s wrestling will likely be a focus point for him in his rematch with Johnson, who happens to be one of the most prolific knockout artists in the sport. “DC”, who scored a submission victory over “Rumble” in the first meeting, also said that this fight will be ‘worse’ for Johnson:
“I feel like I’m a better fighter today than I was the first time,” Cormier said. “You know the first time we fought, I fought him on three-and-a-half weeks’ notice. I had a three-week training camp. I had a three-week training camp and still outworked him. I know I was a different opponent than his previous guy, but he still had a full training camp. I had three-and-a-half weeks to get prepared for a championship fight and still found a way to outwork him. What’s going to happen now that I’ve been training for him for 12 weeks? It’s going to be worse than the first one.”
Who do you expect to walk away with 205-pound gold on April 8?
