MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Corey Anderson Shares Why Leaving UFC for Bellator Was His Best Financial Move | Morning Kombat RSD

Episode Date: October 4, 2022

Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell sit down with Corey Anderson ahead of his fight with Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 288. Corey talks about leaving the UFC for Bellator, how he would fix fighter pay and shares stories about how he got into MMA.  (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:00) - How life is going  (00:03:30) - Toughest job Corey ever had (00:05:30) - Corey's Mentality  (00:12:15) - Wrestling (00:15:00) - Jan Blachowicz loss (00:18:05) - Collapse/Fall following the Blachowicz KO  (00:22:35) - Leaving UFC for Bellator (00:30:00) - Fighter Pay/MMA Union  (00:35:00) - Joe Silva story  (00:36:30) - Relationship with MMA media (00:40:45) - Corey's Hand/Injuries (00:45:30) - Ben Askren/Transitioning from Wrestling to MMA   (00:49:40) - Joining the UFC so early (00:53:00) - Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix (01:01:00) - Bellator 288 Preview (01:04:00) - Million Dollar Grand Prize/Money Management  (01:10:10) - Nicknames Morning Kombat’ is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Bullhorn and wherever else you listen to podcasts.    For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit:morning kombat.store   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We're about to do the Morning Combat Show. So everybody's mad Corey overtime and so now here in Jersey City about through the morning combat show Trying to set up taller to look less fat So maybe this all play together on a combat, you know, just one of those top fight media shows sugar-coated They just bring it to you the real news I'm your type. You're tight. Yeah, that's a why did you call me? What's that big blue? I whatever the fuck, your name is Applesauce if I want it. You understand? Looks like a good mood today.

All right, LT, you're gonna slide in right here. It's tight. It's tight for three men. Sorry. You don't make it easy here. You've wrestled your whole life against guys much grosser than I. It's gonna get weak. Oh, I see.

Every time, bro. Not like you. Every time, bro. Well, because he carries himself with an air that he's like higher than us socially. I really don't. It's champions only around here. And our next guest here on Room Service Diaries on November 18th,

he might just claim that championship belt he's been looking for for a very long time. It is overtime, Corey Anderson. Hi, Corey. How are you? What's going on, Luke? I'm good, how about yourself? I'm doing well. By the way, we're talking about Bellator 288, November 18th on Showtime, you versus Nemkov.

Although, Vadim Nemkov, although prior to the beginning of the show, we were talking about mowing our lawns. Well, we were talking about- He's got the joint that you see the city guys have where you can pull the handles in two directions. Now, you look country strong, but has your country life and your acreage

ever had a couch like this that you called home and relaxed on? You know what I'm saying? I mean, it's like something we found off of That 70s Show. Yeah, exactly. This is, you know, this is where they find dead hookers, on couches like this. I'm sorry to say that. The only thing we're missing is the plastic, man.

Make it remind of my old great-grandma. Yes, it is that awful. They probably peeled it off and brought it here. How are you doing these days, Corey? I'm doing good, man. I'm doing fantastic, actually. Why fantastic? Since the fight, you know, me and my family up and left Jersey finally. I'm still here training. I come back to New Jersey and train for camp.

But we're living back in the Midwest. Bought a new house. I've been buying properties. I got land. I got two beautiful kids. I got a wonderful wife. I mean, I have no complaints in life. I got my hunting show. I'm just enjoying life. I wake up every day and live the dream. You know what John Mellencamp would say to that? Ain't that America for you and me.

Okay. I mean, the exit's that way. The exit is that way. When people use the term Midwestern values, is that still a thing? Do you still represent that? Yes, 100%. Midwestern, blue collar, it's all the same to me, but I'm a country boy. You know, I grew up with horses, cows, dogs. I had chores to do before I would go to school. And I'd come home and do chores before I go back to

practice and get off practice, come back and work for my dad's riffing company and do chores until time to go to bed and homework. So for me, hard work is nothing. That's blue collar and that's Midwest. That's all I know, you know. Personalities, Midwest personalities are so much different than the East Coast. I've been here for, was in New Jersey for eight years, since 2014, and finally go back to the Midwest, and I'm finally actually spending time in communities,

and I'm coaching at a college now, and just, I go knock on doors, ask for permission for hunting, and like here I would get turned down. People are like, get off my property, this, this, and this. And I go to Indiana and knock on doors and ask for permission. They're like, oh, we already gave somebody else. Boo, welcome to Indiana.

How are you doing? How's your family? Oh, my God, how was your kids? And we sit there and have a conversation for an hour. It's just, and that's the life I love, you know? They don't do that in D.C., bitch. They don't do that. Anyone out here.

$80 haircuts on that motherfucker. Yeah, but they're also not as secretly racist either. There's that difference as well. Anyway. $80 haircuts on that motherfucker. Yeah, but they're also not secretly racist either. There's that difference as well. Anyway. Hold on, let me ask you. You mentioned your dad was in a roofing, had a roofing company.

Okay, so fighting is a very tough job. Let's throw that out for just the record. Toughest job you ever had was what? Roofing. Roofing.

Tell folks what, like, because I always feel like roofing entails two big problems. One, your balance better be on point, right? Number one. I would go to hot as shit is number one. And that's the other one, too.

Dude, I mean, you can't. It's like even if you're a day laborer, you might be able to get under the trees. Bro, I mean, you're getting cooked on that roof. I mean, me and my brother, I was talking to my brother last night about this. And, like, it wasn't just roofing is hard, but roofing for my father. Anybody who knows my father, he's just a hard worker, which is where I got my mentality from. And I've worked with other guys on the roof,

like helped somebody else at their house or with another company. It was like cake work. This is easy. As for my father, I was always miserable. It was not just because he was my father, just the way he works. And that's the way I train. So I was in, like, the hot aspect. It was crazy.

And the balance. And then, and then like growing up I didn't get to do wrestling camps and football camps like most people because I had to work so my dad would turn every job site into like a training camp for me he would make me do certain things in my wrestling stance like stay in your stance and pull the roof up we trying to you stay this is like Mr. Miyagi shit but that's my father everything he does he make it into a workout like you think you missing workouts in practice? No, you getting a different workout. And then when I got in college, I got to the point where I was trying to cut weight.

In the summertime, I wear a hoodie on the work. Like, it started off cold. And, like, midday, like 1 o'clock when it's the hottest, my sweatshirt is soaking. I'm like, yo, take your hoodie off. Like, I'm good. What do you mean? It was just mental. Like, if I can work through this all day, eight, nine hours a day, and just sweat like I'm about to die,

when I get back to college, practice ain't going to be nothing. When the coach turns the heat up, it's okay. I'm at home right now. So that's just the mentality. Different kind of animal. We say that in general about fighters because you guys are different, and we look up to a lot of those almost courageous aspects. But how about the hard work, the dedication?

Do you feel like throughout your history, whether it's been collegiate wrestling, whether it's been mixed martial arts, that more often than not, you've just outworked people? Like, you've got skill, you've got technique, you've knocked some MFers out. But for a while, it must have been like you could see people break in and you'd be like, the Rufin, the Midwest, like all that, it prepared me for this. Oh, 100%. I've dedicated all to that. You know, ever since,

like I said, high school, college, I wasn't a good wrestler until I got to college. You know, I've always worked hard. I've always had no problems. Well, not always. At one point, I was a 300-pound fat, lazy kid, so I was lazy then.

But then once I started losing weight and realized what hard work actually got me, like getting into college and met this coach who I actually work with now at Marion University, he actually told me,

like, yo, you got to work. I think just pushing. And so now it's like, I know in every match, no matter who it is, before I had the technique, before I was knocking people out, before I knew how to throw a jab, cross, throw a kick, it was like Mark Henry would say, I'll work everybody. Just go out and work them. That's all Mark Henry, just go out and work them. My coach, I'll work everybody. Dominate, Don't just win. Outwork them and dominate. So now that I have that and I have the skills, I have the wrestling, I have the striking and the kicks, now it's go out there and do what we're prepared to do,

and if it gets ugly, just outwork them. Well, how do you go from, as you put it, a 300-pound overweight kid? That's a pretty bad place to be to dialed in athlete what what has to happen in your life for that to be made possible all right to be honest it all happened uh since i moved in the guy started with my backup heavyweight at the time we both were fat and we had titties and uh we like to call like to call those, respectfully, we call them moves. Moves, my bad, moves. And we was like, I'm going to have abs one day. But you're right, you're not going to have abs.

Like, I bet you I have abs before you. And that's actually how I started losing weight, heavyweight, I didn't care how I looked. But then we was always in competition to get abs. And then we would do ab work and I started losing weight. And it started feeling good to lose weight. Wrestling just seemed a little easier. I could move a lot better.

And over time, like now he's like a body, but he's like 375 pounds, but he's strong as a Barrax. But I'm 235 pounds, but I'm cut. You know what I mean? But we both have our attributes, and we was talking about this last week before I left and we was lifting. Like, you look like that because of our competition. Like, why really do you look that way?

It's because of the competition we used to have in college. And to be honest, it's true. I sat there like, he is right. If it wasn't for that, I probably would have continued to just be the big heavyweight because my coach always would make me go to the cafeteria and just stack my plate with food. Eat this grease. Eat this. And then we go into the weight room.

I just want you to be big, heavy. You're going to put weight on somebody. You're going to club somebody. You're going to outmove somebody with the body weight. But then when I started losing weight, I figured we can be different, Coach. I can just be agile. I can outmove these guys. I can be smarter, quicker, and last longer than these guys.

And that's just what I went with. And I'm the same way now in fighting. Your dad wasn't on your ass about losing weight? I mean, he was on my ass about lifting, which is something I always hated to do. He never cared so much about me losing weight. My foe, if you know the Anderson side of my family, my dad's side, they're all obese. But my dad actually, he was in high school. I see pictures of him and my mom when they met in high school. My dad was a real big kid in high school. And I don't know what got to him, but he ended up losing weight. And now he was a body

builder at one point. And now he's actually a fit. He's what, 56 or 60? I can't remember. He's old. But he's about 60. But you see him, but he's still athletic. He rides his bike all the time. He's got the gym in his basement. So the work ethic has always been in me. I just didn't really care about my physique until that competition happened with me and my buddy freshman year. But the click between, oh, wait, all this hard work actually equals great results. When did that happen?

It sounds like an obvious thing, but until you actually really grind for something and then you get it, you're like, oh, right. This is what I have to do. It was two times that actually clicked for me. One, I wrestled since third grade in high school. Or third grade and I didn't get my first win until I was

sophomore in high school. So then That's a lot of losing. That's a lot of losing. Who's the team that plays the Globetrotters? The Washington Generals. sophomore in high school. Wow. So then it was like, That's a lot of losing. That's a lot of losing. You were like the, who's the team that plays the Globetrotters? The Washington Generals. Generals, yeah. You're like the generals out there.

Washington Guard Commanders, I think. Yeah, they're pretty close. But see, at the same time, it was a lot of losing, but that losing helped me, it molded me to who I am as a fighter

because when I would get those big losses, when I start like Jimmy Mano knockout, I'll never forget that. I'm beating him in the back and the coaches and everybody was upset

and I was like, not cheery, but I was still like, I was kind of Mano knockout. I'll never forget that. I'm beating him back. And the coach and everybody was upset. And I was like not cheery, but I was still like I was kind of cool, okay with. And my coach was like, how is it that you can make it to your first main event? You just got knocked down in the first round. You're not pissed like me. I was like, coach, the one thing you don't know about me, I lost the majority of my life growing up. We don't lose. It happens.

So at that point, losing wasn't like, oh, my God, I lost. It was, I did this my whole life. So it's easy to bounce back when you grow up losing and then you start winning. It's like, yeah, we're going to lose again. You don't want to lose, but at the same time, you can accept that loss a little better. And just remember, I lost my whole life growing up and now look at me. Look at where I am now. It's because of those losses and the hard work. And then the second time was, like I said, the coach I've met who I'm working with now at Marion University. He was, I remember when he got the head coaching job and he saw me, you can be great. I see you. I see what you do. You can be good.

We just got to, we got to make you work a little harder and changing things up. And I forget the next morning, 6 a.m. What the fuck? Over the door. I'm like, what's up? Told you we're going to be good. We started now. Let's go. 6 a.m. What the fuck? Over the door. I'm like, what's up? Told you we're going to be good. We starting now. Let's go. 6 a.m. to the weight room. Next time I got out of class. He had my class. Let's go.

Back to the restroom. Stay in some motion. And it was like every day he's had me working and working and working. And I remember coming to that season unranked. And the first dual meet I wrestled number three dude in the country. And I almost tech followed him. And he was like, see, I told you it can be good. All that hard work, it paid off, right?

Yeah, man. I was like, dang, man. And to this day, like I had him in my corner in the UFC for a while. Now he's helping me work out in Indiana. Like, that's just, I call him all the time. I was actually on the phone with him out there. Today's his birthday. Happy birthday, Coach Bradley.

But he instilled something in me. My father put the hard work in me, but he put more like a belief in the hard work. Like, I believe in your preparation. I think one of the coaches, Steve Rivera, wrestling coach work. Like, I believe in your preparation. I think one of Coach Steve Rivera, wrestling coach in Jersey, says, believe in your preparation. He actually brought that to my attention. We're like, if you put the hard work in constantly and you actually believe it, good things can happen, man.

You can be great. But I didn't believe it until he made me work, and I went out there and beat that kid that bad, and he told me. Like, look, and to this day, like, we're like this. We are super close. And on my birthday, he called me, like, look, and to this day, like, we're like this. We are super close. And on my birthday, he called me. Happy birthday. Work hard today because it's your birthday.

I got here then back to Jersey. You have a good workout today? How hard was it? Did you push? You good? Like, I'm good. It was a good workout, coach. Good.

Good job. Talk to you later. It's like he calls me for little things just to give me messages to keep me going. I'm just thankful to have people like that in my life. Here's what's crazy, and I love you sharing that story, is 99% of the fighters I talk to when you talk about like, how were you able to bounce back from this potentially disastrous loss? And every single one says, I wrestled, I've been through it. I've been through not only the losses, but the heartbreaks,

the, the, the, and it's like, we sometimes talk about wrestling as potentially the best foundational base to then translate into becoming a full mixed martial artist. But there's something mentally that, you know, I'm finding out, too, is really there. Like, look, the wrestlers are fucking different, bro. Okay? At the end of the day. And maybe it's that ability to use defeat as fuel to keep getting better. I mean, you got to think in wrestling, especially when you get to college, you wrestle every weekend.

So Friday, we're on the road. Saturday, we're wrestling get to college, you wrestle every weekend. So Friday, we're on the road. Saturday, we're wrestling. Sometimes Sunday, we wrestle too. And it's tournaments. You got dual meets, and then you got to turn into a tournament. So say you start a tournament. It's like 36 men in your bracket. You lose that first match, but now you got to wrestle eight, nine matches just to get back to placing rounds.

Six, seven matches. How many people in your bracket? And then you can do all that and get back to the placing round and lose again. Then it's like, oh, now you go back to wrestle back up to sixth or seventh or seventh or eighth. And it's like,

and you can't, if you let those losers defeat you early in the tournament, you're done. Because we start the tournament at 9 a.m. and sometimes we don't finish

until 1 a.m. midnight. So you're sitting in there in the stands like, oh, I lost, I don't want to be here. The next match, you're going to go out there and get that ass tax.

Quick. They're going to spank you real fast. So you got to have that mind that says, no, put that behind you. Put it behind you. We still got so many matches to go. I had a teammate. He lost the first round of nationals. Ended up coming back and take third.

But he wrestled all day long, nonstop. He had that first loss, and he knew, in order for me to place, I got to beat eight guys to get back to the top. And he beat all eight guys and made it all the way back, but he wrestled every, like, once every hour. Finished his match, wrestled by Tommy. He just cooled down. Monte Raleigh, you up on the next mat in the hole.

And he did, and he kept going. But I love seeing that because for two days straight, he was wrestling nonstop because he wanted to place. When most kids, you lose that first match, it's like, oh, I no longer can be the champ. And then your mindset changed. You don't really care to wrestle as hard. But if you can put that loss behind you and still think there's still a brighter side to this. I can come out here and still finish at the top.

I won't be on top, but I'll be at the top of the podium. Same thing in fighting. If I lose, it's like, all right, now my next fight won't be working towards a title, but I can start working the top of the podium. Same thing in fighting. If I lose, it's like, now my next fight won't be working towards the title, but I can start working my way back to the top. Same thing with our staff. All these guys, they took so many L's with chicks, and they just hardened them, and eventually they got, you know,

now they got girlfriends. He'll do this periodically in the conversation where he just derails it. It's okay. I'm teasing. It's relating it back to life. I know. Hey, so then to that point, you didn't take the Manuel loss too hard, but have you ever had a loss that aided you a little bit? Because here's the funny part. We started out talking about that your next fight

is going to be the Vadim Nemkov fight, which if you had played the rules a little differently, you could be wearing the strap right now. Now, again, I think you're probably favored in the rematch, but neither here nor there. To this point, has there been a loss that kind of aided you a little bit more than the other ones? The Cyan Blacker was lost.

I knew you were going to say that. Why? It didn't aid me because I lost. It aided me because I didn't go in there and do what I do. You know, a lot of people, oh, Corey got knocked out by the iron blocker. He was the champ, but people don't realize what was going on behind the curtains for Corey Anderson. Like, the stuff I was dealing with the UFC, going into a fight, like, I felt I deserved a title fight. You know, that's where you had Anthony Smith,

who got a title fight, who had beat Rashad Evans and Shogun, who were older guys that hadn't done anything in years. Then you got Murata. He came in, came to 205 after I was already on a three-fight winning streak, and he get three wins, and he gets a title fight. It's like, I'm beating all these top guys. I had just beat glover to xero on a week and a half notice like dominantly destroyed uh johnny walker at like the peak of his you know hypness and they had told me if johnny beat me he's most likely to get a title fight so you know stuff like that being in here it's like

i remember my manager called me for the fight like oh bro they're not gonna give you time for but this is what we can do we can actually wait wait. And I feel like if you wait, you're the next guy. They have nobody else. They have to give it to you. But the only way we can be for sure is if we take this fight. We take this fight. I said, who is it? Like, yeah, I'm blocking.

I knew I didn't want it. I really didn't want that fight. Because you already beat him. Yeah, I had beat him bad. You know, and I went in that whole camp. It was like I trained hard. Training was great. But my mindset was never really i was

never really set on going out there and beating him the way i did the first time just beating him again it was i have to go out there and beat this dude in dominant fashion to make sure i get a title fight and i had the only way to be dominant is to knock him out and that's not my style like i've knocked guys out but i don't have knockout power i'm not one of those guys gonna throw a big hook or right hand and just put you to sleep. Ryan Bader might say differently. Yeah, I'm about to say. You have problems with Ryan Bader that way.

But I'm saying, okay, I'm not known for it. I can do it, but I'm not known for it. My style is go out there and make you worry about the wrestling, and then that punch might land. Like Johnny Walker. I shot two times early, and I started faking and faking, and I kept seeing his hand going. And I faked and came with the overhand. Certain things, but I didn't do what I usually do to get those wins. I went out there and told myself, I already manhandled this dude once.

He can't touch me, so I'm going to go out here and play his game. And it cost me. And the reason why that, not just that, but that ate me up. I was thinking about this a couple weeks ago. In my life, I've only lost two rematches, and both rematches come because I really didn't want to wrestle that guy or I didn't want to fight that guy and I was like I already beat this guy I'm gonna kill this dude again and I went out there got overzealous and didn't do my thing the same thing happened in Yonf and I remember him saying oh Corey got lucky and to me like what lucky how do you get lucky and

rape somebody for three rounds I'm gonna prove I'm not gonna take him down this time I'm gonna go out and just beat him up standing and it cost me if i would stay humble to who i am just do it do what i have been training believed in the preparation we trained wrestling ground and pound the whole camp i went out there and didn't do any of that i believe it would have been different who knows i might still be in the ufc and i will be the ufc champ but that fight began a very pivotal stretch for your personal life and career that is now taking you to where you are now on the doorstep of a million dollars and another chance at the world title. And like, you went through a lot of that away from the cameras.

You had a fall, is that correct? And we saw the Instagram pictures months later. Tell us what happened there. Well, after that fight, I remember they told me, oh, you're fine. Because when I came to, I remember everything.

Were you still under contract with UFC at that point? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, so I remembered everything that happened in the fight. I remember the whole fight. I remember getting up and talking and they asked me, I'm everything. Were you still under contract with UFC at that point? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, so I remembered everything that happened in the fight. I remember the whole fight. I remember getting up and talking to his ass. I'm good.

I'm good. I remember going to my family and the fans like, yo, we've been here before. Keep your head up. We fine. I'm straight. And they told me, oh, you're fine. Just take a couple days off.

You can go back. So I'm thinking nothing, no big deal, no concussion. I'm straight, even though I probably did, which I most likely did. I got home. While we were staying in Arizona, I got home, went right off the plane, and just I hadn't really slept because I'm still thinking about the fight in my head. Like I remember my brother calling, like, do you really want to be here?

Because in that fight, you didn't look like yourself. Do you still want to fight? So in my head, I'm asking myself all these questions. Do you still want to be in this? And when I do that, like I'm an outdoor, I'm a hunter. I love being outdoors. So when I can't sleep, I can't focus, I just go to the woods to get my mind clear. And so I went off the plane, got home, dropped the family.

I went straight to the woods with my dog. And I was out there all day, like in the sun, just thinking, thinking. And I remember going to a buddy's house. And he pulled up and I went to walk to his truck. And I just remember for a second, I got like a little light spin. And I wake up on the ground and got gravel getting dust off my face. And my wife's showing a picture and my whole face is just, I guess I hit the ground. It was scary.

It was alarming to see that picture. It was like, holy crap. Yeah, and that's the thing. And I remember I had a son at that point. I just had my son. And my main thing with fighting is always I want to be in and out of fighting before my kids can see something bad happen to me and then wonder what dad does for work.

And they got to see daddy's hurt, daddy in the booboo. And it didn't click until I was in the hospital doing all these tests to make sure. It was just a concussion. That's what the final verdict was. The doctor's like, maybe it was your heart, maybe it is. And I got a wife who's scared. She's panicking.

She don't want to lose her husband. Of course, yeah. You know, and then she bring my son with me to visit me in the hospital. None of them registered. Frank Yeager came and visited me. My coaches came. Like, all of it was, like, touching to have them.

But it didn't hit me until my wife brought my son into the hospital. And I remember what I said before I started fighting. Like, I never wanted my kids at that point to see me hurt. And the first thing that my son said, Daddy got boo-boo. And that killed me. Did you consider walking away? Yeah. I remember at that point, and I told my wife.

He's sitting on my lap. I'm sitting in the hospital. I still got wife, he's sitting on my lap, and I'm sitting in the hospital. I still got the picture on my phone. I say, I can't do this no more. She's like, what you mean? But I wasn't saying just fighting. It was, I can't keep fighting. It was, like, I'm dealing with the media all the time. The keyboard, I'm trying to prove something to these people

instead of just fighting. I said, I can't fight three fights anymore. She said, what do you mean? Like, I can't worry about fighting my opponents. I was arguing with Dana White and Mick Maynard all the time, like trying to prove something. I can't argue with the promotion. I can't be out here trying to voice my opinion to these fans.

I'm fighting too many belts. I got to worry about whoever's in the front. If we're going to do this, I got to focus. I got to do this the right way. I got to go in there for one mission, get these wins, and get home safe. Like, I don't want my son seeing me like this. Like, it hurts to this day to even think about it. And, yeah, I remember when we got home,

I was waiting for all the birds to come back, and I told her, like, if we walked away right now, I remember sitting in my son's room, putting him to bed, like, if we walked away right now, like, we got the money saved. Like, how do you feel if I just said I'm done right now? It's like, if it's an option, I mean, if we have to do it, I'm here with you regardless. And when the verdict came back, it was clear to go,

and we were talking like, do we walk away or what? She was like, how about this? She made me one more promise. She said, you go out there and you just, you do what you do, and we keep winning, but if something happened, we have something scary like this happen again, we're done, right? Like, that's it. We're going to do it one more time.

We're going to do it one more. We're going to do it safe. We're going to change the way we're training. You got a good other half. Good shout out to your wife. Oh, yeah. My wife fights, too.

She used to fight. That's how I met her at Rufus Sport. I met her the first day I went there. And so, that was it. Everything changed. Training changed.

I started training smarter. I don't spar as much. Keep all the damage from... Like, we spar. When we spar, we go. But I'm doing everything I can to keep from avoiding damage in training and take the damage in the fight. And just change the

mindset. When I go out there to fight, I ain't here to fight. I'm here to win. I'm not here to go ahead and throw a brawl, which I'm not here to take punches. I'm going to do everything I can to avoid punches and make you feel my wrath. And you know, at the end of the day, that's what's been motivating me. Well, something changed in you, and we can see that.

Your results are showing that. But this gray area of you getting sick and you falling and being hurt, suddenly you're out of your active UFC deal. And it was very surprising. It was huge news. You become a giant. From our side of the equation, we were like, what?

Because we don't know about this. You become a big free agent signing for Bellator because you're in the midst of your prime you're a title contender you know in the toughest group yet what the heck happened for you to go from in the deal to out of it just like that was as easy as dana just being like walk you want to go walk no i mean for them it seemed like so we'll do it. We'll keep it peaceful. Keep it in the high energy area. But I was out helping DC at the time for the Stipe third fight.

And I remember when everything was going, so when I did the final test to get cleared, I remember being in the hospital and the doctor comes in.

It was literally, this all happened within three minutes. So the doctor come in, my wife was there like, Mr. Anderson, good news. You can go back to beating people up.

Everything came back clear. There's no heart problems. Literally just a concussion. You're fine. You're clear to go people up. Everything came back clear. There's no heart problems. It's literally just a concussion. You're fine. You're clear to go. Do what you want to do. I'm like, great. He hands me the bag with all my stuff.

I turn my phone on. As soon as I turn my phone on, I got a contract from UFC in them instantly. Like, yo, y'all didn't even see if I was okay. Like, I literally just got his procedure, and the procedure was they cut my wrist open. They put, like, adrenaline in me and pump adrenaline. Put a tube in my heart, and they pump adrenaline in my heart.

So what they're trying to do is they shock in my heart to make it stop, but you're wide awake, so you feel it. So it's like getting shocked with paddles, and your heart is jumping. So you're strapped down to the table, but you can't move. So I'm messed up from this whole procedure. Like, yo, I don't want to do this ever again. So I'm strapped to the table. And they're like,

like, like, your heart is pumping out your chest. And like, I'm still in, trying to gather what just happened in this procedure. When I turn my phone on, I got a contract with the UFC.

They're fighting to keep the crowd off. I'm like, okay, fine, whatever. That's how they feel. They're not even going to call to see if I'm okay. We take this fight and I'm going to show.

I'm good. Let's go. Well, I sign the the contract I send it back while I'm in the hospital on the ride home or like it was not even that it was like an hour later

I get home and then I get a call from my manager well no Nikita's hurt they want you to fight Yuri for hostage damn so I'm like that's fine

but like I just told him before the Johnny Walker fight I'm not fighting no more new guys like he had just gotten the UFC give me a little more money like at the time I was barely I made six figures one fight Walker fight. I'm not fighting no more new guys. He had just gotten to UFC. Give me a little more money.

At the time, I was barely, I made six figures, one fight in my UFC before I got out of there. At least give me some money. I just went through all this stuff. I'm thinking about

the procedure. I just had to go through that procedure. I have to get some value for this stuff. I'm not going to fight this new guy again just so you guys

can hype him up. Give me a little bit more money. It was like, we're not giving you anything. You're taking this fight. What are you doing? This is the fight behind the scenes that we don't get to see. Exactly. People don't know this.

I remember when I went to D.C. and all that. I went to D.C. and I remember calling my manager like, yo, do we have to do this? He's like, brother, just think about it. We don't have to. This is this. What do you want to do? I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking about it. I'm training with D.C. and I see how good I am.

DC, I'm like, bro, there's no reason why at the end of 2021 you should not be the UFC champ. I train with people. The only person that can go five rounds with me and do this stuff

is Cain Velasquez. And I'm thinking like, yo, I'm that good, so why would I be undervaluing myself? So finally in my life, I'm valuing what I can do and how good I am.

And I remember calling Ali and was like, yo, can we just, can we get out of this contract? Like, if they're not going to give me any more money, I'm not going to keep fighting for penis. Like, I got a family on the way. He's like, you know, you got a daughter on the way. My wife was pregnant at the time. Like, I'll see what I can do. I'll call

USC and see what we can do, blah, blah, blah. And he called me back like five minutes later, do you really want out? Like, we can probably get you more money. Do you want out? Like, yeah, man, I want out. You don't see that that often. No, that's a bold move. But literally, 45 seconds later, I get a release email. Wow.

And that right there, too. I'm like, I had just hung up the phone, and my email went off. And I knew right then. I called my wife. Like, they didn't value us in the first place. Like, what do you mean? Holy shit. It was like, I literally got the phone with Ali, and I got an email that they was letting me go.

Like, they didn't care how good. Whatever we did, we were never going to get a title. So let me ask you. From the moment you had the first conversation with Ali saying I think I want out, he does what he does and then you get the release email, how much time has elapsed? Not even 35 minutes. Holy shit.

Which told me, it's like, they just didn't value him. And that was fine. It's business. And like, I met with Hunter before the Johnny Walker fight and he said it straight forward. Like, it's the fight business, but we're here to sell tickets. Who's going to put butts in the seats? And my style didn't put butts in the seats, and that was fine. So, but within this time, we released, and within another 20, 30 minutes, I got an offer from Bellator.

And I didn't even question anybody. When I saw that number, I was like, yo, this is real? Like, that was really, no, that's what they just did. That's what they wouldn't do. I told them that you're a free agent. They wouldn't do that. Like, fine. Like, you don't want to try nobody else?

Like, no. Like, that was more want to try nobody else? Like, no. Like, that was more money I've ever even seen on anybody's contract. Sign that right now. Like, deal. So within an hour and a half, I went from having a flight contract,

asking for more money, told no, released, and new home. That fast. And like, I just told my wife, she's like, are you serious?

But we was going to get the UFC belt. Like, yeah. And then DC said it too. Like, bro, I didn't are you serious? But we was going to get the UFC belt. Like, yeah. And then DC said it too. Like, bro, like, I didn't really want to leave because I know I can beat the UFC champ. But at the same time, he said, bro, let's think about this. Right now, before I called and said, yes, let's leave, he's like, right now you're in love with three letters. He said, a belt is a belt.

But all you're in love with is the belt from the UFC. He said, you got to think if the money you can get elsewhere can change your life and you're not happy here, you got to do it. Like, yes, I love the UFC. For me, they made me a millionaire. They might not ever do that for you. So you got to go where it's going to be best for you

and your family. And when I left in that first count, when I seen the numbers, I could have got more if I waited and got some other places. But that right there,

when I did the calculations in the contract, I was like, I will be a millionaire in no time. I appreciate you sharing that story right there, when I did the calculation and the contract, like, I will be a millionaire in no time. I appreciate you sharing that story because there was some speculation at the time that,

you know, because they don't let people out of their deals. Not very often. Some leverage against them due to some, you know, medical mishandling. There's a lot of gray area.

It's good to hear you sort of give us the, you know, that in the end all your tests turned out great, that you're able to get back and look at the production since you've been incredible. Now, every time you do an interview, I feel like people pull quotes out, whether it's

exaggerated or not, that Corey Anderson says he's going to make more in this fight than he's made in, you know, 12 UFC fights combined. Is all of that stuff true? It's true. After my second fight in Bellator, I had made more than that. I made more by my second fight in Bellator than I had my whole 15 fights in the UFC. I remember the first check, when I got that first check at Bellator, I remember calling my wife backstage and said,

call the gym, tell them you're done. She said, what do you mean? Like, you don't have to, she was the GM at the gym. I'm like, you don't have to work no more. Like, you don't have to work no more. Everything is paid. Like, we got the mortgage. Anything we want, we want to buy the house.

Everything is paid. Like, you don't have to work anymore. She's like, good, but I want to, you can stay at home and raise the kids. Now she loves it. We got the house here in Jersey. We got a buy the house. Everything is paid. Like, you don't have to work anymore. She's like, girl, you can stay at home and raise the kids. Now she loves it. We got the house here in Jersey. We got a house in Indiana. I want a tractor. I want to buy a tractor.

Want a zero turn? Got a zero turn. Want a four wheel? We can do whatever we want. Dude, I got to get that zero turn lawnmower. That thing sounds amazing. But, like, I remember seeing Anthony Smith. I was cornering a fighter, and he said,

of course, I want to say we had our little beef in the UFC. That's what I want to say. You look truly happy over in Bellator. I'm happy for what you're doing. I said, yeah, it's beef in the UFC. I said, you look truly happy over in Belichick. I'm happy for what you're doing. I said, yeah, it's true. They say money can't buy happiness, and you realize they just didn't have money. Because it don't make, look,

it ain't the fact that it makes things, like you're happy because you got money, because life is a lot more stressful. What gives you, I'm finding in life, and I don't make, you know, probably life-changing money yet, but we're doing all right, Luke. We're doing okay.

You know, one of my friends put it perfectly. It does give you the freedom to actually live your life more. And if that's at the end of the day what we're all kind of chasing, that freedom to spend more time with our family and make these great memories separate from our profession, that's fantastic. Because that phone call, honey, you're not working anymore, that's like an American dream

life-changing moment right there. And it happened. So right now, all these headlines and podcasts, is there a fighter pay problem in MMA? Or is there just a fighter pay problem in UFC? Yeah. What's your solution to fighter pay? I think the fighter pay is just in UFC. Because I remember now, after the Johnny Walker fight,

if you guys remember, I did the media and said, yo, if you're not going to give me my just do what I deserve, cut me. I remember right after Derrick Brunson calls me. He's like, bro, don't say that. They'll cut you. You're not going to make nearly as much money anywhere else. There's no organization that's paying like UFC does. You're in the best place right now.

Like, do not, don't say that again because you will be cut and you'll be like, man, I'm not making nearly as much. And then when I signed that contract, I remember talking to Derrick. He's like, bro, I didn't know they had money like that out there. It was like, yeah, I don't know how much he's making, but I told him, like, yo, I'm making way more than I made then. He's like, well, I'm happy for you, bro. It's like you, we are all, especially the casuals and the fans, they are made to believe since UFC is the plateau of where to go,

you're going to be making the most. Everybody thinks that, but only Conor McGregor, John Jones, certain people make that money. If you're, like Hunter told me, it's about putting butts in the seats. If you're not a person, they're not promoting, you're not going to make that money. Like I said, I had 15 fights there. But when I went into that Jan Blakowicz fight, the second time,

you know how many of the media people didn't even know that was the second time fight? I had somebody ask me, why is this called Corey versus Jan 2? You really don't know. Because if you're not promoted, they don't know anything about you. They didn't know I had beat Jan before

on my sixth fight ever. They didn't know that. They didn't know how bad, they didn't even know we met before. Because if they don't promote you, you're not going to have the fans behind you. And that's any business. They got a promotion.

That's what Bellator, they do. When they don't have like one person they promote more, it's kind of like they don't promote a lot, but when they do promote a fight, they take time to promote everybody on that card. Whether it's somebody on the first fight, like I remember Jalen, whatever, he's doing pretty good now,

but I remember when he only had one fight. My first fight, or his second fight, was. He's doing pretty good now, but I remember when he only had one fight. My first fight, or his second fight, was on my debut fight in Bellator. And I remember them promoting him. I'm like, who is this kid? I started looking into him. I'm like, oh, this kid's going to be pretty good. And I remember in the hotel room watching him fight. Like, yo, that was a slick submission.

But I only knew about him because Bellator took the time to post stuff about who he could be and who he was, who he trained with. As for UFC, it's like you go to these cars and you see them, it's like, who are these guys? But, who's fighting at USA, the main event and the co-main? Because those are the big name guys. Unless it's a guy that's very hype, like

Kamzak Chamiah, or Johnny Walker, those guys, and they were lower on the card, because they were exciting. But even if you're not exciting in Bellator, I feel like they're giving you at least a little bit of just due to let the fans know who to watch you know so do you believe in a potentially a fighter's union so it's a complicated question like could it not it's a good idea bad idea well you gotta think about unions period is always messy like my father's rhythm company is a union company so i know a lot of things are going to the union. Look at Jimmy Hoffa,

very messy ending. Yeah, nobody know where he is, right? Well, East Rutherford, New Jersey underneath the goalpost I think is last where they saw him.

But then you see a non-union and it's, because my dad had a union and at one point he had a non-union company and he liked the non-union because there was

less politics to it. So even just like in the fight, there's politics now, but I feel like if we get a union, it's going to be a lot messier, a lot harder. It's going to be hard to get fighters to fight. It's going to be, I think it's fine right now. You just got to learn how to stand your ground and get what you deserve. And like I've said before after I left, if you're not happy with it,

go somewhere else and you're happy, just like anything, any job. You're not happy with your job, I wouldn't expect you to keep getting up every morning and miserably going. I would tell anybody, like, if you don't like your job, quit. Go find the job you do like. Would you like to see some of the, and again, some of these are a little bit esoteric, but some of the, you know, the Ali Act, which covers boxing.

So boxing does have federal regulation, which is why some of the purses look the way they do over there because the promoter can't control the title, right? It's by law. They cannot have it. There's financial disclosure laws. There's all kinds of stuff that make boxing. Like it's not an accident boxers make more.

It happens for a reason. Would you like to see some of those protections extended to MMA? Yes. Now that's a little different. That would be nice, yes. Somebody where the promoter doesn't control the title and stuff like that, that would be great because at the end of the day, in the MMA game, the promoter is the one calling the shots.

You know what I mean? Dana White, Mick Maynard, Hunter Campbell, and Joe Silver, all those guys. And Sean Shepard, those are the ones that run the show. There's nobody else that they have to answer to. They are the top of the – they are the bosses. It's like we do what we want to do at the end of the day. Sometimes they answer to Disney only when Tachi Palace is involved, though. That's a different story.

Disney getting involved. But you, actually, that's kind of funny you bring him up. Joe Silva, you got into the game when he was still around for a little bit. Any crazy Joe Silva stories? Only crazy. He called me up and he read me the riot act one time. I mean, the only, I had two conversations with him, and the only one that kind of rubbed me wrong, I mean,

I'm not a... I don't really get bothered much by things. I just let things roll off my skin like a duck in the water. And the one time it was my five-year-old boy, on a two-week notice. Didn't have a passport. They got me a passport. I went to Brazil. I dominated him. I remember... I can't remember who it was, but his wife messaged me

like, oh, did you get the little, the extra bonus behind the curtain burners they give you, whatever. I'm like, I haven't got one yet for this fight. She's like, oh, me either. I wonder what's going on. Then she hit me up

a week later. I got mine, everybody. Did you get yours? Like, no. So Joe was like, yo, am I going to get a bonus for this fight or not? He's like, no,

that was a boring guy's fight. I'm not giving you nothing. Like, a boring guy? Like, I went on two weeks. What you expect me to do? Sit there and box with a professional boxer? I don't know what to do boring guy like I went on two weeks what you expect me to do sit there and box with a professional boxer I don't know

I was supposed to it was two weeks I didn't have a camp I took him down meanwhile the Nelk boys are just flaunting shit he was like he was pulling a 250k

large yeah I'm like okay I'm not a real big fan of this guy and I remember once I ran into him in Vegas it was a group of us

he cracked a joke and I I'm not a person. I'm going to fake anything. If you crack a joke that ain't funny, I'm not going to laugh. I didn't say nothing. Don't humor this motherfucker at all. I didn't say anything.

And then before you know it, I get a call from Ali. Like, yo, what did you just do? Like, what do you mean? I just got a call from Joe Silver. He says, you're a real asshole. What? Like, I didn't even do nothing. I didn't laugh at a joke.

First rule of improv, Corey, come on. You got to sell the other guy's joke. That's not me. I'm as real as they come. I cut straight. If I may, I would love to talk to you about, I have seen that the fighters who are the happiest, it takes them a while to get there,

and they're ones who have realized that there is a utility in talking to the media, but they have somewhat of a, not divorced, they've learned how to navigate that space without being bothered by it anymore. Dustin Poirier comes to mind, for example, right? I think you're in that space as well. What has been your relationship to the MMA media? What have they gotten wrong about you?

How do you view them now? And by the way, we're two stupid jerks here, so feel free to not hold back. I'm not looking for any sugar-coated answer. I mean, one thing about Corey Anderson, not talking about myself, I hate talking about myself in person, but you ask anybody, what do you think about Corey? They say he's a straight shooter.

I'm going to open the book. So one thing with MMA media, and they know that, and they'll ask questions and they'll get it. And my wife will call me, you shouldn't have said that. Or my mom will call me, you just say too much on the air. It's like I just don't have any secrets. But now it's to the point where you figure out on the fly

how to word things correctly. Like earlier when I said we're going to talk about the situation I left the U.S.A., like I'm going to keep this as peaceful as possible. Like without making it sound like a negative,

I don't have any hatred or anything, but you just got to know the media is here to, they have one objective, to get information out of you that others don't know yet. So sometimes, like when you look at Ariel Hawaiian, when he does that, he's like picking and picking. He's trying to get you to say something that's going to be like bait against Dana White or something. Something that he can use. But yeah, like such and such said before in another interview.

So the biggest thing is you just got to be aware like when you cover these guys, they could be friendly but they're not literally your friend. It's not somebody that's going to, they're not on the air trying to make you look great.

They are trying to get your take but at the same time they want to get some dirt out of you or they're trying to get some bad info out of you. So the biggest thing I take is take what you guys ask for the greatest thought.

Don't take any offense to it, but at the same time, be smart with your answer. But I guess I'm more, fair enough, but I'm also wondering like, do you feel like they have given you your respect?

Oh, no. Hell no. So tell me what has been missing. I mean, it's a lot missing. Like you said, you see articles, they take one little thing, you say one thing

and they'll take it and run with it. For instance, I don't blame Damon Martin for this one, but I think it was more of an ESPN thing. The last interview I did after the fight, and he asked me a question like, oh, do you regret the fact you left the UFC since now, seeing how good you're doing? Like, I don't regret it, but you know, at times I do,

somebody asks me, you ever think Dana White wonder, blah, blah, blah. And I say, you know, it came to me after he said, I don't regret it, but, you know, at times I do. Somebody asked me, like, you ever think Dana White wonder blah, blah, blah? And I said, you know, it came to me after he said, I wonder if Dana White regretted cutting me, like letting me go at the time. I wonder if that's the case. And the media came on, like, oh, Corey Anderson said he wondered if Dana White misses him. You're like, no, that's not, I don't care. I'm happy where I am.

I'm grateful for where I am. But at times it does, when somebody asks you that, you think, like, then you think, like, dang, I wonder if he does. And that's all I was saying. It's like if your wife asks you, do you ever think about your ex-girlfriends? You just don't answer it, right?

Because she'll take it out of context, like the media, use it against you. You ask my wife, I'm real as it comes. She asks me, I'll say something like,

it depends on what I say. Like, you ask a question, I'm going to keep it 100. It's like, I think about certain things, I think about certain situations, you know? But, and that's just,

I'm a real ass dude. There's one thing about me, my wife will tell you, if you, you know? But, and that's just, I'm a real ass dude. That's one thing about me. My wife will tell you, if you want to know something, you ask Corey. All right, let's ask Corey the truth on a couple things then. This hat, is it raising or lowering my T at age 44? Get rid of it. This shit is ugly. I saw it when it came in.

I know he's wearing it on the air now. Thank you, Corey. I appreciate it. You know, Corey, when you look at Luke Thomas, I mean, you know, just one dye job could really turn around its fortune. Should I dye my face and hair? Yeah, women love gray hair now. That's the thing.

Eat shit, loser! Eat shit! How about that? You got a little bit coming in right here. Just dye yours gray. I know, but this guy will show up looking like late-stage Elvis on the toilet with his hair dyed to the nth degree.

We had a shoe polish accident once. Oh, by the way, we serve all guests. These are Brazilian nuts. Because we've been told as dads, you know. Yeah, I don't think he's got a T problem. This could raise your testosterone, the Brazilian nuts. I was told that by one of our producers, Matt R., by the way. Where's this bit going?

I was going to chew on something while you guys were talking. Okay. Hey, I want to see your, this is going to sound like a weird question. Let me see your hands. Other way. What the fuck is that? Whoa. Can we put hands. Other way. What the fuck is that? Can we put the camera on that? What the fuck is that?

That's evidence from Glover Chesera's team. Oh my God. Hit him with an uppercut. I can't remember if it was second, yeah, second round, hit him with that, no, first round, hit him with that uppercut,

big uppercut. It was permanent. I remember my, yeah, I remember my hand hurting and later in that round, we got into a grapple, he grabbed my hand. I was like, what the,

I looked down, yo, my time, my finger was like stuck like this, like, yo, whatle. He grabbed my hand. I was like, what the? I looked down. Yo, my time, my finger was like stuck like this. Like, yo, what's going on? And I remember after the fight, I taped my fingers together just to maybe keep the motion and I took the tape off.

It was stuck like that. When he got it checked, the tendon ruptured from here and now this is just all scar tissue and everything in there. Damn. So now is it like, is it like,

are you like the thing from Fantastic Four? It's like clobbering time now? You got like extra brick. God damn. Hard as a rock. Holy smokes. Your other hand has a little something too.

I mean, that's just fighting fingers. Yeah, that's just jamming my fingers from wrestling. You've had a ton of injuries, man. Not so much. Rit word? Should we go through them? Yeah, let's go through them. All right, so you got the hands.

That's relatively small, but good for Halloween. That's not injury. That's back media. Good for Halloween. Yes, come back media. That's not injury. That's just life. I'm fairly certain that's an injury.

Fairly certain. In the Midwest, that's how it works. I call an injury something that you have to miss a fight for. Okay, fair enough, fair enough, fair enough. I think for the average loser like me, I see that, and I'm like, that's not normal. But okay, let's start. Your ankles. I think for the average loser like me, I see that and I'm like, that's not normal. But okay, let's start. Your ankles, I think you've had multiple issues with them, correct?

Shattered my leg in three in wrestling and broke my ankle, same leg in high school, yes. Okay, any knee problems? I mean, I just got sore knees. Never had any surgery? No. Hip? No hip surgery.

Back? No back surgery. Shoulders? A knee surgery, but never had it. What's wrong with your knees? No hip surgery. Back? No back surgery. Shoulders? A knee surgery, but I never had it. What's wrong with your knees? No, my shoulders. Oh, your shoulders. What's your shoulder?

You tear a labrum? All the rest is torn in the labrum and my rotator cuff. He was carrying a giant chip for a few years, too. Yeah, he's got that going on as well. Just, I mean, my main thing was blast doubles and high crotches. So you hit a high crotch, somebody sprawled around. And you run that butt, brother. Yeah, and you do the blast double,

and you hit with your shoulder, just pop out. So I remember the first time was, well, my redshirt, sophomore year in nationals, shooting blast double. I kept shooting, shooting, taking the guy down. I went to it one more time in the third period, and I remember hitting him, my shoulder went back, and it popped out. It popped back in.

I got my shoulder subluxed, but I kept doing it to the point, like, it tore the labrum. And later on the next year, I went D2 and we were hitting the high crotch and it got sprawled and it tore the rotator cuff. Damn, later on doing the same thing in this shoulder. It happened again. So it's like just the wear and tear just happens.

They go, you got to get surgery. Like, nah, I have to take time off. I don't have time to waste. I got to just keep rehabbing and just keep working. And they work okay? They're fine with me. Do they click and pop? Oh, 100%.

It actually came out in the Shogun Hula fight. My shoulder came out. I remember in that fight in the first round. I remember I threw a punch and I missed. Oh, he hit me at the same time I punched. And I met in the shoulder when I remember in the round. Coach was like, yo, why are you hanging your arm down? I'm like, my shoulder out, Coach.

Like, what am I going to do? Pop it in? I'm like, I don't know what, because he told me. We don't want to take Shogun down to the end of the round like third round because he got jujitsu at the time I had none like only way I can get it come back in if I blast double like if I blast I'm laying hard enough for the pop back in like it always happens like I guess you gotta take him down like I guess we do huh I'm ready to get going jab and blast as soon as I hit the fence it popped oh thank god and I finished the takedown but other than that that, I just deal with it. Man, that's tough as nails. Bro, that's some psycho shit.

Oh, you think that's crazy? You should have seen the Gianvalente fight. That's the end of that one. I got all these teeth crushed out in the first 45 seconds. What? Okay, walk us through. What happened? I went to shoot, and he threw the front kick, and I hit his knee.

So if you go back and watch, you'll see it. And I said, and I touched my face because I felt like a hole. Like I got a scar in here. All this is busted open. These teeth were out. Five teeth crushed to the back of my mouth. I remember feeling- So you could taste the particles of tooth. Yeah, I was holding my teeth up with my tongue. You call Mark here and ask this. I remember going in the corner. He's like, yo, where the blood coming from? Like, he sees the hole.

He's like, yo, what's wrong? I'm like, I'm holding my teeth in with my tongue. He's like, what? Holding my teeth in with my tongue. I'm holding my teeth in with my tongue. And he's looking. I move my teeth. He's like, yo. He my teeth in my tongue. I'm holding my teeth in my tongue. And he's looking. I move my teeth. He's like, yo. He's looking at me like, all right, so what are we going to do? Do not stand in front of him. Keep moving. Do not let him hit you in the face again. So that whole fight, all the way to the last

minute, I was holding, I was biting my mouth open, but holding my teeth in, so I was scared I was going to swallow those five teeth because they weren't connected. So I had to go, and they were pulling in, they braced it. That was painful, too, being in the hospital, getting that braced in. But, yeah, I fought two and a half rounds holding in teeth with my tongue. That is fucking crazy.

And just still cracking and getting cracked. The wire, the senator that's just like, shit. Everything he says, that's my reaction every single time. You know, I mean, so from your transition from collegiate wrestling to MMA, how crucial was coming across Ben Askren in that regard? I mean, it all happened because of Ben Askren. You know what I mean? He had Whitewater my senior year.

He was a coach there helping me out. That's how you met him initially? Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah. And I remember finishing nationals. I took second Okay. Yeah. And I remember finishing nationals. I took second in the country. And I remember going back again.

It's one of the moments I lose and most people upset. They lost in the finals. I'm on the podium laughing and cheering and stuff. And people are like, why are you so happy? Like, if you knew where I came from, you'd be happy too.

Like, if you knew my life, you'd be happy. Like, you got here. And I remember Ben texting me. He was like, congratulations, Corey. At the end of the day, you start with a thousand kids every year that want to wrestle

and only very few enter the finals, and you did it. Green joint took second. I'm happy for you. Congratulations. And I had talked to him in the season. Like, I wanted to wrestle for the Olympics. I wanted to keep going during the Olympics and all that. And so he's like, all right, so I want to start working with you.

You can meet me at this gym. So I'm thinking we're going to start wrestling for the Olympics. Well, the gym, the address was Rufus Sport. I had no clue. Again, but thankful for that, this is where I met my wife. I go in. That first day, she's working the front was Rufusport. I had no clue. Again, but thankful for that, this is where I met my wife. I go in, that first day,

she's working the front desk. She has a Whitewater, Wisconsin shirt on, which is the school I'm at at the time. Her brother went there the year before I got there. So I talk to her, I meet Ben,

I'm like, yo, what is this? This ain't no wrestling gym. You see Anthony Pettis over there doing his thing. This looks like a trap to me. Yeah, you got Eric Coach and Pascal Cruz.

They're all these UFC guys doing media at the time. And they're doing kickboxing or something class. Like, yo, what is this? Like, this is your new sport. Like, what do you mean my new sport? He's like, I know you want to wrestle. But the way you wrestle, you could be so good at fighting.

And I just wanted you to try it. Like, if you don't like it, we'll go back to wrestling for the Olympics. Wasn't it your footwork that he saw? That's the thing. When I wrestle, I never wrestle like you normally wrestle. Most guys tie up. I'm moving. Just like I move in'll go back to wrestling for the Olympics. Wasn't it your footwork that he saw? That's the thing. When I wrestle, I never wrestle like you normally wrestle. Most guys tie up. I'm moving. Just like I'm moving in a fight.

You're like a boxer. Yeah. That's what I did. You have a couple amateur fights, right? Yeah. Boxing. My brother-in-law at the time was a professional boxer. Who is this?

Pat Cat Coleman. He was like a local guy back home. But he had a gym. And when I first broke my leg in college. They're like, you got to do rehab, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, I'm not doing rehab. When I got back, my brother was like, yo, we can do boxing. We can do some ladder drills and some stuff.

Get your footwork. And I got so good at that, he's like, you want to do a couple amateur fights? You want to do an amateur fight? Did the first one. Beat the former Golden Gloves champ, and he was like, oh, we can get you another one. Knocked a guy out, or TK Odom in the first round. And I was like, yo, we can get you another one. Knocked a guy out, or TK Odom in the first round. And I was like, yo, why don't you go pro?

But I couldn't get paid. So I'm like, I can't get paid because I'm a college athlete. So I went back, and I would still do the footwork drills and all the stuff we did there, hitting the bag,

and just keep my footwork for the work for wrestling. Like I do it now. I teach the kids. When somebody go to tie up with you, I bop, like weave, like I'm slipping. Same thing,

somebody go top, I dip. It doesn't make you miss. Like weave. Like I'm slipping. Same thing. Somebody go top. I dip. Just make you miss. It's just things I use like that into my wrestling. I used to wrestle that way. Just had me come to MMA gym and I didn't do it that day. I was like, I don't want to do this. I'm done.

I went home. But the whole way home, like why did I not take that opportunity? Why did I not do that? Maybe you could have. Maybe because your friend was deceitful. Yeah. But my mind was set on wrestling for the Olympics. To pay Ben back, you refused to help him learn striking. did I not do that? Maybe you could have because your friend was deceitful. Yeah. My mind was set on wrestling for the Olympics.

To pay Ben back you refused to help him learn striking. That's what you did. I knew it. I knew it. So anyway the next day it's like an hour and a half

I wake up and I go back like I have to do it. I got to give myself an opportunity just to try it. I went back and had to be sparring day in the first round

here I'm going to go with Anthony Pettis just to feel leg kicks the coach Duke Rue so he's like yo he can do it. I donis just to feel leg kicks. The coach, Duke Rue. So he's like, yo, he can do it.

I don't want to feel this. What the fuck is that? Because I never felt a kick. Just let me know. He's like, what do you do? I'm like, I wrestle. He's like, wrestle. So I took him down. He's like, ah, you're too big

to be going with him if you wrestle. Yeah, I love the song. I went with Ben. So I did a lot better with Ben. Ben don't have striking. They're just wrestling. So it was just back and forth there. Then he had me go with a heavyweight

and I just dogged him. Took him down. Like, punched him on the ground. And he stood up. I punched him. Blast double. I remember Duke saying, like, I hate to back and forth there. Then he had me go with a heavyweight and I just dogged him, took him down, like punched him on the ground. And he stood up, I punched him, blasted double. I remember Duke saying like,

I hate to tell you son, you said you don't want to fight, but you're a fighter. And you could be in the UFC within three fights. With your attributes, I can see it. In three fights, you could be in the UFC.

Like I only seen it done once, but you could be the next person. You ended up doing it in five, right? Three. Three. The ultimate fighter for me was his third fight. My third fight right away.

And I was like dang, to this day, it's in my head. Like he said that and I work with Mark Fiore and he said it. Like I've seen guys go to, you could be in the UFC soon.

Man, Hughes, all these like you, if you took this seriously, you could go to UFC and it happened with the three fights. Is there a part of you that, like again,

it's one of these things where like when I say, when I say the word regret, I don't mean, you look back like, oh, I don't mean that. What I mean to say is, in a perfect world, would you have gone to the UFC in your third fight?

Knowing what I know now, it's weird. Because like when my coach say, when you ask somebody to change things like that, when they regret, would you do it different? You got to think about your family. Now I got my family. I don't know if I would be with my wife if I didn't go in a third fight.

Because one of the reasons we got together later is she started a podcast. It was after one of my UFC fights, early in my career, she wanted to ask me. And that's when we hit things off. So at the same time, I don't say,

I can't say I wouldn't do it again, but at the same time, if I knew I didn't change the outcome of everything else in my life, yeah, I would at least, at least have an amateur career because I didn't have that. Right, right.

You know, I took my first loss on pay-per-view. That's crazy. You know what I mean? That's crazy. You know, Marty McFly's brother started disappearing

from that portrait in Back to the Future. You F with history, you start losing some people, Luke, okay? I would change a lot of the crap I went through, but I never would have met you.

I see you did well in science class. Yeah, I talk to the kids at the gym now, I'm like, I want to go pro, I want to go pro. I want to go pro. Like, man, take these losses in amateur.

Learn your stuff in amateur. Because I didn't take my first actual kickboxing class until after the OSP head kick knockout. Damn. Dude, that's nuts. You're 32. I think folks don't realize. You're 32. You're like smack in the prime.

Yeah. Right? Do you feel like as a fighter, you look back on your journey to this point, obviously you have turned many corners. But do you really feel like, do you feel like you're in the prime. Yeah. Right? Do you feel like as a fighter, you look back on your journey to this point, obviously you have turned many corners, but do you really feel like, do you feel like you're in your prime physically

and from a technical development standpoint? Yes. I would say the development of my game, definitely feel like I'm at the prime. Like,

I've gone with guys like Roman Delezi. Yeah. He's Extreme Couture, I think, or? Yeah, he's from Georgia, but he comes over and trains there. You got Bruno Capolezza, the guy that won the PFL. Got hands like that. Yeah. He's Extreme Couture, I think. Yeah, he's from Georgia, but he comes over and trains there. You got Bruno Capolezza, the guy that won the PFL.

Got hands, I guess. Yeah, like, before he was with PFL, he hadn't fought in forever. I managed to go, I got this guy. He can come out and help you for the Johnny Walker fight. And I go with him, and it was just like, even him and Roman, they both said it, like, brother, you are so, like, when we do individual stuff, like, jiu-jitsu, your jiu-jitsu is okay. When you do striking class, your striking is okay. You do wrestling class, you are so, like, when we do individual stuff, like jiu-jitsu, your jiu-jitsu is okay. We do striking class, your striking is okay.

You do wrestling class, you're really good. When you do MMA, it's like, you're at, like, another level now. But I remember at times, it wasn't like that. And I just thought about it. Like, it's because of all the years I learned on the job. Like, my third fight was an ultimate fighter. Or fourth fight was an ultimate fighter. I remember those guys said, there's no way Corey can win.

He only got three fights before. There's no way Corey can win. He only got three fights before. There's no way he can win. I just blasted out with people. Thank you, wrestling. Thank you, Rufus. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? And over time,

it was just learning stuff. That first loss, that second loss, that third loss, that fourth loss. Every time, I never had my head down. I just learned from it.

And I remember after the OSP fight, I remember Duke saying something in the back. He's like, you know what you did wrong? He was like, you slipped like a boxer when he threw a head kick.

Same thing Usman just did against Leon Edwards. He threw that cross out there, and you slipped the punch, and you go right into the kick. The thing is with kickboxing, you can't do that. You got to keep this X going. You got to X block it.

I can't remember who was fighting that night. And he said, dang, that's good. And I said that to one of my coaches. He's like, you didn't know that? And I thought about it then. Like, I've never actually took a class. There's a lot of things I don't know. I remember telling Ricardo, like, Ricardo, you know I've never actually took a class. There's a lot of things I don't know. I remember telling Ricardo, like,

Ricardo, you know I've never actually took, like, a basic class, right? Like, I never. Almeida? Yeah. Like, he's like, what? Like, I've never took a class where you learn shrimping and you learn the different rules and break fall.

Like, I was always, you went with the pro guys and just sink or swim. So it's like, I'm just scrambling and wrestling. Well, every time you add something, man, you level up. Exactly. And it's showing now at the peak of your powers, I'm just scrambling and wrestling. Well, every time you add something, man, you level up. Exactly. And it's showing now at the peak of your powers,

the peak of your prime at 32. So we talked about the transition from UFC, big free agent signing with Bellator. You make an early splash. Then they bring to you the idea of this eight-man tournament, Grand Prix, million bucks, world title. But to be honest,

I labeled you as a dark horse, but we're talking about, holy shit, Rumble Johnson's in this tournament. Holy crap, Yoel Romero's in here. But Dean Nemcoff had just made himself a global name. Phil Davis, Ryan Bader. Don't let Don Yagshin go to dark. Somebody pronounced it right.

There are a lot of reasons to chase the sex factor in other areas. Yet, Corey Anderson all along, did you feel at any point people were overlooking you? I mean, there's a theme in your career, but when that tournament draw gets announced, what are you thinking? They don't think I'm going to make it out the first round. It was a fact.

The painting was on the wall. As soon as it was announced, everybody's first thing, first person to get knocked out, Corey, as soon as you get here, he's going out. Then you got all the Turkestanians, Yags people, it was like all over social media. He's going to kill Yags. Oh, they came at you. He's going out. Then, yeah, all the Turkestanians, the ex-people was like all over social media. He's going to kill...

Oh, they came at you. Oh, he's going to kill... And I remember we did the media to announce it with Showtime with Bellator, and they told me he was Russian. They said, he's the Russian dark horse. I do a media, they go, I got the Russian dark horse first,

and I got DM'd for like three weeks straight. Like, you disrespect us. He's no Russian. He's Turkestanian. You're going to find out. And I was like, yeah, like, I just said what they told me. But like the whole... They're like, Corey Hansen's not going to make it. Come on, Danny's no Russian. He's Turkestanian. You're going to find out. And I was like, yo, like, I just said what they told me. But, like, the whole, like, Corey Anderson's not going to make it.

Come on, Danny. Come on. I was going to post a meme the other day, like a throwback of, like, Corey Anderson signs a Bellator. And it was me. It was like a bag, me and a bag of cookies. And it was labeled Bellator Belt. And me looking. And I look up and this guy comes around the corner and says, Rumba Johnson.

Like, damn, I can't have shit around. And it was like I was like it's funny because nobody thought Corey's going to make it out of the first round. And then I had the Ryan Bader oh Ryan Bader's got

he's too much for Corey he's going to kill him. He and I definitely thought you were going to make it past Yakshamurda but the Bader one was interesting. We didn't really know

how that one was going to go and dude you dusted him off. I couldn't believe how fast that went. I'm trying to go okay you're wrestling against his going to go. And dude, you dusted him off. I couldn't believe how fast that one was. I'm trying to go, okay, you're wrestling against his, going to look like this. First round KO really wasn't in my breakdown of how that fight might go.

Was it in yours? Was that a setup the whole time? He asked me after, like, bro, he asked me after the fight, and he asked me next day in the hotel. He was like, in the hotel, he asked me, I got to ask you for sure, like, after you had been drinking. He was like, did you just throw that punch randomly, or was that, like, planned? I was like, I told you last night, bro, like,

we studied your film, and I remember sparring with you twice. Like, your jab has always been the same. You don't step with your jab. You lean to make it long, but you don't bring your feet with you. And the whole camp, that's what Mark said, we're gonna capitalize on that. That's when we came up with that combo. Now that's, like, a combo we do a lot. But he's like, if he

doesn't step with his jab, I got a perfect combo. Overhand, uppercut, cross. He step, he don't step, he's leaning. So his head is going to be out there. If I step with your overhand, you're going to catch me. If he go back, the uppercut is going to come or the cross is going to put his life. So I wanted it too. If you look back, we threw that combo, we threw two combos.

The first one was jab, jab to the cross or jab to the head, jab to the body, cross to the belly. The next one was we knew he was going to jab. So now, and I heard Mark say, it's coming. You're going to see me shake my head like, I know. And he throw it, and I throw it, and the first one falls short. Like, I got to step, I know. And next thing he do, and I step, and I hit him. Perfect.

It was alarming how you took him out. It was like, oh, shit. Like, you're doing that now. Not that you hadn't stopped, guys. Johnny Walker, you blew him away. But again, you always seem to kind of take it to the next level. So then you go in against Vadim Nemkov, and look, you know, that guy had been on the run,

and he had been beating legitimate guys. Once you started getting in there with him, you got an edge quickly. How did you feel of what we saw in that fight? And it's interesting how it ended with the no contest and all that. We can get into that. But how do you feel you matched up with him once that got going? Just like I said, I would.

Again, like they say, speak things into existence. If you go back after the barrier front, I did the media, and they said, what do you think about Vadim Nemkov matchup? It's like a hot pocket. You put him in the microwave, they come on hot. You don't want to touch it right away. You just got to wait a little bit. It's going to cool down.

I said, he's going to come out like a ball of fear. He does it every time. But the thing is, most guys, they're worth it with him. They're trying to keep up with his pace, and they get tired. The thing is, I'm a cardio machine, so I can keep up with that pace. And I'm going to turn it up just a little bit. I said, and I'm just going to wait. And when he starts slowing down, I'm going to take over.

So it was really, there was really no surprise. Like, it went exactly how I expected. I told coaches, they said in the back, don't rush anything. It's five rounds. Every time you rush something is when you get caught. Remember, it went exactly how I expected. I told coaches. They said in the back, don't rush anything. It's five rounds. Every time you rush something is when you get caught. Remember, it's five rounds. First round, we might lose first. We might lose second.

You still got three more. Just be patient. When you see the opportunity, take it. That was the game plan. We knew he was going to come out fast. He's going to bounce. He's going to bounce. Just stay with it.

When he started hitting me, I remember I fell. I started getting frustrated. I wanted to rush it. I was like, nope, stay calm. We're going to start rolling with it. When he hits you, just roll with your neck. Just let it roll. Don't let it catch you. Don't let it knock you out. Just let it roll with it. He's going fell. I started getting frustrated. I wanted to rush it. I'm like, nope, stay calm. We're going to start rolling with him. When he hits you, just roll with your neck. Just let it roll. Don't let it catch you. Don't let it knock you out. Just let's just roll with it. He's going to slow down a second. I started slowing down. I'm like, all right, now we're going to start countering back. All right, you ready? Pop, pop, pop. All right, now he's stopping.

Now we're going to lead the dance. Pop, pop, pop. All right, now it's time for that first takedown. We're not going to get it. We're not going to get it. We know he's ready. He's young. He's ready. He's early. Shoot. We got him. He's going to defend. All right. Now he feels me. He feels me. We're going to do it again. Now look, I remember it was like a minute and a half left. I said, all right. I'm going to wait. We're going to move.

Last 10 seconds. I'm going to put him on his ass at the last second just so he knows. I'm going to take you down. And sure enough, you see, I'm looking at the clock, and right before the bell, I foot swept him to his butt at the mat. And I got up and just look at him. It's not, you know. You know.

I'm going to take you down. You're playing a deeper mental game than you get credit for, I think, in this regard. Not just how you're game planning, but how you're like mentally always ready to kind of one-up him and show him the command you have. That's the thing. You got to be. It's not just your preparation in the gym, but your mindset is the biggest thing. That's one thing I've really started doing this thing, brain tapping. It's like I do it before bed.

I do it when I wake up. It's just positive mindset. So you're always thinking positive. So throughout the camp, when I'm driving, I'm always thinking about, how do it when I wake up. It's just positive mindset. So you're always thinking positive. So throughout the camp when I'm driving, I'm always thinking about how do I want to play this fight out exactly. And then it's like you always got to have a plan A, plan B, plan C because if plan A don't work, what are you going to do? But then when it started working, I was like, all right,

so now we're going to go with this plan. It's just paying attention and just keeping eyes on, like Mark said. You got to keep your eyes on. The moment you blink and you don't see something, there's punches that you don't see that knock you out. So when he started hitting me, like Mark said. You got to keep your eyes on. The moment you blink and you don't see something, there's punches that you don't see that knock you out. So when he started hitting me, like I said, if I started blinking, I'm not going to see these. That's when the head kick going to come.

The two head kicks he threw, in the ideal world, those are perfect setups. I went to lean up with my eyes on so I could see. I'll never get my hand up. Or the other time, just put my hand tight to the head. It's coming. It's just going to be the foot. Tap it.

Just block it. And it's just, that's just the mental training, not just the aspect of everything I've been through. But yeah, I do it all day long. I'm talking. I drive and I'm always talking to myself in my head. Sparring. What am I doing? Sparring. I'm setting goals for Jiu-Jitsu. And going

to that fight, it was no different. All week I played it in my head. How are we going to do it? But accidental foul wasn't in that vision. So how does it play out for you in real time? What's your mindset? Talk to us about that. Okay, I'll just explain this to three people this last week. So you see fights where a guy with a headbutt and it gives blood,

the ref will tell the judge, like, don't count that. That was an accidental headbutt. That's all I was doing. I did not tell him. I was not thinking he was going to stop the fight. I heard him say, that was a clean shot. But I was trying to tell him, like, no, it wasn't.

It was my head. So maybe he told the judge, like, all right, don't count that damage. That was an accident. I had no idea that he was going to stop it until I looked down

and saw how bad it was. And he's still saying, clean shot, clean shot, keep going, keep going. Like, no, it was a headbutt. So I'm thinking they were just going to give him a second

to wipe the blood out of his eye or something. I didn't know the doctor was even going to come in and look at it. They stopped the fight. And the doctor, before he even stepped in the cage, he steps at the gate. He waves it off like, you ain't even come in yet. Like, yo. It was a bad cut.

Yeah, it was bad. But at the same time, at least let three seconds go away. And then take time to work on it. I was literally just letting him. Because I heard him say, clean shot. Just letting him know it wasn't. It was because Nemcov said something. And that's. I was really just letting him, because I heard him say, clean shot. Just letting him know it wasn't, it was because Nemcov said something and I was like agreeing, like yeah, it

wasn't my punch, it was my, or elbow, it was my head. Just being clean sport about it. So, which takes us now to Bellator 288 coming up on November 18th. You mentioned the other two rematches you kind of didn't want to be in and they didn't go your way, one in the wrestling, one in the fighting game. It's weird. I can't imagine you don't have all the enthusiasm in the world

this time especially since the first time you were kind of taking that fight away from him and then the headbutt happened what is what are you anticipating from nimkov this time around what are you anticipating from yourself like what's it ever have you have you visualized what it might mean hoisting the belt yeah 100 i've been hoist I've been visualizing that since I got in the game. I came here to be the best. I didn't come here just to be a partaker. I didn't just be one of the best fighters in the world. I want to be the best in the world.

I want to hold the belt up. I go to bed and envision this empty spot above the TV with a shadow box and the belt up there. It's been there. That spot's been there since I moved into the house for that reason in Jersey. And going into this fight, it's like I'm not fighting the same Nimco. I've been thinking about it the whole time. It's a whole new person.

I mean, first thing my brother said after the fight, he came in like, bro, that was a beautiful fight. But now you know he got intel. Right. He didn't have intel. Now he got intel. So he's going to go back to everything he know. And him, Fedor, he got Fedor as a coach. So you know he's going to be legit. They're going to have a game plan. He's got intel. So now you got to go back to everything he know. And him, Fedor, he got Fedor as a coach. So you know he's going to be legit.

They're going to have a game plan. He's got intel. So now you got to come different. You got to come back with something that he ain't seen before. You know, in my mind. Do you think you surprised him at how good you were in the first fight? 100%. I'll tell you this.

I'll come clean. I thought he was going to win. And then the ease with which you controlled him in the wrestling was honestly, it shouldn't have been surprising, but in real time it was. I wonder how much you think that's going to play a role in the second part, right? Because wrestling sort of is the central linchpin of your game, even though the other parts are pretty good now as well.

I mean, you know, he's got anything about it, 100%. That's the biggest thing we know. It's like, well, we already know he can take me down. So, I mean, why he was hurt. I've heard people from Russia and stuff. Oh, I just, you know,'s the biggest thing we know. It's like, well, we already know he can take me down. So, I mean, why he was hurt. I've heard people from Russia and stuff or just, you know,

the gym training with Russian world champions and this and this. I know guys that wrestle with guys way better than me for like a year straight knowing they had to

fight me eventually. It's just, if you haven't done it your whole life and you don't have the pace to do it, you might defend it the first four,

five, six, seven, but if I keep shooting and benching, I'm going to get you down. I fought Pat Cummins, who was an Olympic World Team backup and D1 all-American, or runner-up twice. And a successful

barista before the UFC call-up. I knew that was coming. The way I wrestle is different. You can go to as many wrestling rooms as you want, but I wrestle one way, and I MMA wrestle a completely different way. I'm just relentless. I'm grinding. I'm putting that on you.

And there's nobody that can implement that unless it's me. Like, it's just, so I know that's going to be a thing, and I know he's going to try to switch up and probably avoid that. And sometimes I'm always thinking, what is he going to do different this time? What is it that he thinks he had the most success at? Was it striking area? Well, if he keeps striking, he's making an opportunity for me to take him down a lot easier. You know, he keep overstepping. is he going to do different this time? What is it that he thinks he had the most success at? Was it the striking area? If he keeps striking,

he's making an opportunity for me to take him down a lot easier. You know, he keep overstepping, I'm going to grab a leg eventually. I don't really worry about so much what he's going to do. Actually, I got to go out there and do what I do. A hundred times better than I did the last time. And that's what I've been focusing on. I got this new coach, not new coach,

I'm with the same team, but when I moved to Indiana, started working with this new coach, Pat McPherson. He was with Chris Lytle, Matt Mitrione and those guys a golden glove winning his golden glove boxing champ or a boxing coach in indiana so i've been working a lot of the striking and different movements and stuff for him got a little big champ uh sugar ray seals he's on the team he's been working on talking to me through some things with striking and just a good jujitsu program so i'm taking stuff that they taught me, some new things that I never did before, and I'm focusing on my new game plan more around that because he hasn't seen this stuff.

You may F around and get a tap out for the title, okay? I might do a lot more than that. That's a lot of things I'm looking to do in this title fight. You said that, yeah, you may have said off camera that at home, you know, there's nothing you won't fix. You're not paying for somebody to come do something. As a dad, as a landowner, when you think about $1 million, forget the title.

When you think about that $1 million, there's got to be one item you're going to add to the farm, to the land, to really, you know, step up even higher in your dad game. You got your eyes on anything? Mo hunting land. How much is 100 acres in Indiana? A lot cheaper than out here on the East Coast.

I think I could probably get 100 acres. As cheap as I can probably find it in a lower rate area, like a lower farm rate area, I can probably get it for maybe $500,000 or so. Okay. I mean, so it's in the ballpark of what you could potentially afford. Oh, yeah. I mean, it depends on what it is.

If it's woodlot, it'd be a lot cheaper. But if it's more crop, which I'm looking for, I want to get some of the cropland and probably rent it to a farmer. You know, that way I got income coming both ways. So, you know, I'm always thinking money on my mind. You know, you got a firm handle of what you're doing, not only to not let all of this stuff break you on your journey to get here, but you even talked about when you considered walking away

after the health scare, that you mentioned something that not a lot of fighters can say. Not a lot of us can say, you got your finances in order, we could walk away. You've always seemed to kind of be ahead of the trap that a pro athlete in any sport can get into of spending too much too early. How did that, does that go back to your dad being on your ass?

I mean, that goes, my father grew up poor. He was the youngest son. His daughter, his younger sister, it was 10 of them, 10 or 9 of them, but he was the youngest son, and they grew up with nothing. You know what I mean? So now to him have a successful roofing business, and he got the money he does. To this day, my dad washes paper plates.

It's one thing we don't understand. That's a bit much. That's extreme, yes. Like, my dad got all his money. He still lives like he's poor, but like my brother said, you gotta think. We always make fun of him for it, but you gotta think the fact that he's lived that way his whole life is the reason why

he's so good with money. He doesn't waste anything. Waste not, we gotta get your dad a paper plate sponsorship. I feel like that's the thing. Hey, man, my dad is weird. People judge him, but if you see my dad, you see him rolling around daily, you would think he's like a bomb.

You would not think he is. You go to his house and you see, like, wait, this is... That's just the way he carries himself. But he's always told us, since we was kids, if you make a dollar, you save a dime. If you make a dime, you save a penny. You save, always save, no matter what you get, you save something. Right.

Like, it's not going to always be there forever. You got to. And then, like, when I started fighting, I know you're getting your money out, but you still got to pay the tax, man. You know that, right? You got that money in there to pay the tax, man. But along with that, I didn't plan on being a professional athlete. I went to school and got a college degree, a business degree.

So I understood how money worked, you know, this and that. You can spend money to make money, but at the same time, you got to save. You got to pay. Uncle Sam going to get his. So coming into the fight game, and like I said, I was a college wrestling coach making 220 bucks every two weeks, but I also had another job at a trucking company as a supervisor. I would pay the bills, and I would save

every dime. I saved everything. So I remember when I left a fight, and the coach that I'm working with now, he was working together in junior college. He said, I know you really want to do this, and coach, but think about where you want to be at the end. You can get there a lot faster if you go fight. And I'll always have a job for you when you're done.

And that's exactly where we are now. I went back to Indiana. We're working together. And I thought about that the whole time. I'm not going to fight forever. So I'm going to save all this money. Every fight check was direct deposit

to this small bank account back in Illinois I've had since I was a kid. Same account, same bank details I've had since I was probably seven years old. They've seen me since a kid

and they know all that money is in there. It goes direct deposit right back there now. So I've never really touched the fight money. Great. And I have a YouTube channel

for hunting. I got sponsors and stuff for that. That pays the bills. The Reebok money, whatever we got in the UFC, that went to the joint account that my wife would pay the bills and stuff from. That was, like I said, before I went to UFC or Bellator,

I was still coaching at the gym. Like, I was doing privates. I would coach five days a week. I would miss practice because I was coaching. Now you get sponsors again, right? Yeah, exactly. Now we can get dude wipes, dynamic fasteners back on board. Hey, all that.

I would like all of them. Any one of them, you know. And I don't just spend money to spend money. Well, the next time we talk to you, you could be a million dollars richer. You also could be in the argument for best light heavyweight in the world. I mean, you are in that argument right now. I am the best in the world. You think if you beat Nemkov, though, like it seals the deal? People are going to always find a way to say no.

Okay. I could go beat John Jones right now, and they'll be like, oh, it was John Jones was feeling sick, he said last week, 400 degrees. People don't like me. I'm not the fan favorite, and that's fine. I've come to terms with that. I'm not here to fight and impress those guys. I don't care if they ever rank me. When I said it years ago after I beat Glover, and I beat the number three, and they ranked me ninth. Like, how do I go down? I was eighth. Oh, no.

No, I was ninth. I moved up to eighth, and I moved back down to ninth. How do I beat the number three, and I go back down to nine? And I beat Johnny Walker, who wasn't ranked. They ranked me five. And I said, like, yo, I could beat the world champ. They're going to rank me third. Like, they just, no matter what,

they're never going to give me my credit as due. And I came to terms, like I said, after the fall. Like, I don't really care what the people think gonna give me my credit as due. I can't return. Like I said, after the fall, like, I don't really care what the people think anymore. I know how good I am. I know what I can do. I love the introspection.

He was honest earlier. He said he was addicted to those three letters. Luke, you've been addicted to three yourself. BBL, and it's really, you know. All right, on that note,

let's wrap up here. Big booty Latina, sorry. He is, it's a personal thing. He ate a lot of paint chips. I was gonna say, Brazilian butt lift. Well, that's close. It's a personal thing. He ate a lot of paint chips at the job. I was going to say, Brazilian butt lift. Well, that's close.

It didn't play in that category. We're ashamed of him. Your nickname is Overtime, but when you started, it wasn't my favorite. I'll be honest. The Beast in 25.8. I don't even know what that means.

When did you change from Beastin258 is that a dorm room name what is that it was something me and my brother had it was a brand it was a shirt a logo

it's still the brand it's still my company the company is Beastin258 LLC but actually that's pretty cool I like that

it started off like okay so when I was in college like I was working out all the time training and my brother I remember coming home

and he was a professional poker player. And he was always playing. And he, man, you know what pissed me off? You go places, and I see other wrestlers, they all say, man, I'll be going 24-7. I'm going 24-7. But I've never seen nobody train like you and grind like I do. It's like, we going 25-8.

And I remember he looked at me. He was on the computer. He was playing on my part. He looked at me and was like, hey, bro, we making a shirt. Beast in 25-8. That's it. And this was actually before I debuted in the UFC or after I did the Ultimate Fighter.

And that's when I do my debut. He was like, we're going to make you a shirt. That's the name. That's going to be it. That's going to be it. Beast in 25.8. And that was it. You know, it's good that I wasn't in the room

because I would have talked you out of it. Similar to the Brock Lesnar chest tattoo. Somebody could have talked him out of it. Similar to the Brock Lesnar chest tattoo. Somebody could have talked him out of it. It was more of a using the aspect to get the brand out there because we were just going to start a little closing line. And if my name was out there, it was going to let it go. But the closing line fell off and I just stuck with the name. Okay, but you did switch to overtime.

Yes. When was that officially? That was when they came out with the top ten worst nicknames in sports history. Oh, someone hemmed you up like that? Well, Mark Henry and them. I remember it was at Ricardo's Tuesday morning, getting ready to spar. And Mark was like, yo, I just can't read this. Look, the 10 top worst nicknames in fighting.

You know who's number two? Corey Beeson, 25. We got to change it. I can't be associated. We got to change it, guys. We got to change it. I'm like, yo, it is what it is. And I remember Eddie was like, yo, why don't we do like time and a half?

Time and a half? That's too damn long. Well, the whole point of beating 25-8 was. That's like oddly specific. Well, the thing is, like, I'm working more than other people. Like, if everybody go nine to five, I'm doing the extra. Yo, I'm vacationing. I know, he's like, how about Corey PTO?

Time and a half. In the background, you hear Frankie, as he warmed up, he's like, oh, overtime. I like it. That's time and a half. I like it. Frankie has Frankie as he warmed up. You're like, oh, overtime. I like it. That's time and a half. I like overtime. Frankie has the answers. He's like, it's the same thing. It's overtime.

It's Beeson 25-8. Or it's time and a half. It's Beeson 25-8 doing more. You're doing overtime. It's like, and then we can show it to OT. Like, that's it. Mark was like, I like that. And I was like, I like that one, too.

That was before the Sean O'Connell fight. And I remember keeping it a secret. I changed the name. Like, don't tell nobody until we walk out. I don't want to hear it until I walk out. That's been it since. Well, I got to tell you, I don't predict the future, but I cannot wait to see what happens on November 18th.

You've been working overtime for a very long time. And I know that you're not concerned with the opinions of two idiots like me and him, which is quite fair. But it would be nice to see somebody who's been putting in the hours and the sacrifice

that you have ultimately get the rewards that they're looking for, right? All I ever say in the fight game is, fights are hard enough and everyone's careers

are difficult enough. All you can ever hope for is that everyone gets home safely and they may the best man win. And plastic plates for his dad.

That's where I'm going. And plastic plates for dad. Even he can, you know, raise it on up. But in all seriousness, we appreciate you coming by. But more to that, like, it would be, I can't wait to see what happens on the 18th, man, because it seems like it's a long time coming for you.

And you're right now 32 years old. Seems like it might be your time. I think so. Like you said, a long time coming. That was the stand on the shirts last time. A long time coming. Now this time is unfinished business. So time to go get it done.

There's a beast at 25-8, okay? Brian Campbell, Corey Anderson, Luke Thomas, Room Service Diaries. Showtime, November 18th. This guy, Vadim Nemkov in the main event. Oh, dude. See you all there.