Eryk Anders defeats Brad Tavares at UFC Fight Night, announces retirement

UFC middleweight Eryk Anders defeated Brad Tavares at UFC Fight Night (UFC Vegas 114) on Saturday night and announced his retirement afterwards. A former Alabama linebacker, Anders finished his MMA career with an 18-9 (1) record, including 20 fights in the UFC.

Following a brief pro career with the Cleveland Browns and stints in the CFL and AFL, Anders transitioned to MMA. He raced out to an 8-0 record, including capture the inaugural LFA middleweight championship in 2017.

Overall, Anders went 10-9 (1) in the UFC and won three of his last four fights since March 2, 2024. He mentioned his health was intact, his gym was operating at full capacity and the money’s been good.

“I’m done. Dude, that’s it, man, it just takes, you know, there’s a lot internally that goes on, man, you know, like, you know, I’m happy, I’m at peace,” Anders said. “You know, 20 fights, I made some money. I got my gym up and running and going. It’s profitable already. You know, I’m almost 40. You know, I’ll be 39 next month. felt great tonight. Probably felt better than I’ve ever felt before going into the cage, you know, physically, mentally, everything, I was very confident. And, you know, even warming up, you know, going through fight week, we’re cutting weight. Everything was, you know, I got more sleep tonight, last night and this morning.

“Then, you know, usually I’m up, I can’t sleep. You know, I was just like, at peace with everything. So I think it’ll be really hard to, like, replicate that again. I got a win, quality opponent for sure. Got a bonus tonight. So, you know, I don’t want to fuck the script up.”

Anders was given Performance of the Night twice in his UFC tenure and Fight of the Night twice. Looking back on his career, Anders had a lot to be proud of.

“When they came with this contract, it was a four fight deal. And I was like give me five. That puts me at 20, and I’ll be good,” Anders said. “I put my body through the ringer since I was seven, you know, I’m still in one piece. My brain is, you know, fully functioning, and I like to keep it that way. So there’s only one way that I know how to fight, and that’s like this.

“And, you know … what else do I have to offer? I can just only fight for money at this point. There’s plenty of ways to make that … The end, the final chapter, couldn’t have been any better for me. So, you know, I’m good.”

Anders helped lead Alabama to a national title win in 2009 over Texas. In the game, he led Nick Saban’s defense with seven tackles and a forced fumble.