Corey Anderson praised Bellator fighter pay, confirming that he’s “made more money in two fights here than my whole career in the UFC.”
Anderson takes on Ryan Bader this Saturday at Bellator 268 in a Light Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinal bout. For Anderson, this is his third fight in Bellator since leaving the UFC last year following a KO loss to Jan Blachowicz. After starting off his Bellator career with a TKO win over Melvin Manhoef, Anderson defeated Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov by TKO in his second fight with the promotion. He now takes on Bader, and the winner will be in line to fight for $1 million in the finals of the Light Heavyweight Grand Prix sometime in 2022.
Even though the tournament is not yet over, Anderson says that his gamble on leaving the UFC to go to Bellator has already paid off. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Anderson said that he has made more money already in two fights in Bellator than he did in his entire career in the UFC, which spanned 15 fights. As far as Anderson goes, it is proof that he made the right decision to leave the UFC for Bellator, despite some fans and media suggesting that he had originally made a mistake by switching promotions.
“Oh yeah, (the gamble) paid off big time. I made a post after my second fight, like UFC gave me a career, but Bellator gave me the life. After the first check, my wife didn’t have to work, I bought her a new car. I fly my family out to fights now, I can go on vacation, I can do whatever, because I’ve made more money here in two fights than I did in my whole career in the UFC,” Anderson said.
