VANCOUVER – Marc-Andre Barriault has repeatedly said Eryk Anders’ name when looking ahead to future matchups since he joined the UFC roster in early 2019. Now he gets his wish.
Barriault (15-6 MMA, 4-5 UFC) will meet Anders (15-7 MMA, 7-7 UFC) in a middleweight bout on Saturday’s UFC 289 main card, which airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+ from Rogers Arena.
To be clear, Barriault, 33, said there’s never been ill will behind his callouts of Anders. He remembers seeing his upcoming opponent fight in the octagon for the first time, and since then he’s though it made for a compelling matchup.
“I’ve been calling Eryk out for four years now,” Barriault told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 289 media day. “Back when he fought Lyoto Machida I saw his fight. I was like, ‘OK.’ I saw his style. He was more raw. A big dude, strong. Not the most technical, but a big heart. He always goes forward. That’s the way that I fight. So since then I couple times I call him out in the media, and he said, ‘OK. Just do your thing, win some fights and we’ll see maybe one day.’ And here we are.”
To hear more from Barriault, check out his complete UFC 289 media day interview above. For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.
