Eryk Anders will face Krzystof Jotko in a highly anticipated UFC middleweight bout aired on ESPN plus, April 11th. This bout is scheduled to take place in Portland, Oregon but with the coronavirus stopping a number of sporting events worldwide, we all will wait to see what the UFC does moving forward.
We spoke to Anders to get his thoughts on a potential fight cancellation, and he felt pretty confident the fights will go on. “Uncle Dana is gonna make it happen, so I don’t think the UFC is gonna cancel any fights or do anything unless its absolutely necessary. Probably if the government says they have to cancel then they’ll do it but other then that I’m cutting weight, training, and ready to fight.”
Asked if he and his family are taking any added precautions or doing anything else differently to stay safe, Anders replied “I’m business as usual in the gym training. I just got back from Vegas, California before that so I’ve been all over the place traveling and hadn’t had as much as a sniffle. I hope it continues to be that way, I can catch that stuff April 12th but I need to be healthy and ready to go April 11th.”
Anders most recently beat Gerald Meerschaert via split decision in a close fight. “He had a really good second round because I thought I saw something in the first round and came back to the corner and told my coach I’m gonna knock him out,” recalled Anders. “I just knew I was gonna head kick him off my left hand cause cause he kept ducking his head to my left, his right, so I spent the whole second round looking for the one kick instead of setting it up. I was really upset and frustrated after the fight because that’s why the fight was so close and I think I could have got a finish in that fight. So it’s a good learning lesson.”
Meerschaert’s teammate, Brendan Allen is (2-0) in the UFC now and wants to avenge his loss to Anders in June of 2017, telling me in a previous interview he believes he would finish Anders now. Anders responded, “I don’t really pay Brendan Allen no attention as far as MMA goes. If the UFC comes to me and says this is the guy you need to fight then cool whatever but at this point he sounds really thirsty calling out guys he’s lost to prior to the UFC.” Allen doesn’t appear to have caught his attention just yet. If it was me I’m not worried about nothing prior to the UFC, I’m not really impressed with his wins.”
As far as his next fight with Jotko goes, Anders is confident but respectful. “I like the match-up and I definitely don’t think he’s going to stand in the middle and throw with me. I’m only gonna have to touch him once”.
Eryk Anders also spoke about his evolution as a fighter. “Everybody knows my agenda when I fight but I think now with the experience I’ve had in the UFC fighting high level fighters I’m able to set these things up and not just hunt with the left hand,” he said. “I think my skillset is growing and I think in the (Meerschaert) fight I kicked more, I moved more, I was more dynamic. I’m capable of getting decision wins as well but I’m an entertainer, I’m a showman, and I’m looking to get people out of there.”
