Bellator light-heavyweight contender Corey Anderson is making one last push for gold after telling his mother he has yet to accomplish his final goal in MMA.
The former UFC standout has twice faced Bellator champion Vadim Nemkov; the first ending in a no contest after a clash of heads while the second went against him on the scorecards. He came within touching distance of a title shot in his former promotion, but was stopped by eventual champion Jan Blachowicz in a rematch before joining his new company.
And he has confirmed that had he defeated Nemkov at the end of last year, he likely would have hung up the gloves, insisting that he must achieve every goal he has pushed for. He is still the No.1 contender at 205lb in Bellator, and faces No.2 Phil Davis on Friday night in Chicago with another shot at gold potentially on the line.
"That's the reason I'm still here," he said of a title fight. "The goal hasn't been accomplished. One thing, my mom messaged me earlier in this camp when I got my black belt and said 'congratulations son, you always set your mind for something and reach for the goal until you obtain it'.
"So I said to her 'that's why I'm still fighting mama, we haven't attained it yet. We've reached it, the last goal, but we haven't attained it yet'. If I had won that belt I could be gone by now, who knows? I don't know if the fire would be the same but every day I wake up and there's a spot on my wall set where the belt is going to be. It's like 'let's get back to it,' we've got to get that belt, let's go."
Anderson is a renowned wrestler and came within seconds of winning NCAA Division II gold in 2012, but insists that he has been working on his boxing over the past year. He claims that he is enjoying his time boxing and could even do a trilogy with Blachowicz in the ring when they are both finished with MMA.
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"A lot of people don't know just because I don't show my striking as much, but my boxing is probably one of my best martial arts," he explained. "I just don't have to use it that much. I go to the professional boxing gym and spar and I'll go to wrestling facilities where wrestlers like Jordan Burroughs are.
"I compete with the wrestlers but when I go to the boxing gym my hands really shine, especially in this camp. I guess it's more because we're wrestling but in MMA there's so much that can happen, the go-behinds, smackdowns, the defence whereas with punches you worry about throwing punches and blocking punches.
"I feel like it's a lot easier when I get into the boxing ring to just think about that one thing than it is on the wrestling mats when you're thinking about Olympic-level guys. There's so much they can do, as for boxing they're going to hit me with a hard punch or make me miss. I know more wrestling, but when I separate the two in my mind boxing is so much more comfortable for me."
Watch Bellator 297: Nemkov vs Romero live on BBC iPlayer from 11pm on Friday, June 16
