For Daniel Cormier, fighting the man still widely considered as the greatest of all-time was the easiest career test he ever had to face.
Daniel Cormier’s last fight was at UFC 200 last July against Anderson Silva, a man still widely touted as the greatest of all time. “The Spider” stepped in with just 48 hours’ notice after Jon Jones was flagged with a USADA violation and was subsequently forced out of the fight.
The 38-year-old Cormier did end up winning via unanimous decision. But ahead of his rematch against Anthony Johnson, many people are doubting him, saying “DC” lost a step and if a “lesser version” of himself would be showing up against “Rumble” at UFC 210.
Cormier responded to these claims during Thursday’s UFC 210 pre-fight conference call.
“I have no idea what people are talking about. I fought Anderson Silva on two days’ notice and I beat a guy who people consider the greatest fighter of all-time, 30-26 across the board,” Cormier said (via MMA Fighting). “There was no danger in that fight. That was the easiest fight of my entire career. I don’t know how I lost a step. If anything, I feel like I’m still able to get these takedowns whenever I choose to.”
With a little more than a week until fight night, Cormier’s confidence is on an all-time high. He did feel the power of Rumble’s heavy hands during their first fight almost two years ago, but was able to get through it and come out with a third-round submission win.
This time around, he feels the end result will be more overwhelming in his favor.
“I feel like I’m a better fighter today than I was the first time. You know 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 know I was a different opponent than his previous guy, but he still had a full training camp,” Cormier said. “I had three-and-a-half weeks to get prepared for a championship fight and still found a way to outwork him. 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.”
UFC 210 takes place on April 8th in Buffalo, New York.