Eryk Anders AKA “Ya Boi” – The Knockout Master
Aged 37 years and 6 months as of date, weighing 84.2 kg, a height of 185cm, and a reach of 191cm, Anders is a fighter steadily climbing the ranks. He has a professional MMA record of 16-8-0 and is #53 on the Current Best MMA Middleweight Fighter’s chart.
“Ya Boi” has an aggressive fighting style that has helped him clinch impressive wins over better-ranked fighters. To put this in context, 9 of his wins came from knockouts (that’s 56%). On the other hand, he isn’t so great on the ground despite losing just 1 fight by submission.
Regarding his current form, his last fight was against Luke Fernandez in May 2024; in which he lost. But before that, he had a convincing win against Jamie Pickett; which he won by Unanimous Decision 7 months ago. Knowing this, let’s see how his opponent compares.
Chris Weidman AKA “The All-American”
Weidman held the MMA Fighter of the Year title in 2013, but has declined a lot by his standards; now #37 on the Current Best MMA Middleweight Fighter’s chart. The US native has a professional record that is quite similar to his opponent of the night 16-7-0.
The All-American’s career nearly came to an end in 2021 after an awful defeat against Uriah left him with a broken leg. This injury kept him out of the ring for 2 years and was a huge blow! His career then took a nose dive; recording 2 defeats in 2023 to Owen Livesey and then to Bruno Silver (both on Unanimous Decision).
While he looks very fit and ready for this bout against Anders, if he wins, some fans might argue Anders hasn’t fully recovered from the food poisoning illness contracted weeks back; thus further questioning if Weidman recovered from the 2021 injury.
The key strength of “The All-American” is his wrestling skills. If the fight goes to the ground, Weidman has what it takes to win easily and this is something Anders should be wary about.
Weidman is on a 1-win streak. He won Bruno Silver by Unanimous Decision some 8 months ago. He approached that fight with an aggressive style, landing quick right jabs and right kicks to knock out Bruno. This paid off, as between the 3rd and 4th minute of the fight, it was already clear who had the upper hand. Weidman dominated the first round that night with accurate strikes and powerful right-knee kicks.
We can anticipate the same approach in this next bout against Anders; whereby he’ll start aggressively with hopes of landing one powerful shot that can knock out the lad. This strategy worked out in his last fight, but might not work with Anders who is much younger and can go several rounds.
Eryk Anders vs Chris Weidman Prediction
Despite coming from an illness and a loss, I fancy Anders to carry the day here! He has a better strike accuracy, 47% compared to 45% for his opponent. Furthermore, Anders has more knockout power than Weidman and if he can keep the fight standing and exchange strikes with the lad, the fight might be concluded in no time and without much sweat. Added to this, Weidman is an aging fighter and there are concerns and doubts he can continue competing at the top stage. However, “Ya Boi” needs to be careful with the takedown attempts Weidman will throw at him; but this shouldn’t be a problem at all.
The bookie odd for an Anders win is around 1.98. To profit from this high odd, sign up for a Game2Bet account now and win big!
