UFC 210’s Daniel Cormier warns Anthony Johnson: ‘Knock me out early or get run over’

Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier will run it back in just over a week and a half as the two talented Light Heavyweight’s will throw down in the main event of UFC 210 on April 8, 2017 in Buffalo, New York.

“DC” initially defeated “Rumble” back at UFC 187 to win the vacant division strap, choking him out in round number three of the five-round title fight (see it). This, after Cormier survived a first round knockdown from his heavy-hitting opponent. As “DC” recently told Fox Sports, that is Johnson’s only hope to win the belt, by delivering a first-round knockout.

“The first round is his only chance. If he doesn’t finish me, he will lose,” Cormier stated. “Anthony Johnson has to knock me out in the first round. If this fight goes past the first round then he’s done. I have too many avenues to victory,” said the confident champion.

“He has to knock me out. I can submit this guy. I can TKO this guy. Because in the second round [of the first fight] and there was 30 more seconds, the fight would have been done. I would have just battered him on the ground until the referee jumped in to stop it.”

Of course, Johnson has made it a habit of ending his fights quickly (like this), winning his last three bouts via knockout in a combined time of two minutes and seven seconds. In fact, the last time “Rumble” saw the scorecards was back in 2014, when Phil Davis took him the distance.

But, that was a 15-minute fight, and as Cormier sees it, there is no way the big man can go an entire 25 minutes at his pace.

“I can win a decision. I can fight 25 minutes. I don’t think there’s any way Anthony Johnson can go 25 minutes with me in a fight,” Cormier said. “He fought 15 minutes against Phil Davis and he looked fantastic, but he had to sit back and Phil let him fight at his pace.

“If he tries to sit back with me and not be as aggressive, I’m just going to run right over him. He has to fight like that, that frantic style of striking where he’s throwing everything he has and every combination because his best bet is to knock me out. If he doesn’t do that, he’s in trouble.”

Daniel previously stated that he would be willing to stand-and-bang with the heavy-hitter, which would lead many to say it increases Johnson’s chance of clipping the 205-pound champion.

But, at the end of the day, if things get to hot and heavy for “DC” on the feet, he can always relies on his trusty Olympic-level wrestling.