Daniel Cormier heard the naysayers after the announcement he would step in and meet Anthony Johnson for the vacant light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 187.
The haters claimed that because Cormier recently lost to the man who was stripped of the title, Jon Jones, he therefore had no business going straight into a title fight.
But DC is having none of that. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Cormier basically said that he found the whole idea he doesn’t deserve the fight insulting.
“I’m walking into a fight with Anthony Johnson and I’m going to get destroyed by him,” Cormier said. “It makes absolutely no sense to me. You know what, it’s a testament to what Anthony has done, but its also very disrespectful in the fact that, I’ve lost one time … the last time, when I lost rounds to Jones was the first time I’ve lost rounds in a fight. And now this guy that has actually recommitted himself to the sport. This guy that has done things that no one expected him to do is going to just walk through me. That makes no sense. I’m telling you right now I don’t buy it. I don’t believe it. “
To a large portion of the MMA fan base, you’re only as good as your last fight. Cormier believes his doubters are fixating on the result of his UFC 182 loss to Jones and not looking at the bigger picture.
“The truth of the matter is, I won 15 straight fights, got to the top of the sport,” Cormier (15-1) said. “I fought for the UFC championship against the No. 1 pound for pound fighter in the world. Most guys lose early, most guys lose in the middle, most guys lose, even though its years before, they have hiccups. I never had that hiccup. I made it to the top of this sport before actually suffering my first loss, to the pound for pound No. 1 guy in the world. And somehow I’ve gone from this guy who, they thought I could beat the No 1 pound-for-pound guy in the world, to a complete scrub.”
Mind you, Cormier is not taking Johnson for granted, not after “Rumble” racked up nine straight wins and left a trail of broken opponents in his wake.
“I don’t think he’s overrated, not one bit,” Cormier said of Johnson. “I think he deserves the credit he’s gotten … it’s not like I’m lying. I’m only stating facts, Rumble Johnson has smashed everyone over course of nine fights. He beat Phil Davis every second of every round, he beat Andrei Arlovski every second of every round, actually Arlovski won a round when he didn’t finish him. But when he didn’t knock those guys out, he was still cruising. He hasn’t really been dealt that adversity he received at welterweight. So for me it’s a matter of seeing how does he deal with adversity now that he’s with that monster. People have made him out to be King Kong and Godzilla all at once, and he’s not like that.”