Eryk Anders had a rough night during his latest fight under the UFC banner inside of the Octagon.
Thiago Santos was able to score a TKO win over Anders at the end of the third round due to referee stoppage at UFC Sao Paulo that went down on Saturday, September 22, 2018 at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil that aired on FOX Sports 1. Near the end of the fight, Anders went for a rear-naked choke from the back after taking Santos down, who escaped then they had a wild exchange in the third round. Anders tried his best to get back to his corner but was exhausted and led to the referee to wave it off.
Following the fight, it was revealed that Ander had to go to the hospital. Now, Anders has offered an update on his status when he spoke to MMA Fighting on Monday. He also noted that as long as he’s cleared to fight then he wants a spot on the UFC 231 card and would like to fight Elias Theodorou, who is searching for a new opponent.
“I just wanted to lay down, just chill for a second,” said Anders of how soon he was able to recover once the fight was officially waved off. “Obviously, the middle of the Octagon is not the place for that so once I talked to the doctors and all, they did take me to the hospital. But before all that I just went to the locker room and took a cold shower and laid down for a pretty good bit. I’ve never been that tired, that depleted or anything like that.”
“I’m definitely open to taking (205-pound) fights,” said Anders. “Perhaps on more than a week’s notice, but I’m down to step in there at 205, middleweight, possibly heavyweight, if the opponent is right.
“It’s not that I’m stuck at middleweight, ‘I’m gonna fight at middleweight and that’s it,’ no, that’s not true. I’m absolutely open to fight at light heavyweight and above if necessary. But I think for my career and longevity in this sport, I think that middleweight is going to need to be it.”
The UFC 231 pay-per-view is set to take place on Saturday, December 8, 2018 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.
