When Daniel Cormier fought Anthony Johnson and defeated him the first time at UFC 187, he accepted the fight on short notice. Heading into their rematch at UFC 210 on Saturday, Cormier says he’s going to beat Johnson worse than he did in May 2015.
Despite defeating Johnson by rear-naked choke in the third round of the first meeting, oddsmakers have them at even odds for the rematch. Cormier doesn’t understand how the odds can be even when he holds a submission win over Johnson.
“I don’t know, but as I’ve said time and time again I cannot dictate peoples’ feelings. The fact that the odds say that we’re even, I actually have no idea how anyone could think that we’re even. He had a moment in the first fight. Outside of that moment I pretty much just beat him up,” he said during the UFC 210 media conference call. “So I don’t understand what makes anyone believe that Anthony and I are close. I just get to show him again and just beat on him again like I did last time.”
Johnson knocked Cormier down in the opening round at UFC 187, but Cormier quickly bounced back to his feet. Cormier believes the only way Johnson can win is by knockout.
“I can do whatever I want. That’s the difference between him and I. He’s got one way to win the fight. I can win any way I choose to,” he said. “It really does depend on how I decide to fight this fight.”
Cormier predicts that he’ll be victorious on Saturday and believes that he’ll win in more dominating fashion than he did last time.
“I’ve been training and I’ve gotten better. I feel like I’m a better fighter today than I was the first time. 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 mean, 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,” he said.
“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.”
