Rockton's Corey Anderson gets elusive championship belt with dominant win in Ireland

Now, Corey Anderson can officially call himself "Champ."

In the first fight night since the Professional Fighters League (PFL) purchased Bellator MMA back in November 2023, Anderson, the Hononegah graduate, who got his start in the Rockford area, earned the Bellator light heavyweight title with a dominant unanimous decision win over Karl Moore. The fight took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Moore's hometown.

Corey Anderson awaits title shot: Third time's a charm: Former Hononegah star Corey Anderson gets third shot at MMA title

"Yes sir," Anderson yelled out from inside the circle cage after winning it all on his third shot at the Bellator championship. "We finally did it."

Anderson (18-6 MMA, 5-1 Bellator) used his signature ground-and-pound throughout this one to neutralize Moore (12-3, 4-1), and it was an easy decision for the judges in the end. He earned a 49-46, 49-46, 50-45 win to claim the vacant light heavyweight title. This was Anderson's first championship since he won The Ultimate Fighter 19 almost 10 years ago.

"Mamma, we made it," Anderson added from the cage shortly after the announcement that he had won. "We didn't quit, and we got here."

This was the first event of the new Bellator Champions Series, which will consist of eight global events. And it was Anderson's first fight in nine months. It was also his first title fight since he lost to Vadim Nemkov in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament.

Anderson easily won the first round as it became apparent he was going to go to his old style of wrestling to win. The Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu constantly took Moore down and was in control throughout. Anderson did have to escape a dangerous arm bar in the third round, but other than that, he was never in trouble.

Anderson was the No. 1-ranked Bellator light heavyweight headed in, and No. 6 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie world light heavyweight rankings.

He proved his worth in this one on Friday night.

"I just couldn't stop his wrestling," Moore said in his postfight interview. "And, it's hard to say, but I'm glad Corey got the belt."

Anderson dominated Vadim Nemkov and looked like he won the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix Tournament worth $1 million back in April of 2022. But after a five-minute discussion, it was taken away due to an inadvertent headbutt. The fight was ruled a no-contest.

Anderson then went 0-for-16 in takedown attempts and lost a unanimous decision to Nemkov in his second title fight nearly six months later. He followed that last loss with a solid beatdown of Phil Davis, earning a split-decision victory on June 16, 2023.

In this one, Anderson's wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu prowesses were glaring.

But, he's not done.

"Now we work even harder," Anderson said. "Everyone is coming for me. Now I'm that guy. I have to train even harder, and that's good.

"Overtime is not satisfied. We've got more to do."

Patricio Pitbull put his Bellator featherweight title on the line for the first time since October 2022 in Friday’s co-main event, and he held on for a solid win over Canada’s Jeremy Kennedy for his first win since December of 2022. There were 11 fights total on the card.

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years altogether.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: This was Corey Anderson's night, as the former Hononegah wrestler earned MMA title