Daniel Cormier panicked about weight cut before fight with Anthony Johnson at UFC 187

WHEN Daniel Cormier was given an unexpected shot at the UFC light heavyweight title, he was concerned how much weight he would have to drop.

IN THE UFC, back-to-back title shots are rarely seen and are generally reserved for championship fights decided by a split or controversial decision.

So when Daniel Cormier was beaten by unanimous decision in his fight with then-light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in January, he didn’t expect another shot at the belt for quite some time.

However, when Jon Jones was stripped of his title and suspended indefinitely — due to a felony charge for leaving the scene of an accident — the UFC asked Cormier if he wanted to replace Jones for a title shot against Anthony Johnson at UFC 187.

Needless to say, the 36-year-old jumped at the opportunity to get two title shots in as many fights.

“Normally, that doesn’t happen unless you are the champion,” he told MMAmania.

Jon Jones was stripped of his belt after finding himself in legal troubles.

At first Cormier was ecstatic for opportunity to be crowned the best pound-for-pound fighter in the division, but this feeling of joy was quickly replaced by dread.

Cormier, who walks around at 110kg, was originally planning to fight Ryan Bader in June and had prepared a balanced training camp to help him make the weight.

However, the new fight meant he would have to drop the same amount of weight in a shorter time frame.

“They give me the fight, so now I have a six-week camp, instead of an eight-week camp,” he told MMA Fighting.

“I panicked. I didn’t want to suck off 10-15 pounds right away and then feel like trash for the rest of my training camp.” .

Cormier said once he started to see results, he was gained the self-belief that he would be able to make the weight.

“I was hanging around like 235 [106kg] … then one week I just went down to 224 [101kg].

“Once you prep your body, the weight starts to come off.”

Despite news of a shaky training camp, Anthony Johnson is still wary of his opponent.

“This is [Cormier’s] second opportunity at a title shot and when people get second chances they come back 10 times stronger and harder,” he told MMA Fighting.

“He’s hungry. He’s so determined to win a title and he didn’t succeed the first time he had an opportunity. This is his second opportunity. Why wouldn’t he come back and give it his all like he did the first time? I think he’s going to go absolutely crazy in the fight just to get a title.”

The light heavyweight title fight will be at UFC 187 in Las Vegas this weekend.

Originally published as Daniel Cormier panicked about weight cut before fight with Anthony Johnson at UFC 187