Corey Anderson - Was told I beat Vadim Nemkov to win $1 million, Bellator grand prix before no contest ruling

Corey Anderson climbed up on the cage to celebrate. His family was going crazy in the stands. Anderson had become the Bellator light heavyweight champion, a tournament champ and the recipient of $1 million.

And then, quickly, it all came crashing down last Friday night at Bellator 277 in San Jose, California.

Anderson told ESPN on Monday that he was initially told by multiple people inside the cage that he had beaten Vadim Nemkov to win the Bellator light heavyweight title, the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix and the $1 million tournament prize. But then, Anderson was informed by referee Frank Trigg that the bout was actually ruled a no contest and Anderson would leave empty-handed.

«I jump on the cage, I get excited,» Anderson said. «My mom is crying. My family in the crowd is jumping up and down. All of a sudden, I jump down from the cage and you see the [$1 million] check walking down the stairs. All of a sudden, the ref comes back and tells me there's [five] seconds left and you have to go all the way to the end of the third round to be declared the winner.»

The ruling came due to an illegal clash of heads. Nemkov was cut badly on his left eyebrow, which forced Trigg to stop the fight. But instead of going to the cards — where Anderson was ahead — it was called a no contest, per the Unified Rules of MMA. Trigg stopped the bout at 4:55 of the third round. If the fight had gone into the fourth round and ended in an accidental foul, it would have gone to a technical decision.

In this instance, it wasn't late enough in the fight and the result either had to be a no-contest or disqualification if Trigg had found Anderson to have committed the foul intentionally. In the event of a technical decision, Anderson