5 UFC rematches that were a carbon copy of the first fight

#2. Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson – UFC 210

Anthony Johnson failed to deal with the wrestling skill of Daniel Cormier in two fights

When Anthony Johnson returned to the UFC after a two-year absence in early 2014, hopes were high for him to succeed in the light heavyweight division.

‘Rumble’ ended up surpassing expectations by destroying Phil Davis, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Alexander Gustafsson. In the summer of 2015, he was granted a title shot against champion Jon Jones.

However, when Jones’ personal issues forced the UFC to suspend him and strip him of his gold, Johnson was instead faced with top contender Daniel Cormier in a fight for the vacant title.

‘Rumble’ thought he had the title won when he dropped Cormier in the opening moments of the fight with a right hand. When ‘DC’ managed to survive, it quickly became clear that Johnson just didn’t have the wrestling ability and gas tank to beat the former Olympian.

Sure enough, Cormier eventually took Johnson’s back in the third round and choked him out to become the new titleholder.

‘Rumble’ didn’t take long to re-establish himself as the division’s top contender, though. He returned just four months later to knock out Jimi Manuwa and then took out Glover Teixeira and Ryan Bader, too.

With Cormier still holding the title, with Jones suspended for a second time, it made sense to hand ‘Rumble’ a rematch. Sadly for the native of Florida, he hadn’t learned his lesson.

This time around, Johnson wasn’t even able to land one of his haymakers before Cormier was on him like glue. As before, ‘Rumble’ couldn’t shake him off. The fight ended in the exact same way as their first meeting had, with Cormier submitting his challenger with a choke.

It was be the last time fans would see ‘Rumble’ in the octagon, as he chose to hang up his gloves post-fight. How much of that decision was based on the knowledge that he just couldn’t beat Cormier remains a mystery.

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#1. Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture – UFC 57

Chuck Liddell's counterpunching skills led him to two identical wins over Randy Couture

When Chuck Liddell first faced off with former UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture in the summer of 2003 with the interim light heavyweight title on the line, ‘The Iceman’ could’ve been forgiven for being overconfident.

After all, the interim title had been created largely because champion Tito Ortiz appeared to be ducking a fight with Liddell, who was on a 10-fight win streak and had been destroying all that was in his path. Couture, meanwhile, was about to turn 40 and looked way past his prime.

However, ‘The Natural’ turned all that on its head by using some slick boxing skills to avoid Liddell’s haymakers and hammered him en route to a third-round TKO win.

Two years later, the two stars faced off in a rematch. This time, ‘The Iceman’ had made the correct adjustments. He stayed out of Couture’s range and simply waited for an opportunity to use his superior speed to land a brutal counter-punch. ‘The Natural’ was knocked out for the first time in his career and Liddell was the new champion.

When the UFC signed a third bout between the two in early 2006, Couture promised to recreate the success he’d had in the first fight by taking Liddell down and battering him with his ground-and-pound.

Unfortunately for the legend, it wasn’t to be at all. ‘The Iceman’ was again willing to let Couture come to him. While he didn’t stop him in the first round, he did hurt him, as well as escaping a takedown.

The second round followed the same pattern. Like in their previous meeting, when Couture overextended in an attempt to land a left hand, Liddell pounced, delivering a counter right hand that dropped ‘The Natural’ to end the fight.

This was essentially a simple story of Liddell discovering a path to victory over Couture in their initial rematch and then Couture being unable to block that path in their third bout. It was arguably the best victory of Liddell’s career.