Composure was the key to victory when Anderson won the Xtreme Fighting Championship (XFC) professional middleweight title at the Edgar Centre on Saturday night.
The 30-year-old Dunedin MMA fighter bided his time before seizing the back of Timaru's Damian Fraser (Lucky Nine Gym) and sinking in a rear naked choke for the second round win.
The win saw Anderson improve his record to 12 wins, three losses and it put him on a three-fight winning streak. More importantly, he secured a title he has long strived for.
Anderson said he was really pleased and he felt a lot of weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
"I felt like I was nice and composed in there, which is something I have been working on," Anderson said.
He said he wanted to slow the pace down and slowly pick Fraser (7 wins 9 losses) apart.
"The superior martial artist will always show himself over the longer course of time."
The first round was largely a feeling-out process as both men found their range.
Anderson landed a clean outside leg kick while Fraser attempted some big head kicks.
With two and a-half minutes gone, Anderson pressed Fraser against the cage where they wrestled on their feet.
Anderson pressed Fraser against the cage in the second round before picking him up and dumping him on his back from about shoulder height.
The Hammerhead Dunedin fighter landed two aggressive knees to the body from side control.
Fraser eventually scrambled to his feet but the writing was on the wall as they hit the deck soon after and Anderson gained full mount before the submission with one minute 14 seconds left in the scheduled five-minute round.
Anderson's original opponent, Brazilian Daniel Almeida, pulled out of the fight about three weeks ago and Anderson said he hoped to defend against him next.
His long-term goal was always a spot in the UFC.
Anderson's team mate Latham Stevens wasted no time in the 64kg catchweight co-main event when he defeated Auckland's Brad Ramsey (Shuriken) via a rear naked choke with just 31 seconds gone in the fight.
Having not fought since August 2017, Stevens was outstanding as he rushed at Ramsey (3-5) and tipped him over before forcing him to tap.
After taking his amateur record to 9-4, Stevens now plans on turning professional.
The other eight amateur fights on the 10-bout card went the distance.
In the fight of the night, 63kg kickboxers Mike Beavington (South Island Lee Gar) and Jason Mischewski (Toa Fighting Systems) threw big before Beavington won via unanimous decision.
Club rivalry came to the fore when Hammerhead Dunedin's Motu Huch faced Hammerhead Central's James Thompson.
For three rounds both light heavyweights teed off pretty much entirely on their feet before Thompson won via split decision.
Huch (3-2) was gallant but Thompson (4-2) was quicker to the punch and he had a lot more variety while being relentless with his pressure.
The XFC is the longest running promotion in Australasia having started in 2003. It had its first show in New Zealand, Dunedin, in December 2017, and the latest was its fourth event.
XFC promoter Matt Walton made the trip from Australia.
He said Anderson would make a worthy champion and he was looking forward to seeing XFC New Zealand director Matt Toa bringing more shows to Dunedin.
Other winners were Aaron Taylor (Hammerhead Dunedin) Carlisle Cooksley (UVT), Hone Milne (Christchurch Universal), Blenheim's Cameron Carmichael and Invercargill kickboxer Michael King while kickboxers Chris Eden and Levi Beatie fought out a 66kg draw.
