Corey Anderson once again shares a card with Frankie Edgar, and recognizes that without “The Answer” he might not be where he is today.
Atlantic City, NJ — At the UFC Atlantic City media day on Thursday, light heavyweight Corey Anderson made clear that his fight with Patrick Cummins is a fight he wanted to keep. The pair, originally scheduled to meet at UFC 217 last year, saw the bout fall through when Cummins wound up battling a nasty staph infection. Anderson stayed on the card, and wound up knocked out by short-notice replacement Ovince St. Preux.
The Cummins fight is still unfinished business. And though both wrestled in college, there’s no sort of competitiveness between based on that alone. Anderson, however, was critical of Cummins’ wrestling as it applies to MMA. Or at least, critical of how his opponent at UFC Fight Night 128 sets up his takedowns.
“I don’t think he’s fought anybody that really has a wrestling background,” Anderson suggested. “He fought Jan Blachowicz, and Gian [Villante]. I was training with Gian for that fight to help him get ready, and I told him that too: Pat’s not good at setting his punches up to get the takedown. He’s going to dive for a takedown, or try to counter off of your jab. He’s not putting [it] together to get the takedown as I am. And I’m good at defending it off my punches as well.”
Anderson seems confident at how the two pair up ahead of the bout. Perhaps that’s in part due to his work with Frankie Edgar. The pair go back to The Ultimate Fighter 19, where Edgar served as Anderson’s coach. Anderson would go on to win the light heavyweight tournament on the show, earning himself the six figure UFC contract.
“To be on a card with Frankie was something I asked for at the MSG fight,” Anderson told us. “He’s just a huge impact on my life. If it wasn’t for Frankie, I wouldn’t be where I am now. Because if I’d have went to BJ Penn’s team, I don’t think they would have took the time Frankie and Mark Henry did to develop me. When they found out I’d only been fighting four years, and I did that well in that first fight, they’re like ‘man, what you did there, we can go even further.’ They invited me out to Jersey, and to this day, I train with Frankie daily, we text daily.”
“Being on the card with him is great, it’s just like a Saturday in the gym for us,” Anderson added.
Catch Cory Anderson taking on Patrick Cummins this Saturday, April 21 at UFC Fight Night 128 in Atlantic City, NJ. The bout opens up the preliminary card on Fox Sports 1.
