With back-to-back losses in his return to middleweight, Eryk Anders doesn’t seem to be putting a lot of pressure on himself.
Heading into his Saturday main card opener against Kyle Daukaus (11-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) at UFC on ESPN 42, Anders (14-7 MMA, 6-7 UFC) isn’t focused on his most recent loss – though he does understand why that’s a frequent topic of conversation.
He also isn’t looking too deeply into the future or thinking about having a 2023 that looks good on paper.
“You’re only as good as your last performance,” Anders told MMA Junkie Radio. “Just because we’re going into the new year, I’ll still be on the same contract.”
That’s the cold, hard math the way Anders sees it. And a third straight loss wouldn’t matter if it came late in 2022, early in 2023 or in the middle of the calendar year.
More importantly, he just needs to win after a submission loss to Andre Muniz nearly a year ago and a split call setback against Jun Yong Park in May.
His fight against Daukaus, who is about a 2-1 favorite at Tipico Sportsbook, is one he didn’t ask for, but gladly accepted, knowing exactly what he’ll be trying to do.
“It’s not like I picked Kyle Daukaus out of other fighters or whatever,” Anders said. “But everybody knows – it’s no secret his strong suit is grappling. I think he’s got 11 wins, and nine of them have come from a D’Arce (choke) or armbar or some kind of submission. That’s his game: Find his way to the submission.
“He’s a scrambly guy and will try to get it to the ground, I think. If you engage in the jiu-jitsu with him, he gets really scrambly. He’s a submission over position kind of guy. Obviously, it’s a super dangerous fight. When guys are specialists at one particular thing – he’s got a lot of wins that way.
“Everybody knows what’s going on – kind of like an Andre Muniz, but they still find ways to catch guys with it. I knew Muniz was going to try to armbar me, and he did. Between (Daukaus) and I, it’s whoever implements their game plan and does what they’re best at better is going to win this fight.”
UFC on ESPN 42 takes place Saturday at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
Check out the full interview with Anders above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 42.
