Preview: UFC 309 Prelims

Middleweights

Eryk Anders (16-8, 8-8 UFC) vs. Chris Weidman (16-7, 12-7 UFC)

ODDS: Anders (-118), Weidman (-102)

UFC 309: Jones vs Miocic. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!
At the very least, Weidman isn’t entirely done just yet. The Long Islander will always have his place in history after ending Anderson Silva’s dominant reign as middleweight champion back in 2013. The hope was that the victory would launch “The All-American” into star status, but things never really quite came together for that to happen. Each of Weidman’s two wins over Silva had just enough plausible deniability for the Brazilian’s fans to discredit them. The first finish came while Silva was showboating and the second resulted from “The Spider” horrifically breaking his leg, both in fights that Weidman was still winning overall. Weidman’s title reign itself was most notable for his long injury layoffs before dropping the belt to Luke Rockhold after two years. From there, Weidman had his moments but did generally look like a fighter who was struggling to adjust to some lost athleticism that sheer willpower wouldn’t be able to overcome. Things got even worse in 2021, when Weidman broke his leg against Uriah Hall in almost the exact manner that Silva did seven and a half years prior. Weidman eventually made a full recovery, returning against Brad Tavares in August 2023, but it was hard to take many positives from that fight other than his ability to show up. He survived for three rounds but took a lot of damage—and suffered another leg injury—against one of the most patient middleweights on the UFC roster. It would have been understandable if Weidman called it a day right there, but he returned for another bout against Bruno Silva in March and shockingly walked away with the win, as his doggedness paid off, albeit in a victory full of illegal eye pokes. It’s unclear where Weidman goes from here, as there doesn’t appear to be much of a ceiling for the 40-year-old even now that he has established his floor. A pairing against a fellow veteran in Anders should at least be a solid benchmark for the time being.

Anders announced himself as a prospect to watch back in 2017, when he debuted with a knockout win over steady veteran Rafael Natal. However, that just led to the UFC throwing “Ya Boi” into a level of competition that was over his head. With Anders being a former standout linebacker for the University of Alabama, the promotion was obviously hoping that his built-in fanbase would buoy him to a certain level of stardom. Instead, Anders put in game efforts but was unable to score wins in main events against Lyoto Machida and Thiago Santos, and having now been established as a headliner, he suffered a few more losses until the UFC matched him at a more appropriate level. The good news is that about half a decade later, Anders has finally come out the other side of his development as a solid if not particularly exciting fighter, turning what was once a fairly static game into one with some combination punching buoyed by his considerable physicality. A hard-fought loss to Marc-Andre Barriault in a surprisingly fun fight raised some hopes that Anders could be turning the corner into a full-on pace fighter, but after a fairly workmanlike win over Jamie Pickett in March, it seems like he will officially settle in as a sharper version of the physical monolith he has been for most of his career. Weidman could just win an ugly wrestling match, but Anders should be solid and capable enough to neutralize most of those efforts; and if he’s not the harder hitter, he should at least be able to absorb things better than the former middleweight champion at this point. The pick is Anders via decision.

Continue Reading »
McGhee vs. Martinez
Anders vs. Weidman
Jackson vs. Miller
Onama vs. Romero
Tybura vs. Diniz
Gall vs. Brahimaj
Elliott vs. Hafez
Hardy vs. Moura