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Tag: Eryk Anders

  • Eryk Anders Retires From MMA Following Win Over Brad Tavares

    Eryk Anders Retires From MMA Following Win Over Brad Tavares

    Eryk Anders ended his professional MMA career with a win, as he defeated Brad Tavares during the UFC Vegas 114 prelims.

    Tavares looked to get an early start with his kicks, but Anders looked to grab him and grind his way to clinch control. Anders then rocked Tavares late in the round, controlling the remainder of the round with more dirty boxing and takedown attempts.

    Tavares battled back in the second, working with counterpunching, scoring a knockdown on Anders at one point. Anders survived the onslaught, however, and took back control in the third by scoring a takedown and using his wrestling.

    Anders won on all three judges’ cards, with a 30-27 total and two 29-28 scores.

    Eryk Anders Defeats Brad Tavares, Retires From MMA

    Anders originally was a football player, a member of the 2009 BCS National Championship team at the University of Alabama under longtime head coach Nick Saban.

    After brief stints with the NFL and CFL, Anders made his amateur MMA debut in 2012 before turning pro in 2015. Anders won his first eight pro fights, including a win over Brendan Allen for the inaugural LFA middleweight title, before signing with the UFC.

    Anders made his UFC debut at UFC Long Island in July 2017, scoring a first-round knockout of Rafael Natal. After a win over Markus Perez, Anders already found himself in a UFC main event for the first time in February 2018, losing a controversial split decision to MMA legend Lyoto Machida.

    Anders went 10-9 (1 NC) in the UFC.

    Tavares, meanwhile, has now lost four of his last five fights.

  • “Can We Not Have CLD In The Apex Anymore?” – Fighters & Fans React To Christian Leroy Duncan Putting Away Eryk Anders With Spinning Elbow Attack At UFC Vegas 109

    “Can We Not Have CLD In The Apex Anymore?” – Fighters & Fans React To Christian Leroy Duncan Putting Away Eryk Anders With Spinning Elbow Attack At UFC Vegas 109

    Add another highlight finish to the track record of Christian Leroy Duncan, as he scored a first-round knockout of Eryk Anders to open the UFC Vegas 109 main card.

    CLD found himself in some foul trouble early, landing an eye poke in the opening seconds, followed by an accidental groin shot not long after.

    Nonetheless, CLD seemed to get the better of Anders in the striking exchanges. He notably saw Anders dropping his hands on leg kick attacks.

    On one of these attacks, Leroy Duncan landed a spinning back elbow that rocked Anders. After some follow-up shots on the ground, the fight came to a quick close.

    Christian Leroy Duncan KOs Eryk Anders With Elbow, Punch Barrage At UFC Vegas 109

    CLD, the former Cage Warriors middleweight champion, is now 5-2 in the Octagon, having won four of his last five.

    Anders is 2-2 in his last four.

  • ‘Time To Hang Them Up’ – Fans React As Eryk Anders Overcomes Knockdown To Stop Chris Weidman At UFC 310

    ‘Time To Hang Them Up’ – Fans React As Eryk Anders Overcomes Knockdown To Stop Chris Weidman At UFC 310

    After the matchup was postponed on fight day at UFC 309 last month, Eryk Anders was able to score a win over former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman to close out the early preliminary portion of UFC 310.

    Anders got off to a strong start with his striking to start the opening round. After a brief timeout due to an illegal knee from “Ya Boi,” however, Weidman managed to score a knockdown and took control of the rest of the frame.

    But in the second stanza, Anders managed to outwork the former champ in his specialty area — grappling. The 37-year-old controlled the pace on top and delivered ground-and-pound that, while not powerful and ruthless, slowly drowned and overwhelmed Weidman over the course of the round before the fight was stopped in the closing seconds.

    MMA Fans React As Eryk Anders Finishes Chris Weidman With Ground-And-Pound

    The ex-middleweight kingpin has now lost two of three fights since returning last year from the devastating leg injury he suffered at UFC 261 in 2021.

    Anders, meanwhile, has now won three of his last four fights.

  • UFC 310 Fighter Confirms Retirement After 3 More Bouts: ‘I Ain’t No Spring Chicken’

    One fighter set to be in action at this weekend’s UFC 310 pay-per-view is close to hanging up the gloves.

    Mixed martial arts’ leading promotion is set to stage its final numbered event of the year on Saturday night in Las Vegas, with a host of prominent names set to make the walk inside T-Mobile Arena.

    That even includes on the early prelims, which will see a former champion in Chris Weidman making his return. The 40-year-old is set to do battle with Eryk Anders three weeks on from a bout of food poisoning forcing their matchup off the UFC 309 lineup on fight day.

    Having quickly recovered, Anders’ sights are firmly back on Weidman as he looks to make it back-to-back wins in 2024. But even if he does close out the year on a streak, the former American football linebacker has no plans to make a run.

    During an interview with Thomas Gerbasi for UFC.com, Anders reiterated his goals for the future and timeline for retirement. Having put a five-fight limit on the remainder of his career in June 2023, the 37-year-old stayed true to his word by branding this weekend’s assignment one of three left for him inside the cage.

    “I’m only going to fight three more times,” he said. “This would be one of the three. And two more times after this. So I don’t think so. But it’s still a fun fight, so I’m really looking forward to that.”

    During his UFC career, the former LFA champion has picked up wins over the likes of Markus Perez, Vinicius Moreira, Gerald Meerschaert, Darren Stewart, and Kyle Daukaus. He’s struggled to stay consistent, however, with his charge up the ladder being stalled in defeats to names like Lyoto Machida, Thiago Santos, Elias Theodorou, Khalil Rountree and Krzysztof Jotko.

    With his aspirations of a push toward UFC gold evidently a thing of the past, Anders will now be focused on closing out his career in style, starting on Dec. 7 at the expense of Weidman.

  • Chris Weidman Discusses Not Getting Full Pay After Opponent’s UFC 309 Fight-Day Withdrawal

    Chris Weidman Discusses Not Getting Full Pay After Opponent’s UFC 309 Fight-Day Withdrawal

    Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman was left devastated and a sizable chunk of cash down when an illness to Eryk Anders scuppered his plans of competing at Madison Square Garden earlier this month.

    At UFC 309, Weidman was set for his second assignment of 2024 and third since returning from a gruesome broken leg that had kept him out for two years. But his pursuit of a first win streak since 2015 will have to wait.

    After completing his training camp, fight-week obligations, and successfully making weight, Weidman awoke on Saturday, Nov. 16, expecting to make the walk on MMA’s biggest stage for the 20th time.

    But disaster struck just hours before his scheduled preliminary clash with Anders when a bout of food poisoning became too serious for the ex-American football linebacker to fight through.

    That left a devastated Weidman off the card on late notice, with the New York State Athletic Commission rejecting the UFC’s attempts to book a same-day replacement opponent.

    And worse still, it wasn’t just the chance to make it two wins on the bounce that the 40-year-old missed out on…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRQokTnU9YU

    During a recent appearance on Monday’s episode of The Ariel Helwani Show on Uncrowned, Weidman explained that while he is expecting to be ‘taken care of’ in some way financially, he won’t be getting his full purse.

    The American admitted the situation is difficult to take, especially given his compensation would have already been set aside and is ultimately now being kept by the UFC.

    “My show money is my win money, I have guaranteed money,” Weidman said. “So that was my point, ‘I showed up, you guys had that on the budget sheet to begin with, you guys made a great night, why do you guys keep that money and I don’t?’ That was my thought.

    “Their thoughts were, ‘Listen, this happens on like 40 percent of the cards. If we pay people to not fight…’ They just want to be consistent on what they do in those situations,” Weidman continued. “That’s what I think they’ve decided to do consistently for their business.”

    The situation is similar to that of Stephen Thompson last year. He made public his disappointment at not being paid for his canceled fight with Michel Pereira at UFC 291, which fell through when the Brazilian missed weight after “Wonderboy” had already successfully got under the welterweight limit.

    Fortunately for Weidman, he won’t have to wait long to pick up a full check for sharing the cage with Anders. The pair’s clash has been rescheduled for UFC 310 in Las Vegas on Dec. 7, this time at a catchweight of 195 pounds.

  • Eryk Anders Reveals Reason For Fight-Day Cancellation Of UFC 309 Matchup With Chris Weidman

    Eryk Anders Reveals Reason For Fight-Day Cancellation Of UFC 309 Matchup With Chris Weidman

    Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman looked to finally break his run of bad luck in New York in his scheduled bout against Eryk Anders on the UFC 309 prelims this past weekend. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be following an announcement that happened during the broadcast of the early prelims at Madison Square Garden.

    Jon Anik stated once the card went live that Anders had been forced out of the fight due to a medical issue. As a result, the card continued with 12-bouts with Weidman releasing a video on social media to give his reaction to the news shortly after the fans found out.

    The day after the promotion’s return to Madison Square Garden, Anders also posted a video on social media where he explained why he was forced to withdraw on such short notice. Anders states that he was suffering from food poisoning throughout Saturday so couldn’t make the walk on fight night.

    Weidman was obviously looking forward to fighting in New York for what could have been the last time in his career but Anders was also incredibly disappointed to miss out on a huge opportunity for his career also. He secured a decision win over Jamie Pickett in March to return to the win column but beating Weidman would have been a big scalp for him.

    “Status update- got food poisoning Friday night and there was no way I would have been able to go out there and compete,” Anders wrote. “Super upset I didn’t get to compete at MSG against a former champ. I seriously doubt that opportunity will come around again, but it is what it is. Hopefully we can get that matchup rebooked ASAP. Thank you all for the messages of concern.”

  • Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders Canceled Due To Medical Issue Hours Before UFC 309 Clash

    Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders Canceled Due To Medical Issue Hours Before UFC 309 Clash

    Chris Weidman’s return to New York at UFC 309, which some anticipated to be a potential retirement fight, will now not take place.

    Just hours before he and Eryk Anders were scheduled to make the walk for their fight on the preliminary card at Madison Square Garden, Anders was forced out of the bout with a medical issue, per an announcement at the start of the early prelim broadcast.

    The reports of the fight’s cancelation were first reported on X by users @TheMMAFoo and @MagicM_MMABets.

    Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders Scrapped From UFC 309 At Last Minute

    This was to be Weidman’s first fight in New York since being knocked out by Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at UFC 230.

    Weidman is 1-1 in his comeback from his horrific leg break against Uriah Hall at UFC 261. His retirement bout was not confirmed, but plenty of pundits and fans expected the former middleweight champion to potentially call time on his career after tonight’s bout.

    Anders, meanwhile, last fought in March, defeating Jamie Pickett.

    As a result of the cancellation, the preliminary card start time has been pushed back to 6:30pm ET.

  • Former UFC Champion Chris Weidman’s Next Fight Announced For Expected MSG Pay-Per-View

    Former UFC Champion Chris Weidman’s Next Fight Announced For Expected MSG Pay-Per-View

    Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman looks set for another fight close to home later this year when the promotion returns to Madison Square Garden.

    Weidman has gone 1-1 since making his comeback from a devastating leg break in 2023, most recently getting the better of Bruno Silva via a controversial TKO stoppage in the third round at the UFC Fight Night in Atlantic City, New Jersey, this past March.

    The New York native, who has not won consecutive fights since having his undefeated record blemished and title reign ended by Luke Rockhold in 2015, will look to make it two from two in 2024 in his home state.

    Iridium Sports Agency recently revealed on social media that one of its clients, former American football linebacker-turned-UFC middleweight Eryk Anders, is set to share the cage with Weidman on November 16.

    While unconfirmed, that date is expected to mark the organization’s return to Madison Square Garden for UFC 309.

    Weidman Targets First Win Streak Since 2015 At Anders’ Expense

    When they collide, Anders will be looking to stall the potential resurgence of an all-time great of the middleweight division.

    Weidman (16-7) achieved title glory as an unbeaten fighter back in 2013, memorably knocking out the previously invincible Anderson Silva at UFC 162. After three successful defenses against Silva, Lyoto Machida, and Vitor Belfort, the Baldwin native was unseated by Rockhold in a Fight of the Night war.

    The former champ has won just three of his nine fights since, a disappointing run that includes knockout losses to Gegard Mousasi, Ronaldo Souza, and Dominick Reyes, as well as a gruesome broken leg opposite Uriah Hall in 2021. After falling short in his return bout against Brad Tavares last August, Weidman got back into the winner’s circle this year.

    But with that result over Silva coming in controversial fashion after a slew of eye pokes, Weidman will be targeting a definitive triumph when he meets Anders (16-8, 1 NC). “Ya Boi” has struggled with inconsistency after Machida handed him his first loss in a 2018 main event, going 6-7 with one no contest since.

    The ex-NFL athlete most recently bounced back from a defeat to Marc-AndrĂ© Barriault in 2023 by outpointing Jamie Pickett this past March. He’ll now look to get the better of Weidman to secure his first string of victories since a double in 2019.

    Eryk Anders
    Image: UFC.com