Now that it's official Corey Anderson gladly welcomes a showdown with old friend Ryan Bader in the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Corey Anderson took care of business in dominant fashion Friday at Bellator 257, pummeling Dovletzhan Yagshimuradov to win by third-round TKO and advance to the promotion’s light heavyweight grand prix semifinals.
It sets up a showdown with old friend Ryan Bader, whom Anderson gladly welcomes as an opponent.
“I love the matchup,” Anderson said during his post-fight news conference at Mohegan Sun Arena. “I love the matchup with any 205er in the world because I know how good I am. I’m just gonna show the rest of the world that. Me and Bader, we have history training together. And like I said, one person knows. He knows.”
Anderson and Bader, the former Bellator 205-pound champ who currently holds the heavyweight title, trained together for a brief period while their UFC tenures overlapped prior to Bader’s departure for Bellator in early 2017. What Bader “knows” based on that experience, Anderson wouldn’t say exactly.
What Anderson (15-5 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) indicated, however, is that he might’ve gotten the better of Bader (28-6 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) in the gym.
“He knows who he’s matched up against. That’s all,” Anderson said. “I’m not gonna be the one to put the film out there on Instagram and sh*t like that, because that ain’t a good sport. At the same time, he knows. We know. They know it’s gonna be a tough match.”
“He’s gotten better; I’ve gotten better. He knows it’s gonna be a war. It’s not like he’s gonna go in there and take me down like he does all these other guys, because he knows. We know he’s not gonna go out there and out-strike me. He knows. He knows it’s gonna be a war. And that’s what he knows.”
It’ll play itself out in July, which is when the semifinals are expected to be held.
To hear more from Anderson, watch his full post-fight interview in the video above.
