Former Hononega and collegiate wrestler and current professional mixed martial arts star Corey Anderson will seek his third title on Friday in Belfast, Ireland.
And Anderson, who recently spoke via Zoom video conference from the venue of Friday night's game, plans to seize the opportunity.
“It’s a little disappointing that I can’t get another shot at (Vadim) Nemkov right now, but a title shot is a title shot,” Anderson said. “My focus is just to get locked in. My goal is to get in that cage and take care of business.”
Corey Anderson wins title:Want to know when and where Corey Anderson's next MMA fight will take place? An announcement will be made
Anderson (17-6 MMA, 4-1 Bellator) will face Carl Moore (12-0) for the vacant light heavyweight title in the first event of the new Bellator Champions Series, consisting of eight global events. (2 wins, 2 losses, 4 wins, 0 losses)). They will fight in the co-main event of Bellator 302 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It's Moore's hometown.
“I want to be able to play against someone like Corey,” said Moore, who is on a four-fight winning streak. “So a win against Corey would solidify me as one of the best players in the world.”
This will be the first fight night since the Professional Fighters League (PFL) acquired Bellator MMA in November 2023. It's also been nine months since Anderson's last fight.
He appeared to dominate Vadim Nemkov and win the $1 million Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix tournament in April 2022, but after a five-minute discussion, an inadvertent headbutt The victory was taken away. The match was ruled a no contest.
Anderson then went 0-for-16 on takedown attempts and lost a unanimous decision to Nemkov in his second title fight about six months later. He followed up his previous loss with a solid victory over Phil Davis, winning by split decision on June 16, 2023.
After a brief hiatus while PFL decides what to do with the new Bellator toy, it's time for title fight number three.
Anderson, 34, is ranked No. 1 in the Bellator light heavyweight rankings and No. 6 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie world light heavyweight rankings. He has been training near Fairland, Indiana and Robbinsville, New Jersey, but is currently in Ireland, getting acclimated and ready.
“I'm just going to go out there and do my thing,” Anderson said, referring to his fighting style of focusing on himself and not his opponent. “Just do what you have to do, have fun and put on a show.”
Jay Taft is a sports reporter for the Rockford Register-Star. Email jtaft@rrstar.com and follow us on Twitter. @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide range of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, for the Register-Star for more than 30 years in total since the turn of the century..
