It seems Misha Cirkunov has the respect of one of the top light heavyweights on the planet. Anthony Johnson is set for a title rematch against Daniel Cormier at UFC 210. The event will take place inside the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY on April 8. While the light heavyweight division isn’t considered by many […]
It seems Misha Cirkunov has the respect of one of the top light heavyweights on the planet. Anthony Johnson is set for a title rematch against Daniel Cormier at UFC 210. The event will take place inside the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY on April 8. While the light heavyweight division isn’t considered by many […]
‘Rumble’ has his eyes on a top prospect at 205 pounds, and their name isn’t Jon Jones or Daniel Cormier. Anthony Johnson has sat at the No. 1-ranked position in the UFC’s light heavyweight rankings for quite some time now, and will once again challenge for the division’s throne when he takes on champion Daniel
‘Rumble’ has his eyes on a top prospect at 205 pounds, and their name isn’t Jon Jones or Daniel Cormier.
Anthony Johnson has sat at the No. 1-ranked position in the UFC’s light heavyweight rankings for quite some time now, and will once again challenge for the division’s throne when he takes on champion Daniel Cormier in the main event of UFC 210 on April 8th. The pair previously met for the then-vacated title in the main event of UFC 187 in 2015, where ‘DC’ emerged victorious with a third round rear-naked choke.
The winner of the upcoming title bout in April is expected to welcome former 205-pound kingpin Jon Jones back to the Octagon, who is currently serving a one-year suspension for violating the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) anti-doping policy.
Johnson recently joined The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani (quotes via MMA Fighting) and explained that while he believes Jones should be next in line for a crack at the light heavyweight title, he is keeping his eye on a few contenders outside of Jones and Cormier; sounding especially interested in one in particular:
“He should be (next). I think he still should be,” Johnson said.
“A lot of guys in the weight class have been putting in good work,” Johnson said. “Jimi Manuwa, he just came out of a fight with OSP and knocked him out. That was a clean knockout on his part. Who else is out there? Gus is still out there. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to make Gus and Jon fight again, just to see if you have a different result. So there’s a couple of guys up there who definitely have my attention.
“I think, besides DC, the one guy that has my attention is, what’s him name, Misha (Cirkunov). That dude is a beast,” Johnson continued. “He’s a beast, man. I like his style, and he’s built like a brick house. I think his ass is gangster. I don’t think he’s close, but he’s definitely somebody you’ve got to watch out for.”
Cirkunov is currently undefeated in his UFC tenure after having won all four of his contests under the promotion’s banner via finish. With one knockout win followed by three submission victories, the 29-year-old Russian contender has been raising eyebrows as of late in addition to gaining the attention of one of the baddest men at 205 pounds.
The light heavyweight prospect is only one of a few who have begun to come out of the woodwork after what used to be considered stale competition at 205 pounds for a period of time. Now that some fresh meat is beginning to make its way to the division Johnson is excited to potentially share the Octagon with the young bucks down the road:
“It did (stall out for awhile), but now the competition is getting thick again,” Johnson said. “And I’m excited about it.”
Since his loss to Cormier, ‘Rumble’ has wreaked havoc on the 205-pound weight class with his frightening striking power, leaving a trail of bodies in his path who have been left unconscious on the Octagon floor after eating one of his monstrous punches. The rejuvenated Blackzillian product is ready to give it a go at UFC gold once again, with high hopes that he can inflict the same fate upon ‘DC’ as his previous three opponents.
How do you see the rematch between Cormier and ‘Rumble’ going down?
Jimi Manuwa doesn’t expect Daniel Cormier to have a “Fight of the Year” performance. The “Poster Boy” is scheduled to meet Corey Anderson on March 18 for a London event inside The O2 Arena. That bout will serve as the event’s headliner. Manuwa recently spoke with BloodyElbow.com and said he is heavily focused on his opponent: “Corey […]
Jimi Manuwa doesn’t expect Daniel Cormier to have a “Fight of the Year” performance. The “Poster Boy” is scheduled to meet Corey Anderson on March 18 for a London event inside The O2 Arena. That bout will serve as the event’s headliner. Manuwa recently spoke with BloodyElbow.com and said he is heavily focused on his opponent: “Corey […]
Just one month in to 2017, and already it’s been a year of mixed feelings for Anthony Johnson. As his Blackzilians team fell apart at the seams, ‘Rumble’ announced he was leaving the Jaco Hybrid Training Center. Although he is still training with Rashad Evans in Florida, Johnson admitted the split from the Blackzilians was
Just one month in to 2017, and already it’s been a year of mixed feelings for Anthony Johnson. As his Blackzilians team fell apart at the seams, ‘Rumble’ announced he was leaving the Jaco Hybrid Training Center. Although he is still training with Rashad Evans in Florida, Johnson admitted the split from the Blackzilians was saddening. Then came the announcement of the UFC 201 main event, and ‘Rumble’ will finally get his rematch with Daniel Cormier. Since Jon Jones’ meltdown, ‘DC’ has bossed the division, and he took out Johnson at UFC 187 to claim the belt.
Their first fight was in 2015, and Johnson has made good use of his time between title fights. Three straight brutal knockouts over Jimi Manuwa, Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira made ‘Rumble’ a lock for the best title fight. Cormier’s current streak includes Johnson, Alexander Gustafsson and Anderson Silva in a non-title fight.
Credit: Brad Penner for USA TODAY Sports
Different This Time
Speaking during this week’s edition of The MMA Hour, Anthony Johnson talks about reflecting on his last loss, and how he feels the rematch will go:
“It was probably six months after that I finally watched the fight. I just woke up at like two in the morning and decided to watch the fight. I woke up and it was on my mind and I just watched it to see what my mistakes were, and I was like okay, they were bad mistakes but they weren’t mistakes that were so bad they couldn’t be fixed.
“Nobody wants to watch themselves lose,” Johnson added. “It was a weird feeling in my stomach, because like I said, I didn’t perform at the best of my abilities. I think that’s what disgusted me the most. It made me disgusted. So the next time, it’ll be a different story on my end.”
“Hell, it feels like it’s natural now at this point, we’ve done it so much,” Johnson said. “But DC and I are professionals, we know how to control our emotions and say the right thing and be respectful. There’s no point in being disrespectful to each other and making ourselves look dumb, look stupid. So we definitely have to have respect, and we do what we have to do to get everybody tuned in, but come April 8th, somebody is getting f*cked up. He can yap all he wants,” Johnson said. “He knows what’s coming.”
During their last fight, Johnson was able to rock Cormier in the early goings. If ‘Rumble’ can land on ‘DC’ again, will he be crowned the new champion?
Jon Jones will most likely challenge for the 205-pound title upon his return. We noted that UFC President Dana White was recently a guest on the UFC Unfiltered podcast with Matt Sera and Jim Norton (quotes via FOX Sports), and he had quite a bit to say. One subject White touched on was who former
Jon Jones will most likely challenge for the 205-pound title upon his return.
We noted that UFC President Dana White was recently a guest on the UFC Unfiltered podcast with Matt Sera and Jim Norton (quotes via FOX Sports), and he had quite a bit to say. One subject White touched on was who former light heavyweight king Jon Jones will take on upon his return from suspension.
Jones was suspended for one year by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after testing positive for clomiphene and Letrozole (anti-estrogen drugs), and was removed from his scheduled title unification bout with Daniel Cormier just days away from UFC 200. Jones’ suspension is set to be lifted in July, and White says he will most likely be taking on the winner of the upcoming title bout between Cormier and No. 1-ranked Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson:
“Jon Jones is supposed to return around July so the timing is perfect. I haven’t talked to him. I haven’t talked to Jon Jones since the whole incident (at UFC 200),” White said.
“Depending on where Jon’s head is and where he thinks he is, I would assume he would come right back and try to get his title back.”
While some may believe Jones is in need of a ‘tune-up fight’ before stepping right back into the Octagon with the likes of ‘DC’ or ‘Rumble’, White has a firm stance against ‘tune-up fights’ for someone that’s a top five competitor in the world:
“If you’re going to go in there and give it, at least go in and try to get your belt back,” White said. “It’s like everyone was saying Ronda (Rousey) should have had a tune up (fight). There are no tune-up fights.
“When you break into the top five in the world, everybody’s nasty. What you don’t want to do is lose to somebody (ranked) 8, 9, 10. It knocks you right out of the top 10 and it doesn’t make sense.”
What are your thoughts? Do you think Jones is in need of a tune-up fight when he returns? Or is ‘Bones’ ready to jump right in against either Cormier or Johnson to reclaim his title?
Jon Jones may have a nice gift waiting for him when he comes back from his yearlong suspension: a UFC light heavyweight championship fight.
In an interview on the UFC Unfiltered podcast (h/t FoxSports.com’s Damon Martin), UFC President Dana White said …
Jon Jones may have a nice gift waiting for him when he comes back from his yearlong suspension: a UFC light heavyweight championship fight.
In an interview on the UFC Unfiltered podcast (h/t FoxSports.com’s Damon Martin), UFC President Dana White said he expects Jones to face off against the winner of Daniel Cormier’s title defense against Anthony Johnson at UFC 210 on April 8.
“[Jones] is supposed to return around July, so the timing is perfect,” White said. “I haven’t talked to him. I haven’t talked to [Jones] since the whole incident. Depending on where Jon’s head is and where he thinks he is, I would assume he would come right back and try to get his title back.”
In November, the United States Anti-Doping Agency suspended Jones for one year after he tested positive for banned substances. Two estrogen blockers showed up on an out-of-competition drug test from Jones last June.
His suspension began retroactive to July 6, 2016, so he’d be eligible to return to the Octagon this summer.
Jones was set to fight Cormier at UFC 200 on July 9, but UFC removed him from the card following USADA’s notification of his failed drug test. UFC cameras captured the moment White told Cormier of Jones’ infraction (Note: Sequence begins at the 4:13 mark of the video below, and the video contains NSFW language):
Anderson Silva replaced Jones on the card, and Cormier earned a unanimous decision.
White’s stance on Jones appears to have softened in recent months. He told TMZ Sports in November that he wasn’t speaking to the former lightweight champion. Shortly thereafter, he said on the Jim Rome Show (via Martin) that he couldn’t envision Jones in the main event of a pay-per-view anytime soon.
“I would never take the risk of headlining a show with [Jones] again,” White said. “I’d put him on the card, but I wouldn’t headline with him until he can consistently get back on track.”
A rematch between Cormier and Jones in particular would put White’s resolve to the test. Even with Jones out of action for over a year—his last fight was against Ovince Saint Preux last April—fans would be clamoring to see him and Cormier finally face off again.
What are your thoughts? Do you think Jones is in need of a tune-up fight when he returns? Or is ‘Bones’ ready to jump right in against either Cormier or Johnson to reclaim his title?