After UFC 244, Corey Anderson is ready for his title shot, but if the UFC continues overlooking him, they might as well release him.
New York, NY — Statement made. Corey Anderson went into UFC 244 on a mission: derail the hype train of Johnny Walker, and make a case for a title shot against light heavyweight champ Jon Jones.
It would be hard to come up with a better outcome for Anderson, given he finished Walker within a round. That, after ‘Overtime’ had won his last three fights via decision, not having stopped anyone since 2016.
“The build-up played out perfect,” Anderson admitted after the fight, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press. That build-up involved Anderson being overlooked, something he took serious offense to. His family noticed it was well. “You beat the top guys, and they still disrespect you. They give you no love, and it hurts.” That was the message Corey Anderson’s big brother gave him ahead of UFC 244.
Anderson delivered his own message in the octagon Saturday. The light heavyweight looked worlds removed from the fighter who won The Ultimate Fighter 19 after just three pro fights. Out of character for Anderson, he was fired up following the bout, taunting his opponent.
“The post-fight was pretty much telling him there’s levels to this thing,” Anderson said Saturday. “I said it in more of a tired tone and disrespectful way, but pretty much I told him there’s levels. Build you way up. Quit trying to jump up. This is my place. I earned my spot. Now go back and earn yours. There’s levels to this sh*t.”
Winning after being overlooked by so many, “it’s one of the best feelings in the world,” Anderson added.
Now, it comes down to who has made their case for a title shot. Asked point-blank why he should get a crack at Jon Jones instead of Dominick Reyes, Anderson pointed to who they’ve beat. “My case is, he knocked out Chris Weidman, I just knocked out the hype train. Chris Weidman had how many losses in his last fights? Chris is my guy, I love him to death, we train together, helped him with Luke Rockhold. Nothing against him at all. He’s a great mixed martial artist and I respect the hell out of him. But it ain’t like [Reyes] went out there and knocked out a guy that was a hype train they was pushing to the title.”
Anderson suggested he and Reyes had followed similar paths. “Dominick Reyes, he had a slow build like me,” he said. “We’re probably in the same place. Chris Weidman was the champ, but the key word there is was. Right now, Johnny Walker was the person they wanted to be the champ, that ‘It’ factor. And I destroyed the it factor. So put him back at the back of the bus, and move me to the front.”
As to his opponent Saturday night, Anderson’s annoyance came from “his presence. Him being here. And I’m dead serious. Y’all laughing, you don’t see a smile on my face.”
Anderson explained that while he’d earned his stripes, Walker had not. “The fact he came in here doing the worm, and the fact in the face off, in the media, he still did the little fake trip coming up the stairs. Risk hurting yourself, and f*ck up my money? I had to prove that was a problem. Don’t do that. We serious, this is business, there’s levels. Be a professional. I’ve got to apologize, I wasn’t too professional in my post [fight interview], screaming and all that.”
And if the UFC overlooks Anderson again and again? “Release me. If you don’t want to give me what I’ve earned, let me go. I’m hot. I’ve proved my worth. I’ll go somewhere where somebody’s going to respect me.”
“A lot of people feel like they need the UFC,” added Anderson. He sees fighters as afraid to speak out. “When sh*t happened with Jon Jones at [UFC] 232, there’s a reason I spoke out. I don’t need the UFC. I love being here, don’t get me wrong. I love this. I love my job, I love the opportunity to inspire and go around the world and do that. But I’ve never been a person to depend on somebody for what I need. If I got to go back to working 9-5, I’ll do it, I’ll make sure my family eats.”
After ramping up the excitement factor with a big knockout, “if they’re still not giving me my worth, let me go. I’ll go somewhere else.”
Of course, a lot also rides on Jon Jones, and where his interests lie.
So much for the early Christmas present. This is exactly why I just let them light heavyweight do all the talking.
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) November 3, 2019
Watch the full UFC 244 post-fight press scrum with Corey Anderson above!
