Anthony “Rumble” Johnson will not fight Jon “Bones” Jones on May 23 as originally planned.
Instead, he will face Daniel “DC” Cormier, an opponent who stepped in at UFC 187 after Jones’ recent hit-and-run incident put the UFC light heavyweight title up for grabs.
For most fighters, going from Jones to literally anyone else in the 205-pound class would be a blessing.
Jones’ only loss in 22 fights came via disqualification in a fight he was thoroughly dominating, and his eight title defenses are the most in the division’s history. Nobody, to this point, has had the answer for his vast array of skills inside the cage.
To Johnson, however, fighting Jones is preferable to facing the former Olympic wrestler, Cormier.
“The part that’s not disappointing (about the change of opponents) is that I get to fight another elite athlete, a guy who, in my opinion, is actually a tougher fight for me than Jon Jones,” Johnson said Wednesday on a UFC 187 media conference call.
Specifically, Johnson thinks that, since Cormier failed to capture the title from Jones at UFC 182 on January 3, DC will harness a different level of motivation for this fight.
After seeing gold in front of him and failing to snatch it, Cormier will come out stronger this time, knowing that he doesn’t want to experience defeat in a championship matchup again.
“Right now I feel that he’s just more difficult because, once again, I said it before, this is his second opportunity at a title shot,” Johnson said. “So he’s going to bring everything that he can bring to win that title. People get second chances in life, and this is his second chance, just like it was my second chance in life when I returned to the UFC, and you see what has happened so far as far as me.”
In addition, Johnson lauded Cormier‘s skills as a wrestler but added that the former heavyweight packs a more serious punch than Jones. Cormier, at 5’11”, is five inches shorter than Jones, and his striking game relies more heavily on pure power than Jones’ does.
“We’re a little crazy because we are wrestlers, so it’s just going to be one of those fights that’s just, I assume, an all-out war,” Johnson said. “You’ll get to see everything. Daniel has power, he has speed, he has good technique, and his wrestling is top-notch. Nobody can deny that.
“For me it’s just going to be a tougher opponent. He might be shorter than me, but the dude packs a lot of power, you know what I’m saying? And Jon isn’t known for packing power, he’s known for throwing crazy kicks, using his range and his reach, whatever you want to call it—stuff like that. DC is just that guy, and I truly believe that.”
Personally, I find it hard to disagree with anything Johnson said, but there’s no doubt that Jones brings a little extra something to the UFC Octagon on fight night. Styles make fights, so the fact that Jones already soundly defeated Cormier isn’t the only factor to consider here, but there’s something to be said for the way Jones out-wrestled and overpowered Cormier throughout the fight.
Jones is always just a little bigger, a little stronger, a little better than we expect when the lights go down, and that’s part of what has elevated him into “greatest of all time” discussions in relatively short order.
Should Johnson get past Cormier at UFC 187, it is likely we see Johnson vs. Jones once Bones returns to action to settle the debate for good.
What do you make of Johnson’s words? Is Cormier a tougher fight for him than Jones would have been?
Leave a comment, and we’ll discuss this light heavyweight title matchup.
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