Neal Anderson (11-5) was surprised when he got the call he would be fighting Brandon Jenkins (15-9) at Unified MMA 46 in Edmonton, Alta. on Friday night.
The opponent-caliber jump is the real story — a regional veteran getting booked against a former UFC fighter is exactly the kind of test that determines whether the regional record means what it's supposed to, and Anderson getting that call on a Unified card is the promotion's way of finding out where its own ceiling actually sits.
Edmonton’s own Anderson says he was pumped when he found out he would be fighting a UFC veteran in his first fight since being released from the UFC. The Canadian knows he is on that level and believes this is the fight he can prove that to everyone.
Jenkins arriving straight from the UFC roster is the kind of opponent that doesn't come around on regional cards very often — a fighter with PFL and UFC experience carries a different level of preparation, cage awareness, and finishing instinct than the usual regional opponent, and beating him changes the conversation about what Anderson is actually capable of.
“I was excited, I know it will be a big test,” Anderson said to MMA Empire.
“He’s fought in PFL and the UFC, so it will be a good test to see where I’m at and see if I can compete and beat these guys that made it to the high level. I think I can, but that’s the good thing about MMA is we are going to find out on September 23.”
Against Jenkins, Anderson is expecting a kickboxing fight, as he thinks the two will stay standing for most of the bout.
The striking expectation makes sense on paper — both fighters have built careers on their feet, and two kickboxers meeting in a lightweight bout is the kind of matchup that usually stays standing long enough for one of them to find the shot that ends it.
If that ends up being the case, Anderson believes he will get the better of Jenkins but believes the UFC veteran will try and make a statement out of him.
“From what I can tell, he prefers to strike, but he has like 26 pro fights and is training at Syndicate in Vegas so he has to be well-rounded,” Anderson said.
“We are similar on the feet and he is a southpaw but always switches his stance so I think it will be a good matchup on the feet and be exciting on the feet. He will also want to prove the UFC shouldn’t have cut him, so he will want to make an example out of me, but that’s not going to happen.”
Part of the reason Anderson is confident he will out-strike Jenkins is due to the fact he’s moving back up to lightweight.
The weight-class move is the understory worth watching — Anderson has spent most of his career at featherweight, and a veteran moving up to 155 for the right opponent is either a sign the cut was costing him or that the matchup math finally made more sense at the bigger weight.
He says he is performing better at 155 pounds and is confident he will get his hand raised on Friday to pick up the biggest win of his career.
The stakes framing is honest — a decade of Unified cards produces a lot of wins, but a victory over a just-released UFC veteran on a Friday-night Edmonton card is the kind of result that changes what a fighter's résumé says about the last ten years of work.
“I think I’m going to perform a lot better at lightweight. I’m not ruling out a return to featherweight, but I just feel a lot better at lightweight. I’m going to take this win any way it comes and picture a lot of different ways winning this fight but it won’t be easy,” Anderson said.
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