PFL Presents Bellator Championship Series 1: SSE Arena; Belfast, Ireland
After winning season 19 of TUF things looked super promising for Corey Anderson. However, the New Jersey native fell to something many athletes do. Living in the time of greats. And there was not room for anyone else at the top in the UFC not named Daniel Cormier or Jon Jones. But on this night, to no surprise he used his heavy wrestling attack in finally a title realized. Finishing up going 8-for-12 on takedowns.
Not only did Karl Moore have to fight through those, but he endured 85-of-86 ground strikes as well. In dropping the 49-46 2x, 50-45 unanimous decision it also ended his four-fight win streak in front of his hometown crowd.
In fairness, when they were at distance he did sting Anderson a couple of times with solid left hands. He also threatened a nasty third-round armbar. Moore just lacks the dynamite that will put Anderson down. That’s not to say Anderson didn’t land some decent leather too. But due to Anderson’s pressure to get the action to the fence and ground the outcome was not shocking.
Finally A Title Realized… But Is It Legit
There can be no denying what’s left of Bellator under the PFL banner is like watching the slow drip of a bad kitchen sink. And once Vadim Nemkov vacated the strap, someone had to walk away with it. So is there a high level of competition for him in the here and now? Bluntly,… no.
When and if they run this scrap back, unless Moore can touch Anderson’s chin perfectly, it’ll be the same result. He just doesn’t have the skillset to stop the smothering grinding job Anderson can do in close. But being the big fish in a small pond still makes you the big fish somewhere. We just need to be honest about Anderson’s first ever title reign.
One thing Anderson needs to work even more on now as the hunted is action in the clinch. Sure making someone carry your weight can be effective, but shoulder strikes would be more damaging.
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