TORONTO – With the benefit of hindsight, Anthony Johnson is able to admit he wasn’t mentally prepared for his first venture into a UFC championship fight. He’s been granted a second chance, though, and he said he intends on making the most of it.

When Johnson (22-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) first clashed with Daniel Cormier (18-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) for the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 187 in May 2015, “Rumble” said his focus and hunger wasn’t all there. He was originally supposed to fight Jon Jones at the event, but when the fight fell apart, he ended up fighting Cormier for the then-vacant belt.

The bout didn’t go Johnson’s way. Despite hurting Cormier with strikes more than once, he was unable to finish the fight and ended up succumbing to a third-round submission. He gets a shot at redemption at UFC 206 later this year, though, and Johnson said he’s not going to let anything distract or deter him from leaving with the title.

“I’m hungry,” Johnson told MMAjunkie. “I wasn’t as hungry the first time because the opponent got changed up at the last minute, so it kind of threw me for a loop. This time I just plan on going out there and fighting. Why worry about who it is? Why worry about the crowd? Why worry about all the hype? I just want to fight.”

UFC 206 takes place Dec. 10 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass, though the bout order hasn’t been finalized.

Johnson, No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light heavyweight rankings, wanted his rematch with No. 2-ranked Cormier to take place at UFC 205 next month in New York City. The timing didn’t work out for champ “DC,” though, and it was set for a later date. Johnson wasn’t thrilled about that, he said, but understands there’s upside in headlining his own card rather than his fight being lost in the shuffle of the insanely stacked UFC 205 lineup.

“Daniel wasn’t pushing for the New York card either, so I kind of knew it wasn’t going to happen,” Johnson said. “He kept talking about Dec. 30, so I was down for fighting whenever after New York. It really didn’t matter. At this point, I just want to fight for the title – it doesn’t matter if it’s in somebody’s backyard.”

Johnson and Cormier have a respectful yet tension-filled relationship. They embraced at the post-fight news conference following their first meeting, but once Johnson delivered a 13-second knockout of Glover Teixeira at UFC 202 in August and it became obvious a rematch was going to happen, attitudes started to flare.

From Johnson’s perspective, there’s no real hard feelings toward Cormier outside of the fact he simply has an item in his possession that Johnson wants for himself.

“We talk a lot,” Johnson said. “He’s a talker. I’m not much of a talker, but I can talk it. It was fun. It’s all love and respect, but Dec. 10 I have to hate him. I have to beat him up. I have to take what he has.”

One of the things Cormier has talked about in regards to his UFC 206 rematch with Johnson is how he is looking to end the fight with a knockout.

Let's bang then! Let's see how you handle getting hit as much as ur hitting someone. Ima fold you up! https://t.co/LtAB2eQ3Ii — Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) October 6, 2016

Cormier was victorious by submission in their first clash, but searching for a different result could be costly, especially because Johnson is one of the most devastating power strikers in MMA history.

“I believe he is a man of his word; I believe he’s going to try and trade with me, but at the end of the day he is a wrestler,” Johnson said. “I’m going to make him have to wrestle me. Because if I hit him with a better shot than I hit him with last time, he’s in for a long night.

“I look forward to seeing what Daniel can do. I look forward to seeing what I can do against Daniel. It’ll be very interesting.”

Johnson said it’s going to take a complete performance to take the belt from Cormier. Of course there’s the chance he could connect with an early blow that shuts the champion’s lights off, but he said he can’t rely on his power and must be prepared for the worst-case scenario, which would be a grueling 25-minute fight. He said he hopes Cormier is doing the same.

“We’ll see what happens,” Johnson said. “Daniel’s smart. If he stays out of the way of my fists and my feet, he might live.”

For more on UFC 206, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.