One of the greatest examples of the absurd lengths fighters will go to while cutting weight is that light heavyweight contender Anthony “Rumble” Johnson spent a good portion of his career at welterweight.
This made for a number of lopsided matches wher…
One of the greatest examples of the absurd lengths fighters will go to while cutting weight is that light heavyweight contender Anthony “Rumble” Johnson spent a good portion of his career at welterweight.
This made for a number of lopsided matches where Johnson mauled much, much smaller opponents. The greatest example of this? His UFC on Versus 6 bout with future lightweight Charlie Brenneman. Watch the full fight here:
The future light heavyweight utterly thrashed the soon-to-be 155-pounder, effortlessly muscling his way around his grappling attack and wrenching his way through transitions. The finish comes in the first round, as Johnson drills him with a pair of headkicks that send him (and his afro) whipping to the mat.
Despite the victory (and successfully making weight), that wound up as Johnson’s last at 170 pounds. He was released from the UFC after a loss in his middleweight debut. Then, while competing on the indie circuit, he moved up to 205 pounds, and even took a heavyweight fight against former UFC champ Andrei Arlovski.
He’ll have the chance to take the UFC light heavyweight title from Daniel Cormier on Saturday night. He won’t have a size advantage, but his power alone makes him a serious threat to the champ.
Daniel Cormier makes his return to the octagon at UFC 210 against a pretty familiar face. Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson is no stranger to the UFC champion which means this rematch can take on a very interesting pace. It’s always interesting to see how two fighters have evolved since fighting once before. It’s a tough match to call with a number of different variables to keep in mind. Will it be the suffocating wrestling and grittiness of the champion or the powerful strikes of the challenger? Let’s analyze this ish.
Daniel Cormier makes his return to the octagon at UFC 210 against a pretty familiar face. Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson is no stranger to the UFC champion which means this rematch can take on a very interesting pace. It’s always interesting to see how two fighters have evolved since fighting once before. It’s a tough match to call with a number of different variables to keep in mind. Will it be the suffocating wrestling and grittiness of the champion or the powerful strikes of the challenger? Let’s analyze this ish.
Now, Anthony Johnson did get off some good strikes against Cormier in their first bout. Johnson hits pretty damn hard so Cormier adopted a very controlled and balanced strategy. It turns out all that was good for was prolonging the inevitable ‘Rumble’ rush that saw Johnson land a clubbing overhand right that floored Cormier. The problem for Johnson was that Cormier recovered. Things devolved into a dog fight with plenty of clinching and wrestling and eventually Johnson fell prey to a rear naked choke.
There’s no shame in Johnson’s game however. He still has power in his punches and kicks and he was able to land some nice strikes on Cormier’s chin. The problem with ‘Rumble’ is that he’s always felt comfortable at closing the show early with one powerful strike, that and his overly aggressive forward pressure. What he’ll need to do differently in this match is pace himself. He should be no means be lathargic with his pacing as the champ will pressure in and use it to his advantage. Instead, Johnson should look to flick a jab or two into Cormier’s face, occasionally throwing his right sparingly. The idea is to get Cormier to duck in for a takedown where a powerful uppercut will greet him from a powerful Johnson. If he does get his man hurt, the challenger should definitely pick his shots. He has the power so it makes no sense to dive in with a barrage of punches if you’re not absolutely sure you’re going to close the show.
On the flip side, Daniel Cormier should look to push for a fast start. While Johnson is in some good shape, he can wilt if the pressure is poured on and that’s exactly what Cormier should keep in mind. The first time the champion was cautious of Johnson’s power and because of that we didn’t see him open up with his gritty clinch game and dirty boxing until he secured a takedown first.
Wrestling is Cormier’s comfort zone, but he can’t rely totally on that. He should engage Johnson on the feet even despite the threat of the knock out. But he can’t be stupid and rush Johnson out of the gate. It has to be a measured approach. He has to be either all the way in or all the way out. Hanging out in the middle distance with Johnson could spell doom for the champion. Instead he should employ his usual jab, mix in a front or low kick and pounce. Johnson will likely be looking to defend takedowns with lateral movement and a sprawl. Kicking low will get Johsnon to stop in place for the slightest moment which will open up the opportunity for Cormier to close the distance with a punch and transition to either the clinch for some dirty boxing or a straight wrasslin’ fest.
Ultimately, like I believe with most fights, it comes down to who can control the distance better than their opponent. If Cormier can close distance and avoid the bombs from bashing in his head, he will ultimately control the clinch positions and ultimately the fight. If Johnson can keep Cormier guessing and force the champion to move backwards or forwards based on his own pace, it’s likely that ‘Rumble’ will secure a devastating KO.
Will we see a new champion at UFC 210 or will the champion stand his ground?
Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.
Pearl Gonzalez is back on UFC 210. New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) officials had removed the debuting strawweight Gonzalez from her main card bout opposite Cynthia Calvillo at tomorrow night’s (April 8, 2017) UFC 210 from Buffalo because she has breast implants, but The Fight Network’s John Pollock was recently provided a statement by the commission
New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) officials had removed the debuting strawweight Gonzalez from her main card bout opposite Cynthia Calvillo at tomorrow night’s (April 8, 2017) UFC 210 from Buffalo because she has breast implants, but The Fight Network’s John Pollock was recently provided a statement by the commission clarifying that Gonzalez had been allowed back on after further considerations:
It’s a somewhat surprising breath of fresh air for a card that badly needs it after the light heavyweight championship main event was nearly axed from the pay-per-view (PPV) after 205-pound champion Daniel Cormier nearly missed weight only to return in a matter of two minutes to weigh in right at the divisional title limit.
As for Gonzalez, the overarching opinion in the mixed martial arts community was that her removal was an extremely short-sighted one, especially considering she had been allowed to take part in all pre-fight media events, had passed all medicals, and had even weighed in at the strawweight non-title fight limit of 116 pounds.
Add that to the fact that women like Miesha Tate had already fought an MMA bout in the state while having breast implants, and there was really no legit reason to prevent Gonzalez from making her UFC debut.
So Gonzalez has thankfully gotten past the NYSAC’s holdups. Now all she has to do is deal with touted prospect Calvillo tomorrow night.
If you thought today’s UFC 210 weigh-ins from Buffalo couldn’t get any weirder, well, they just did. After a strange scene where UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier weighed in at 206.2 pounds with only moments left to weigh in for his main event versus Anthony Johnson at tomorrow’s (April 8, 2017) UFC 210 from
If you thought today’s UFC 210 weigh-ins from Buffalo couldn’t get any weirder, well, they just did.
After a strange scene where UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier weighed in at 206.2 pounds with only moments left to weigh in for his main event versus Anthony Johnson at tomorrow’s (April 8, 2017) UFC 210 from the KeyBank Center and somehow lost the weight in two minutes, the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) has actually taken a fighter off the card for a far more ridiculous reason.
Debuting women’s strawweight Pearl Gonzalez, who was set to meet Cynthia Calvillo on the main card and was allowed to weigh in and make weight, has been removed by the commission for having breast implants, something that apparently isn’t allowed for female fighters in the state of New York.
Gonzalez was reportedly informed she would not be able to take part in the bout after the weigh-ins, odd timing considering she was allowed to appear at all pre-fight media obligations and had passed all medicals. It’s even stranger considering female fighters, such as retired former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate, who took on Raquel Pennington in her final fight at last November’s UFC 205, have been allowed to compete with breast implants.
The UFC 210 main event avoided a narrow miss in New York, but the debut of Gonzalez didn’t and will have to wait until a later date and time.
It’s hard to imagine a scenario where they couldn’t have informed Gonzalez of this until she was done weighing in the day before the fight.
Daniel Cormier missed weight this morning (Fri. April 7, 2017) prior to his scheduled title defense in the main event of the UFC 210 pay-per-view (PPV) tomorrow night. The UFC light heavyweight champion initially hit the scale at 206.2 pounds, leaving many to believe that the highly-anticipated title fight was to be called off after
Daniel Cormier missed weight this morning (Fri. April 7, 2017) prior to his scheduled title defense in the main event of the UFC 210 pay-per-view (PPV) tomorrow night.
The UFC light heavyweight champion initially hit the scale at 206.2 pounds, leaving many to believe that the highly-anticipated title fight was to be called off after ‘DC’ failed to meet the 205-pound weight limit. Cormier then returned 2:24 later and weighed in at 205 pounds.
Cormier was able to drop 1.2 pounds in a matter of two-and-a-half minutes, however, when he hit the scale the second time the light heavyweight champ seemed to be putting weight on the towel he was holding, but it is not known if that affected the scale’s reading. The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) approved the weight as valid despite the fact that fighters are typically not given a second chance to make weight in the UFC’s new weigh-in format.
Soon after No. 1-ranked title challenger Anthony Johnson weighted in at 203.8 pounds, and the 205-pound title bout was confirmed. The controversy behind Cormier’s weight cut, however, will continue to be the talk of the town this weekend.
After an extended March Madness-related hiatus, the UFC is back in full force Saturday with UFC 210, going down in Buffalo, New York.
The narrative on Daniel Cormier has become clear over the course of the week. This card does not carry the buzz that o…
After an extended March Madness-related hiatus, the UFC is back in full force Saturday with UFC 210, going down in Buffalo, New York.
The narrative on Daniel Cormier has become clear over the course of the week. This card does not carry the buzz that others carry. Cormier, who defends his light-heavyweight title against first-round terror Anthony Johnson in the evening’s main event, bears some responsibility for this, but is chronically under-appreciated by the mainstream MMA– and sports-going publics.
Perhaps if the former Olympic wrestler can defeat the knockout artist Johnson for the second time—Cormier choked him out in 2015 to take the belt vacated by a wayward Jon Jones—that would add enough mass to create a tipping point.
We shall see Saturday. We shall also see about the co-main event, which pits middleweight contenders Chris Weidman and Gegard Mousasi against each other. And those are only two of the five fights scheduled for the pay-per-view card.
We can’t let you watch these fights with no information or perspective. So we’re giving you a breakdown and a prediction for each of these main-card contests. It’s our tried-and-true staff predictions team. Steven Rondina. Craig Amos. Nathan McCarter. And myself, Scott Harris. Let’s get it on.
One of the greatest examples of the absurd lengths fighters will go to while cutting weight is that light heavyweight contender Anthony “Rumble” Johnson spent a good portion of his career at welterweight.
