The war of words has begun.
Daniel Cormier is set to defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title against Anthony Johnson at UFC 210. They will do battle inside the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY on April 8.
This won’t be the first time “DC” and “Rumble” have tussled. At UFC 187 back in May 2015, Cormier submitted Johnson to capture the vacant 205-pound championship.
Since the loss, Johnson has gone on a three-fight winning streak, knocking out all his opponents in the process. The victims included Jimi Manuwa, Ryan Bader, and Glover Teixeira.
Cormier appeared on The MMA Hour (via MMAMania.com) and he didn’t seem impressed:
“Before we fought he said, ‘I can knock him out when I decide to knock him out.’ He said, ‘Daniel knows what’s coming to him, I’m going to knock him out.’ Well what happens when you don’t knock me out? What happens if you hit me with your best shot and I continue to press forward and I continue to engage you and stay in your face the entire time? What happens then?
You saw what happened; he rolled over, gave me his neck and let me choke him out so he can get out of the Octagon. People can believe everything they want. I love Mike Tyson, I was a fan just like everyone else, but the moment someone stood up to him, he didn’t do so well. And that’s the same thing with Anthony Johnson, the guy is a bully who wants to intimidate you. Dominate you and knock you out. But what happens, when you don’t knock somebody out? What happens?”
Cormier last competed in July 2016 at UFC 200 against Anderson Silva. Due to injuries and circumstances out of his control, “DC” hasn’t defended his championship since Oct. 2015 at UFC 192 against Alexander Gustafsson.
