By Elias Cepeda

Few people know UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier as well as his longtime American Kickboxing Academy teammate Luke Rockhold, so the former middleweight champ has a uniquely qualified perspective on Saturday's UFC 210 main event. Cormier will rematch Anthony "Rumble" Johnson in Buffalo in defense of his title and, though much of the UFC's official promotion has centered on magnifying the challenger's abilities and chances at winning, Rockhold is confident in his friend.
 
"DC is confident in his abilities and what he has in front of him. I think they twist things in the promotion to sell fights," Rockhold recently told FloCombat.
 
One of the UFC's official posters for the 210 event shows a gigantic Johnson looming over a much smaller Cormier, menacingly. The point is none too subtle -- watch out for Anthony Johnson, Daniel Cormier.
 
Rockhold isn't much concerned with Cormier possibly being overlooked by his promoter.

"Is he letting that get to him? I don't know. But I know that he's doing everything he has to do," he continues. "He knows he's got a big edge on Anthony. He's got so many more ways to win this fight. He's not shaken. He's not rattled. I know that."


Photo Credit: © Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports 

Something Cormier is, however, is considerably older than Johnson and much of the rest of the light heavyweight division's elite. As such, just how much the 38-year-old former two-time Olympic wrestler has aged and slowed since his previous outing will be a question for the rest of his career.
 
Rockhold assures Cormier fans that the champ has not yet slowed down.

"When have we seen it? I don't really think he's slowed down at all given his performances and what he's done out there," Rockhold said. "His reaction time is on-point. I've seen him in the gym and he's the same DC that I've seen through the years. I think it's that wrestling mentality. He knows how to put in that grind and do what you have to do and when it's fight time, you put anything you have to, any injuries, in the back of your head. But I haven't seen any signs of him slowing down."
 
Cormier will likely need his wits, quickness and everything else he can muster from his considerable arsenal in order to avoid getting hurt by Johnson's big strikes. In their 2015 fight, Cormier had to survive getting rocked early by Johnson in order to put himself into position to ultimately take "Rumble" down and submit him in the third round.
 
Win or lose, Johnson has usually managed to buzz opponents throughout his career. Still, Rockhold believes it is possible for Cormier to avoid taking big damage in the rematch.
 
"I think it's easily possible," he said. "Cormier is a wrestler like very few in the world. You could say Yoel Romero, but I think Cormier is technical in so many ways. I think he's a little bit smarter and uses his wrestling better than Yoel. He's tactical.
 
"He can easily go in there and get the takedown and he's a bitch on top. So, I know that Anthony Johnson doesn't want to be on the ground with DC on top of him. He's proven it before -- he took him down and finished him there. Yeah, of course you have to watch out for the bombs but it's obviously possible."


Aug 20, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Glover Teixeria (blue gloves) reacts during fight against Anthony Johnson (red gloves) during UFC 202 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports 

In advance of the title rematch, Cormier has been outspoken in saying he believes he broke Johnson, mentally, in their first contest. The claim has been made before about Johnson that he looks for ways out, sometimes in the form of submissions, when things stop going his way, but Rockhold believes it is more nuanced than that.
 
"It's not about wanting a way out from a submission, it's about how much work can you put in?" Rockhold clarified. "When you have that much power, are you going to put in as much work as the next guy? That's the question. How much do you want it? That grind that DC is capable of, not a lot of people are capable of withstanding that pressure. The guy has been wrestling his whole life and he's got that discipline and work ethic [that] is hard to really match."
 
In the end, Rockhold believes  Cormier has the mind, athleticism and work ethic to help him beat back his dangerous challenger once more and remain champion of the world.

"We've seen it before," Rockhold said. "[Cormier] obviously got to him, slowed him down, got where we were comfortable and got the submission.
 
"I think it's being susceptible to the grind and just being outworked."