Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua 2: UFC legend gives his two cents

Anthony Joshua will need to pull a rabbit out of a hat to win his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk, a UFC legend has claimed.

A second consecutive defeat could be career ending for the British superstar, said former champion Michael Bisping.

AJ, 32, is set to take on Usyk, 35, again later this month in an attempt to regain his heavyweight belts.

The Brit lost the belts as the Ukrainian put on a boxing masterclass at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September.

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But Bisping, the former UFC middleweight champion, reckons the chances of that happening are slim at best.

He said on his YouTube channel: “I don’t think it goes down much different than the first one.

“All the people, all the pundits, the so-called experts, they’re all saying well Joshua is the bigger man. He’s got to bully him, he’s got to use his size, he’s got to use his strength. What do they mean?

“Of course you want to kind of corner him, you want to lean on him, you want to slow him down, you want to limit the movement of the smaller, faster guy, the nimble guy.

“But you can’t clinch for too long and if Joshua goes forward and tries to be too aggressive again that might leave him open to counters.

“Usyk has incredible footwork so if you’re trying to corner him you know a couple of feints won’t do. That is what Usyk has got to do. That’s what he’s got to try and do.

“Joshua is going to have to try and cut the cage off – the ring off pardon me – he’s going to have to cut the ring off. Back him up into the corner and try and get him there and fight him there. Try and clinch a lot but of course we know the referee will break that up