Corey Anderson has made quite the claim on why he never got a chance to compete for UFC gold.
Anderson had been a veteran under the UFC banner from 2014 through early 2020. Ultimately, Anderson was granted his UFC release and signed with Bellator MMA. Anderson ended up fighting his way to eventually become the Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion. He is currently recognized as the PFL light heavyweight titleholder.
While Anderson secure gold in his post-UFC run, he revealed to MMAFighting.com a conversation he once had with UFC executive Hunter Campbell. Anderson claimed he was given the reason for his lack of UFC title opportunities.
“Hunter Campbell, when I left the UFC before the Johnny Walker fight, he had a conversation with me and he told me ‘We can’t give you a title fight, it’s 100 percent that you deserve a title fight, but we can’t give it to you because your social media isn’t there,’” Anderson revealed. “It’s not about who’s the best anymore. It’s about who’s going to put butts in the seats. The fans determine who’s the best fighter off who has the biggest social media [following].”
Anderson believes that in the current era of MMA, fighting abilities take a backseat to online presence and marketability.
“You don’t even have to be good at fighting anymore,” Anderson said. You’ve just got to have good social media.
“Guys are getting title fights like Derrick Lewis, he got a title fight because he went out there and said, ‘My balls are hot.’ He got 2.1 million followers overnight. Guess what they did? Well, right now he’s hot so we’re going to give him a title fight because his social media is booming.”
Anderson admits he’s never been one to pull some antics on social media to get some buzz. He feels this is what ultimately hurt him near the end of his UFC run.