Anderson: Jones is avoiding me, he knows it’s a risky fight
Corey Anderson continues his rift with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Corey Anderson has many reasons why he feels he won’t get his title shot. From pinning the blame on the UFC for depriving him of it, he now points to champion Jon Jones as the root of the problem.
“I’ve been saying it since last year when I called for the fight. He tweeted me saying, ‘You want the smoke?’ I answered back I want it right now,” he recently told MMA Fighting. “All of a sudden, he started dilly-dallying around my name, calling other people out.
“He’s avoiding me. He called me out thinking I would hesitate. I want that. I need that. I wanted that when I came here.
“When you look back at UFC 181, I beat Justin Jones, and I said back then I beat a Jones, but the goal is to beat the Jones with the belt,” he added. “I want it. I think he knows it’s a dangerous fight. It’s a risky fight.”
“Bones” recently announced his next challenger as Dominick Reyes, whom he says he’ll be fighting “in a few weeks.” Anderson, however, still feels he’s more worthy.
“All these guys he fights are one-dimensional,” he said of his contemporaries. “Dominick Reyes is a great striker, but he doesn’t have the best wrestling defense. He has OK jiu-jitsu. Thiago [Santos], we knew he was a striker, but that was it. We knew Anthony Smith, his only chance was if you gas out and you let him get you down or some sh-t, or he gets you at the end.
“But when you’ve got a guy like me who has the cardio, who has the striking, and has the wrestling the same or better than Jon Jones, as well as the jiu-jitsu that can match him, then it’s like, that’s a tricky fight — does he want that fight right now, or does he want to keep getting these easy wins, stack his bread and keep breaking records?”
Anderson defeated rising prospect Johnny Walker at UFC 244 early this month via first-round knockout.