Corey Anderson has signed a contract to compete with Bellator MMA. Anderson was under contract with the UFC and had fights remaining. However, they allowed him out of his contract and allowed him to sign with the rival promotion.
Corey Anderson (13-5) had won four consecutive fights prior to losing in his last outing against Jan Blachowicz at UFC on ESPN+ 25. Prior to that loss, he had consecutive victories over Johnny Walker, Ilir Latifi, Glover Teixeira, and Patrick Cummins. His departure from the UFC is a surprising turn of events.
Welcome to Bellator!
Bellator welcomed Corey Anderson to the fold with this tweet of Anderson and Scott Coker, Bellator’s president.
Welcome to the family @CoreyA_MMA!
Who do you want to see him take on first?! pic.twitter.com/VKkYHI3qCA— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) August 7, 2020
According to a report by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, the deal was completed relatively easily. You wouldn’t expect a fighter who is under contract and ranked in the top five of the division to simply be let go to sign with the competition, but that is seemingly what took place. Corey Anderson’s manager Ali Abdelaziz said the entire process took only two hours.
“This was a mutual decision between Corey and the UFC. I’d like to thank the UFC and Bellator, everyone involved. This entire process took less than two hours to work through, and we’re grateful to both promotions.”
Bellator could introduce Corey Anderson tonight during their Bellator 243 event, as it’s a really big addition to their roster. Right off the bat, the signing provides a legitimate contender to Ryan Bader and his light heavyweight championship.
It will be very interesting to see how Bellator handles their new signing. Will he fight a tune-up fight or will he walk directly into a title fight with Bader? He has been training with Daniel Cormier full time ahead of Cormier’s third bout with Stipe Miocic so he’s in shape and you’d think ready to go.
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