Daniel Cormier to defend UFC title against Anthony Johnson at UFC 206

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will defend his title against Anthony Johnson in the main event of UFC 206 in Toronto on Dec. 10. The fight, which will take place at the Air Canada Centre, was announced on FS1’s “UFC Tonight.”

The announcement follows speculation that Jon Jones – who had his disciplinary hearing with the Nevada Athletic Commission for failing a UFC 200 drug test postponed – could face Johnson in an interim title fight. But with Jones’ hearing pushed back to November, the UFC moved forward with the rematch from UFC 187, where Cormier submitted Johnson to take possession of the championship that Jones had vacated when he was suspended last year.

“The city of Toronto is still buzzing after the Blue Jays’ walk-off home run last night,” Cormier said. “The only thing more exciting than that is that I am defending the undisputed UFC light heavyweight title in the Six on December 10 at UFC 206, only on pay-per-view. Down will go Rumble … again.”

Both Cormier and Johnson were interested in fighting each other and proposed that they “move on” from Jon Jones until his legal issues cleared up. However, Dana White proposed the idea that Jones could return to face Johnson if his suspension was lessened by the NAC, much to the chagrin of both Cormier and Johnson.

But with Jones out of the way, there is a clear path to the rematch. Cormier (18-1) is coming off a UFC 200 victory over Anderson Silva, who stepped in on short notice after Jon Jones was pulled from the card less than 72 hours before the event after the USADA violation. As for Johnson (22-5), aside from his loss to Cormier, he has been on a tear with 12 victories in his last 13 fights. He has won his last three fights by knockout to put himself right back into title contention.