Corey Anderson gets ready for first title opportunity

LOVES PARK, Ill. (WIFR) - All he ever wanted was the chance. The chance to prove that he is the best MMA fighter in his weight class. Corey Anderson will get that shot, soon.

“Everything I’ve done since wrestling at Hononegah, kids club, football at Hononegah, Roscoe-Rockton Lions, all that is coming to fruition.”

“Overtime” Anderson is just a few months away from making his dreams a reality. At 32-years-old, Anderson gets his first title opportunity after advancing to the Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Final. Anderson says the move to Bellator has been the best thing for his career.

“You can think of it as I deserved it a little sooner, in the other organization, but, it’s all about the politics,” explained Anderson. “You got to be able to sell yourself, be marketable. I wasn’t marketable to (the UFC) and I went to somewhere that appreciated my worth and I’m happy for that.”

Nothing changes about Anderson’s game plan. The goal is to get his opponent to the ground and pound away. Anderson will take on the current light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov.

“It’s not going to be one big shot. It’s one shot out of a ten-punch combo that might catch and knock you out,” said Anderson. “So, with that, we just got to be more aware, we know this. We know he’s going to come out, he’s a ball of fire right at the beginning. We just got to weather the storm.”

Anderson has always been confident in himself. Whether or not this would cement the Hononegah grad as the face of Bellator doesn’t matter to him. He’s going out there to win the strap for himself, his family, and his coaches.

“We’ve been through a lot in my career. Nine years. A lot of ups and downs. Had the big fights, right there, then dropped them. Had the big fights, then then won them. Injuries, a lot of stuff that happened with me and my family, period. Now, for it all to come to fruition and we can say at the end, we won the belt, that right there is just going to be the pinnacle for my career.”

The fight is tentatively set for February, but no arena has been secured yet for the Pay-Per-View.

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