Yes, Daniel Cormier spent much of his MMA career competing with the “big boys” in the heavyweight division.
But none of those fighters might be as dangerous as this version of Anthony Johnson.
Twice last year, “Rumble” completely and utterly manhandled his opponents in Glover Teixeira – a former UFC title challenger – and Ryan Bader – who was on the cusp of contention in the promotion.
Sure, “DC” has the advantage of holding a win over Johnson thanks to his submission victory back in 2015 with the title on the line. But since that time, we’ve seen the challenger rise to another level.
Johnson was still working to get himself into shape at 205 pounds after competing anywhere between welterweight and heavyweight for years. And you can bet he’s improved his cardio and conditioning ahead of the rematch after showing obvious signs of fatigue in the first encounter.
The thing about Cormier is his age coupled with the wear and tear put on his body through both MMA and wrestling. He isn’t a “young” 38 years old. While he’s proven in fights with Johnson, Jon Jones, Dan Henderson, Roy Nelson, Frank Mir, Josh Barnett and Antonio Silva that he can take a bunch, sometime age will catch up to him.
Saturday is Anthony Johnson’s chance to prove all the doubters and naysayers wrong. He’ll do just that in Buffalo.
