TORONTO – UFC 206 is headlined by light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier defending his title against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson when the UFC returns to Toronto Dec. 10.
It’s an anticipated rematch of their UFC 187 contest last May in which Johnson had success early with punches but Cormier eventually took control and won by submission.
Cormier (18-1) is coming off a win over MMA legend Anderson Silva at UFC 200 in a short-notice bout after his original opponent, Jon Jones, was removed from the card for failing a drug test. Cormier said that week was mentally taxing but the fight itself wasn’t. He’s expecting his rematch with Johnson (22-5) to be much tougher.
“Against Anderson Silva I wrestled and I won an easy fight,” Cormier told Sportsnet MMA contributor James Lynch while in Toronto promoting ticket sales. “This was not very difficult, nothing happened.”
The champ added he hasn’t seen much improvement in Johnson’s game since they fought last year, but that statement came with a caveat.
“I haven’t had the chance to see it because he’s so good at what he does,” Cormier explained. “He knocks people out. He does it over and over again and over and that’s what he went right back to doing…I’m approaching this one just like I did the last one. I’m expecting a little better version of him, a guy that’s actually going to be a little tougher, so where as I felt him snap in the second round, maybe he’ll break in the third round this time but I’m still going to get him eventually.”
The last time the UFC held an event in Toronto it was headlined by the five-round classic between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson. It’s a bout fans and fighters still talk about.
“Hopefully Daniel and I live up to the hype. Compared to Jon and Gus, that’s a lot to compare a fight to,” Johnson said. “Of course, I’ve lost to Daniel before – he’s the only guy in the UFC I’ve lost to since I’ve been back – we’re going to make some special things happen.”
Follow James Lynch on Twitter @LynchOnSports
