Corey Anderson showed up at UFC 244 determined to make a statement, and UFC president Dana White heard it loud and clear.
Speaking at the post-fight news conference at Madison Square Garden, White reacted to Anderson’s superb finish of Johnny Walker and the American’s fight-week demeanor, as the UFC boss made his point to the light heavyweight contender.
“He came in here very angry this week,” White said. “All these conspiracy theories: we hate him, we this, that, everything else, and all this cry-baby (expletive). We’re ‘trying to get him beat.’ We can’t get you beat! You can either win or you can’t, you know what I mean? We ‘like Walker better,’ whatever the stuff he was saying. No. Some guys move faster than others.
“You’re telling us what you deserve. Show us what you deserve. Tonight, you showed us. Got it! Message received! Now we know.”
While White said that Anderson made a big statement with his eye-catching win over Walker, the point made to the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 19 before fight week about his perceived lack of marketability was a fair one.
“Not one person clapped for him at the weigh-ins,” White said. “Walker got a pretty big pop when he came out. I bet people will notice him next time, won’t they? He came out, and he showed everybody. You did something. Now we move on. I’m not saying you’re getting a title shot next or whatever. Reyes just won too – very impressively.”
And White had some words of advice for his disgruntled 205 pounder, as he laid out the scenario for Anderson in the coming months.
“We’ll figure out what’s next for you, and when your contract is up, if you still don’t want to be here, you can do whatever you want to do,” White said. “In the meantime, take the fights that we offer you. Pretty simple.”
