Top ranked UFC light heavyweight Anthony Johnson was just weeks away from his highly anticipated rematch with Daniel Cormier for the UFC light heavyweight championship at UFC 206 earlier this month. Unfortunately for Rumble, his chance at a rematch with ‘DC’ for the light heavyweight strap was postponed when it was revealed that Cormier had suffered a torn adductor in training, and would be unable to fight Johnson at UFC 206.
With Cormier currently sidelined, it has been reported that the champ will be looking to return to the Octagon in early 2017, where he plans to give Johnson the rematch he deserves.
When asked in a recent interview with MMAFighting how long he would be willing to wait to get his rematch with Cormier, the challenger responded:
“Forever. I’ll wait. I want to fight him. I’ve been training my butt off to fight ‘DC.’ Nobody deserves it more than me. Everybody else has to get to the back of the line and wait behind me.”
Back in 2015, Johnson was set to fight Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight championship. When Jones was stripped of the title and suspended due to his infamous hit-and-run incident, the UFC selected Cormier as a replacement and made the fight for the vacant light heavyweight title. Ultimately, Johnson lost the fight via 3rd round submission, as Cormier was crowned the light heavyweight champion.
Since then, Johnson has been on a tear, picking up three straight KO wins as he KO’d Jimi Manuwa at UFC 191, before picking up back to back 1st round KO wins over Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira. With KO wins over all of the men in the light heavyweight division’s top 5, there aren’t many light heavyweights worth Johnson stepping into the Octagon against.
Do you agree with his decision to sit and wait for Cormier? Give us your thoughts below PENN Nation!