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Corey Anderson Names the PFL Star He’d Fight Over Francis Ngannou
Corey Anderson recently named a PFL star he would choose to fight over Francis Ngannou if given the option. The former UFC competitor makes a strong case to be a potential opponent for Ngannou. However, he admitted that he still has unfinished business with Vadim Nemkov.
Anderson and Nemkov’s rivalry goes back to when they both competed in Bellator. They faced off in the light heavyweight Grand Prix finals. That fight was ruled a no contest after an accidental clash of heads.
In the rematch, Nemkov secured a unanimous decision, retaining his Bellator light heavyweight championship. Since then, Anderson has expressed his desire in a trilogy fight.
‘Overtime’ is set to face 2025 tournament champion Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov for the vacant PFL light heavyweight championship. Despite his current obligations at 205-pounds, Anderson made it clear that he would have no issues returning to heavyweight.
During an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Anderson even claimed that fighting Nemkov would be more appealing than Ngannou. Although a heavyweight clash with ‘The Predator’ would bring a bigger payday, ‘Overtime’ would rather avenge his previous loss.
“I want whatever fight is gonna get the biggest payday, man. [Ngannou] is the biggest one,” Anderson said. “At the same time, if [the PFL] came right now and said, ‘You can have Vadim [Nemkov] or Ngannou’, I’m gonna say Vadim.”
Corey Anderson Reflects on Mistakes He Made in His Rematch With Vadim Nemkov
Anderson also opened up about his loss to Nemkov and reflected on the mistakes he made in preparing for it. ‘Overtime’ was confident with what he was able to do against Fedor Emelinanenko‘s protege in their previous bout. However, that overconfidence ended up being a disadvantage.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani, Anderson admitted that he overlooked Nemov in their rematch. He explained that he wasn’t convinced the Russian would improve, so he didn’t put the same effort into his training.
“I was overlooking [Nemkov]. I was like, ‘He can’t get that much better.’ And I didn’t go into that camp the way I should have,” Anderson told The Ariel Helwani Show. “I was very overconfident…And I worked hard, but I didn’t work overtime hard.”
He continued:
“It wasn’t that blood, sweat, and tears like I’m willing to get something broke and train, I’m kill myself in a training session to get this W. I mean, it was kind of like, we work hard, but to the point like, ‘Alright, practice over.’”
Anderson Says Nemkov Has to Fight Him Before Francis Ngannou
Recently, Anderson took to social media after the PFL announced that Nemkov had signed a two-year contract. There was much speculation about Nemkov possibly fighting Ngannou, but ‘Overtime’ didn’t agree.
Anderson responded to PFL commentator Sean O’Connell’s post about Nemkov and said that he doesn’t deserve to fight Ngannou. Instead, ‘Overtime’ proposed a trilogy fight between them and doesn’t care what the contested weight would be.
“I just smashed the No.1 contender at heavyweight last month. If Vadim wants a crack at Francis, he’s gotta go through me! You don’t get that fight after beating a retired fighter turned truck driver on a week’s notice. Tell your boy to quit running @DonnDavisPFL. Heavyweight or light heavyweight, doesn’t matter.”
Giancarlo Aulino Giancarlo Aulino is sports writer who covers UFC for Heavy.com. He began writing for Heavy in 2025 after providing MMA coverage for Sportskeeda. Giancarlo is an experienced journalist and interviewer, having covered soccer clubs Toronto FC and York United FC as a full-season reporter, and also producing sports coverage for Toronto radio station VIBE 105.5FM.
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