It’s Easy To Bark When You’re In A Safe Place

Jan Blachowicz and Corey Anderson still can’t seem to get along. The two ultra-talented Light Heavyweight veterans recently got into a Twitter spat after Blachowicz — UFC’s reigning 205-pound champion — took exception with remarks Anderson made about him shortly after scoring a knockout win over Ryan Bader at Bellator 268.

Claiming to be the best 205-pound fighter on the planet, Anderson claimed he looked past Anderson in their rematch back in Feb. 2020, ultimately resulting in a first round knockout win for Blachowicz. And he was also quick to remind the Polish bruiser that he worked him over for 15 minutes in the first encounter at UFC 191 en route to a unanimous decision win.

During a recent appearance on “The MMA Hour,” Blachowicz doubled down in his belief that he is superior to Anderson, explaining the reason there’s a big difference in their character based on their respective losses to each other.

“I just want to put him to the ground, again,” Blachowicz said via MMA Fighting. “The difference between me and him is when I lost the fight, I don’t quit, because I’m not a quitter. He lost the fight and he quit. He let it go.

“Maybe the pressure was too big for him, and he went somewhere else, to the second league, and now he’s talking, or barking,” Blachowicz continued. “C’mon, I don’t understand that. Why doesn’t he stay in the UFC? He can renegotiate everything right now, money and stuff like this. No, he’s just a coward and quitter.”

Anderson’s fight against Blachowicz was indeed his last bout under the UFC banner, bolting for the apparent greener pastures of Bellator MMA where he has earned three straight wins and is one more win away from claiming the division title and a $1 million prize.

According to Blachowicz, the only reason Anderson is talking the talk is that he no longer has to worry about running into him inside the Octagon now that he is in his safe zone.

“That’s why he’s doing this. Now, he’s safe over there, because I’m not over there. … I think that’s why he started barking,” before saying he doesn’t buy Anderson’s claim of getting better pay these days.

“So he’s got a bad manager, I don’t know. He tells everything. But, anyway, before he goes to sleep, he knows he’s a quitter and a coward because he left the champion’s league,” he added. “Corey, congratulations, great job, but anyway, you escaped from the UFC. So that’s it.”

The downside to all of this back-and-forth banter is the fact that we likely won’t see a trilogy fight between them. Anderson will next face Bellator’s Light Heavyweight champion, Vadim Nemkov, in early 2022, while Blachowicz will defend his title against Glover Teixeira at UFC 267 on Oct. 30, 2021, on “Fight Island.”