Corey Anderson got the fight he wanted, and he got it when he wanted.
And now that’s basically here, he’s just ready to get it on.
“It’s time to go out and get my new shiny belt,” said Anderson, the Rockton native, talking about the light heavyweight Professional Fighters League (PFL) title belt he expects to win. “And my mindset is always the same: I just prepare to dominate. My mindset this whole camp: Just prepare to go in and dominate.”
Anderson will fight in the co-main-event of the PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai ― The Rematch, on Friday, Oct. 3.
He waited nearly 16 months in between fights before he pounded on his last opponent this summer, winning his first bout since PFL took over Bellator with a dominant TKO over Denis Goltsov on July 19 in the PFL Champions Series ― Africa.
Now the former Hononegah wrestling star, who went on to greatness in the UFC and with Bellator, will take on 2024 PFL Light Heavyweight Tournament Champion Dovlet Yagshimuradov (25-7-1) for the PFL Light Heavyweight World Title in the co-main event on Friday. Anderson (19-6) earned a third-round TKO over Yagshimuradov in the 2021 Bellator World Grand Prix Quarterfinal, and he went on to capture the Bellator Light Heavyweight Championship.
The rematch in the United Arab Emirates should go off at around 2 p.m. local time Friday.
“Now it’s back down to light heavyweight, which is just fine with me,” Anderson said, after beating Goltsov at heavyweight in his last fight. “Confidence is key in this thing, and my confidence is soaring right now. I’m hungry.”
Anderson turned 36 on Sept. 22, and he knows his time is limited in the professional mixed martial arts world. He’s ready to go out and get his as fast as he can, and this is one of the best chances he’s had to do just that.
“He wanted this rematch, but now I’m hunting him. I want this,” Anderson said. “He was on a big winning streak the last time, and I shot him down. I’ll do it again.
“It’s time to finish this thing.”
How to watch PFL Dubai
Watch Corey Anderson in Dubai
The PFL Champions Series event in Dubai on Friday, Oct. 3, will be streamed by ESPN Unlimited. You can click here to sign up.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at [email protected] and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.
