Anthony Johnson is perhaps the hardest hitting fighter in MMA. Since 'Rumble' resigned with the UFC in 2014, the former welterweight contender has finished all but one of his six wins via KO and recently decimated Glover Teixeira in just thirteen seconds at UFC 202. Even in his championship loss to Daniel Cormier at UFC 187, Johnson rocked 'DC' on several occasions and came close to handing the former Olympian his first stoppage loss.
Johnson will rematch Cormier for the light heavyweight title at UFC 206 and could become one of the most feared champions in the sport. Cormier, though, who defended the belt against Alexander Gustafsson last year, believes the Blackzilians fighter is being overhyped.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour, the current LHW title holder plans to derail the hype train.
"I like how Anthony looks so phenomenal in his fights that people kind of make him into King Kong, like he's 10-foot tall," Cormier said, per Dave Doyle of MMA Fighting. "I like people viewing him in that way, and then i get to go smashing on him and showing that it don't matter what you build these people into, when they get into the Octagon and fight, the guy who is more skilled and more well rounded is going to beat him. I like that they build him into this Superman. It's amazing we fought a year and a half ago, I heard this all like 15 months ago. Maybe he's gotten better, and I don't know."
In their first bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Cormier submitted Johnson in the third round and believes he picked up on a key piece of information. During that third round, when Cormier began to overwhelm his opponent with top control, Johnson's corner was heard yelling 'don't give up, don't give up', as if the 32-year-old had a tendency to quit.
"To me the most telling thing, and it was something his coaches gave me that they didn't mean to give to me is, right when we were fighting in the third round and I was on top, his coaches started yelling ‘don't give up, don't give up'," Cormier said. To me that's crazy, that tells me that's something they've seen in him a lot of times. So to yell that in the middle of a fight is about as bad as it gets, especially when the guy he's fighting again has heard it and knows that when things get tough, you know what to expect from Anthony."
Cormier vs. Johnson II will take place at UFC 206, the pay-per-view in which Georges St-Pierre is rumoured to return, at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada on December 10.