The Film Room: Eryk Anders
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Former college football star Eryk Anders will return to the Octagon for the first time in 2019 when he meets Khalil Rountree at UFC 236 on Saturday in Atlanta. The 31-year-old former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion finds himself in need of a victory after suffering back-to-back defeats to Elias Theodorou and Thiago Santos.
Anders is the subject of this edition of The Film Room.
Anders got a late start in the sport after transitioning from football, but four years later, he holds a respectable 11-3 record and is slowly but surely becoming a legitimate martial artist. Early in his development, he was an ultra-aggressive striker who ran forward with wild punches looking for the finish -- an approach that allowed him to amass a 9-0 record with five knockouts before joining the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2017. Observers knew Anders had the power and athleticism, but those talents are not nearly enough to enjoy true success at the highest levels. Since joining the UFC, Anders has smartened up and now fights rather patiently, with brief moments of blitzing forward with strikes. Anders is a lifelong athlete, and at only 31 years old, he has plenty of time to round out his game and learn how to mix his power and athleticism with technique and experience to become a contender.
In his first UFC fight against Rafael Natal, Anders showed how overwhelming his pressure can be and basically sprinted forward with punches the entire fight. This obviously is not the smartest way to fight, but for someone like Anders, it might be for the time being. There is no point in going out there and trying to fight technique for technique with opponents who have been fighting for half of their lives. In his first few UFC fights, Anders knew he could not match the skills of most of his opponents, so he relied on his power and athleticism. Now that he has been around for a couple of years and has fought some top-level competition, he should start slowly transitioning to a slower pace and only rely on his athletic gifts when needed.
Anders is at his best when he can trap the opponent against the cage and unload with vicious strikes. It would be nice to see him work on his footwork and patience a bit more, so he can more easily trap them along the fence. So far, simply rushing forward has worked.
In his most recent fight with Theodorou, Anders’ technique looked better than ever, but the bout also showed some glaring holes in his game that will hold him back at the highest levels. Anders had no answers for Theodorou’s footwork and evasive movement and spent a lot of the fight swinging at air. Anders also tried to match skills with Theodorou early on and was getting picked apart from the outside. However, later in the fight, Anders started to get more aggressive and landed multiple clean left straights on the lead and on the counter and nearly won the fight while showing how far his skills have come in just two years with the company.
Anders still has some concerning tendencies that will certainly be exploited as he fights better and better competition. His defense is horrid, as he constantly crosses his feet, drops his hands and retreats in a straight line, but these things are expected for someone with such little experience. He seemed to slow down a bit in his last two fights, but there were moments in the Theodorou fight where he was frustrated and running forward with no purpose. Everyone knows he has the athleticism to make it at the highest levels, but will he be able to put all of his skills together to become a legitimate contender?
Former college football star Eryk Anders will return to the Octagon for the first time in 2019 when he meets Khalil Rountree at UFC 236 on Saturday in Atlanta. The 31-year-old former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion finds himself in need of a victory after suffering back-to-back defeats to Elias Theodorou and Thiago Santos.
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Anders got a late start in the sport after transitioning from football, but four years later, he holds a respectable 11-3 record and is slowly but surely becoming a legitimate martial artist. Early in his development, he was an ultra-aggressive striker who ran forward with wild punches looking for the finish -- an approach that allowed him to amass a 9-0 record with five knockouts before joining the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2017. Observers knew Anders had the power and athleticism, but those talents are not nearly enough to enjoy true success at the highest levels. Since joining the UFC, Anders has smartened up and now fights rather patiently, with brief moments of blitzing forward with strikes. Anders is a lifelong athlete, and at only 31 years old, he has plenty of time to round out his game and learn how to mix his power and athleticism with technique and experience to become a contender.
In his first UFC fight against Rafael Natal, Anders showed how overwhelming his pressure can be and basically sprinted forward with punches the entire fight. This obviously is not the smartest way to fight, but for someone like Anders, it might be for the time being. There is no point in going out there and trying to fight technique for technique with opponents who have been fighting for half of their lives. In his first few UFC fights, Anders knew he could not match the skills of most of his opponents, so he relied on his power and athleticism. Now that he has been around for a couple of years and has fought some top-level competition, he should start slowly transitioning to a slower pace and only rely on his athletic gifts when needed.
Anders is at his best when he can trap the opponent against the cage and unload with vicious strikes. It would be nice to see him work on his footwork and patience a bit more, so he can more easily trap them along the fence. So far, simply rushing forward has worked.
In his most recent fight with Theodorou, Anders’ technique looked better than ever, but the bout also showed some glaring holes in his game that will hold him back at the highest levels. Anders had no answers for Theodorou’s footwork and evasive movement and spent a lot of the fight swinging at air. Anders also tried to match skills with Theodorou early on and was getting picked apart from the outside. However, later in the fight, Anders started to get more aggressive and landed multiple clean left straights on the lead and on the counter and nearly won the fight while showing how far his skills have come in just two years with the company.
Anders still has some concerning tendencies that will certainly be exploited as he fights better and better competition. His defense is horrid, as he constantly crosses his feet, drops his hands and retreats in a straight line, but these things are expected for someone with such little experience. He seemed to slow down a bit in his last two fights, but there were moments in the Theodorou fight where he was frustrated and running forward with no purpose. Everyone knows he has the athleticism to make it at the highest levels, but will he be able to put all of his skills together to become a legitimate contender?
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