CHICAGO – Corey Anderson has felt the pressure of a big moment before in his MMA career, but nothing like what he experienced prior to Bellator 297.
After failing to capture the promotion’s light heavyweight title in a pair of fights with champ Vadim Nemkov, Friday’s fight against Phil Davis (24-7 MMA, 11-4 BMMA) at Wintrust Arena was a significant one for Anderson (17-6 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) and his career.
He ultimately got the win by split decision in a competitive fight, and Anderson could finally exhale when he got his hand raised. He knew it was a make-or-break fight in terms of his ability to return to title contention, and he felt all the weight of the stakes from the moment he arrived in Chicago for fight week.
“It was huge not just career-wise, but mental,” Anderson told MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight at Bellator 297. “This is one where I knew I’m better than him, I know how good I am and I was so confident just knowing, ‘There’s nothing this guy can do with me.’ But then you get to the fight and your last fight was a loss and you think, ‘Am I washed up? Am I done? If I lose to Phil Davis there’s no way I’m getting a title fight. He was already the champ, and got beat by the champ.’
“So, fight week the jitters really got to me. The what ifs and, ‘I don’t think it could do it.’ Then today it really hit me hard. I thought I had the chills or the flu all day. I was like shivering (from) the nervousness. So to go out there and get that win, it was a relief and took a burden off my chest and back.”
Now that he’s back in the win column and has confidence back on his side, Anderson is turning his attention back to the title. The way his two-fight series with Nemkov unfolded does not sit well with him, and it’s his biggest goal to rectify that.
The first meeting between the pair at Bellator 277 in April 2022 ended in a no contest when Anderson, who was winning the fight, connected with an accidental head butt that cut Nemkov open forced the doctor to halt the action. They had a rematch seven months later at Bellator 288 in November, and Nemkov looked sharp in taking a unanimous decision.
Anderson is convinced a third showdown would look similar to the first fight where he thrived before the foul, and he wants to prove that to the world, too.
“There’s nothing else to do,” Anderson said. “I’m No. 1 contender. Why would I go back and fight back to get back here? I just beat the No. 2 (in the Bellator rankings). We should’ve done the trilogy in the first place, but they already announced the Yoel (Romero) fight (for Nemkov).
“Everything (goes different in a third fight). I’m going to back like it’s the first fight. The second fight, I’m not one to make excuses. The only thing it was, was me.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.
