Eryk Anders may not be the last fighter in his family.
The longtime middleweight and former football player, who returns to action at UFC Vegas 87 this weekend, recently shared a clip of his son picking up a medal at a wrestling meet. As it turns out, he might just follow in dad’s footsteps.
“Maybe. He said if he don’t make it in football, he wants to do it. I’m like ‘but do you though?'”
Of course, that’s the exact path Eryk Anders (15-8, 1NC) himself took to fighting. After playing for Alabama’s Crimson Tide in his college days and a stint in the CFL, Anders made the move to MMA, winning a title in LFA before arriving in the UFC.
“Yeah. But I don’t know dude. I’ve got a crooked nose. He’s built for it for sure. He’s a little sparkplug, square peg round hole, works hard. When he’s at his mom’s house, he’ll get up 5, 6 in the morning, run to the gym which is like maybe a half mile away across the highway, work out, lift before school, come back, shower, go to school and then go to wrestling practice or baseball practice or whatever. So he is a worker, he definitely has the work ethic to do it, he’s just never been punched in the face before. I just think he’s got that grit that is required to be a fighter.”
That said, Anders noted that he doesn’t push his kids into anything. As long as they’re active in something, sports or otherwise, he’s content.
“My kids, I don’t pressure them to do anything. You have to do something, you can be on the math team, chess team, debate team for all I care,” stated Anders. “But you have to do something. I’m just fortunate that they do like sports and participating in them, because me, that’s my thing. I can relate, we can do things together, we can go out there, play baseball, go to a batting cage, shoot hoops in the driveway. Do whatever.”
“I’m just glad that they’re into sports, but I tell them all the time, you don’t have to wrestle, you don’t have to play football, you don’t have to do this, you don’t have to do that. That was my thing. I’ve lived out pretty much all of my athletic wants in life, so I don’t have to live vicariously though my kids because I did it already myself. So they do it just because they want to, and I think for them it’s more enjoyable because there is no pressure.”
Anders is a sizeable favorite going into his fight with Jamie Pickett at UFC Vegas 87 this weekend. Yet despite his opponent being on a nasty slide, Anders has prepared for the best Pickett possible. And the best fighter period.
“I don’t really get more excited for one fight than the other, I try to approach them all the same. Because you have to go out there and win, you have to go out there and perform. I just try to act as though and prepare as though I’m fighting the best fighter in the UFC,” explained Anders. “I’m for sure going to get the best version that Jamie’s got of himself. I think this is do or die for him, four fight losing streak or skid or whatever. So I’m sure he’ll come out more aggressive, I’m sure he’ll come out bigger, stronger, faster. I’m sure that I’ll be fighting the best version of him, so I’m preparing as such.”
Watch our full interview with UFC Vegas 87’s Eryk Anders above.
