Corey Anderson is certainly happy with his financial situation.
Anderson faces Ryan Bader in the semifinals of the light heavyweight grand prix at Bellator 268 which takes place October 16 in Phoenix, Arizona.
It’s a chance to move into the final where one more win would make him a world champion for the first time as well as the king of the Bellator 205-pound division.
While being a champion brings glory and much bigger paydays, Anderson is already doing pretty well for himself. In fact, he claims he’s made more money from his two fights in Bellator than he did in his 15 fights with the UFC.
“Oh yeah, (the gamble) paid off big time,” Anderson told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “I made a post after my second fight, like UFC gave me a career, but Bellator gave me the life.
“After the first check, my wife didn’t have to work, I bought her a new car. I fly my family out to fights now, I can go on vacation, I can do whatever, because I’ve made more money in two fights here than I did in my whole career in the UFC.”
Anderson One Of Many Benefiting From Move To Bellator
Anderson signed with Bellator last year and has gone 2-0 since.
He first defeated Melvin Manhoef with a second-round TKO before following it up with another TKO win over Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov in the quarterfinals of the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix.
He’s certainly not the first to speak of making much more money after moving from the UFC to Bellator.
His opponent in Bader, Rory MacDonald and Benson Henderson to name a few have all said as much as well owing to the fact that they can now have sponsorships.
That said, if true, it is pretty crazy that Anderson has already surpassed his UFC earnings in just two fights with Bellator.
You can watch the clip below:
Corey Anderson: UFC gave me the career, but Bellator gave me the life.#themmahour pic.twitter.com/J6jiPK5vE4
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) October 13, 2021
