Former Alabama football player Eryk Anders and BJJ black belt Kyle Daukaus both looked to rebound from recent losses on the main card of UFC Orlando on Saturday.
Eryk Anders lost a tightly contested split decision to Jun Yung Park last time out, while Daukaus was coming off of his first career knockout loss thanks to a brutal knee from Roman Dolidze (who coincidentally also fought on UFC Orlando). Both Anders and Daukaus have previously been viewed as bright prospects and winning this fight could put them back on the track of the path to the rankings.
The two southpaws came out trading low kicks. Anders had trouble landing much more than that early on while Daukaus had some decent success with his hands upstairs, especially his jab. Daukaus failed a takedown attempt eighty seconds in. Anders dumped Daukaus to the ground off of a caught kick two minutes in but refused to engage in his guard. Anders kneed Daukaus in the face hard off of a badly timed takedown attempt and Daukaus fell to his back so he could recover. Anders did not let him up, kicking at his leg instead, which let Daukaus get his composure back before standing up again. Daukaus ate a big left hook while exiting a clinch with one minute left but this time stayed on his feet.
With twenty seconds left in the round, Daukaus and Anders both threw at each other and a clash of heads knocked Daukaus down. Fortunately, referee Keith Peterson saw it and stopped the fight for a doctor to examine the hurt Daukaus. Kyle Daukaus recovered quickly though and got back to striking. He got hurt one last time by an overhand left before the bell rang. Although the round had started out well for him, he clearly lost it after getting hurt badly several times, not even including the headbutt.
The second round began on the feet of course but Daukaus went for a double leg early on and transitioned to a single leg which he tried to use to sit Anders down but Anders’ takedown defense was strong. Daukaus tried to hold onto the single leg but Anders smacked him a few times in the head and Daukaus pulled guard. Again, Anders refused to truly engage until Keith Peterson stood Daukaus up. Another big left hand from Anders dropped Kyle Daukaus again and this time Anders engaged when Daukaus pulled guard. After several dozen hammerfists, many of which were partially blocked, Keith Peterson had seen enough and stepped in, giving Eryk Anders his first finish since 2019.
Ya Boi is back in the win column!!@ErykAnders with the BIG second round finish over Kyle Daukaus 👊 pic.twitter.com/sVSLjnaEDj
— UFC (@ufc) December 4, 2022
Official Result: Eryk Anders def. Kyle Daukaus by TKO (punches), Round 2, 2:45
