Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports
Corey Anderson says the UFC gave him the same “non-needle mover” speech they did with Nate Diaz years back.
Four years ago, the UFC was hesitant about giving Nate Diaz bigger fights. According to company president Dana White, the Stockton native wasn’t a “needle-mover” at the time.
Apparently, light heavyweight contender Corey Anderson got the same speech from UFC executives.
“I ended up meeting with the owners of the UFC, and it’s pretty much the same thing they said,” Anderson told MMA Fighting in a recent interview. “(They said), ‘We’ve got to get the needle moving on you before we can get you any big fights.’
“If I do something exciting, my stock will jump, but I’m not that guy. I’m going to do the same old thing that got me here.”
That conversation expectedly didn’t sit well with the number seven-ranked 205-pounder and TUF 19 winner.
“It didn’t sit well with me, but at the same time, what can I do? I’ve got a contract, I can’t go nowhere, I can’t do nothing else. It’s not like I can boycott. One person ain’t going to do sh-t. It is what it is, (and) I just have to play the hand that’s dealt. I just have to go the Kamaru Usman route and just keep winning. Win, win, win until nobody’s left.”
Anderson will take on rising prospect Johnny Walker this Saturday at UFC 244, a fight he expects would earn him the respect he’s looking for.
“That’s the whole point of taking this fight,” he explained. “It’s the needle-mover. If you think of all the guys in the light heavyweight division, and who they say should be fighting Jon Jones next, and who they think will be the one to beat Jon Jones, they all say Johnny Walker.
“So I’ve just got to go out there and show everybody he’s not who they think he is, and hopefully put my name in the hat again.”
UFC 244 takes place on November 2nd at Madison Square Garden. Headlining the card is the “baddest motherf—r” title fight between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz.