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With Jon Jones at bay because of a recent drug suspension, the UFC’s next best Light Heavyweights will dispute the 205-pound title at the main event of UFC 206 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The Rematch
Current champion Daniel Cormier was supposed to fight Jones for the undisputed title at UFC 200 but in his latest brush with the law, Jones got pulled from the bout and is currently facing a one-year suspension for a drug violation. Instead, Cormier will be facing the red hot Anthony Johnson, who has been knocking out one contender after the other.
This will not be the first time Cormier and Johnson face each other. DC won his current title by defeating Johnson at UFC 187. The two fought for the title which was vacated when Jones was first suspended by the UFC in 2015.
Roles Reversed
DC is -135 in many books while Rumble is popular at +115. This is opposite the numbers they had when they first faced each other at UFC 187 where Rumble closed at -120 and DC at +100. Rumble Johnson was on a nine fight winning streak ( 6 by knockout ) coming to UFC 187. But after Cormier humbled him with a punishing wrestling game, the tides have been turned.
Cormier has fought twice since beating Johnson. He defeated Alexander Gustafsson by split decision and then dominated Anderson Silva in a catchweight bout at UFC 200. Rumble’s coming off knockout wins over Jimi Manuwa, Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira. His last two wins have been by first round KO. In 27 fights, Johnson has never gone past round three.
Grounding Rumble
Cormier has said in interviews that he is going to stand and trade with Rumble Johnson this time around. You bet Cormier didn’t mean those words because obliging Rumble in a slugfest would be a death wish. Daniel Cormier has proven to have a good chin. But it’s never wise to have it tested against Rumble Johnson. For Sure DC will go back to his wrestling base in this bout. Just like how he dominated Rumble at UFC 187.
Although he landed only three takedowns in their first bout, DC attempted eight times, meaning he really tried to put the fight on the ground. Those takedowns and attempts took its toll on Rumble and negated his strengths. He became a lame duck on the ground and that led to the rear naked choke finish by Cormier in round three. Rumble Johnson will either have to knock out DC first or take him down first. The latter seems likely. Cormier’s wrestling will be the key here once again. He’s going to grind Rumble to the finish. We expect another late submission victory or a close but clear 3-2 win on the scorecards for Daniel Cormier.
