Eryk Anders Prepares to Fight

Former Alabama football player and current UFC Fighter Eryk Anders joined Ryan Fowler on The Game this week to talk about his upcoming UFC Fight, Nick Saban and coronavirus. You can hear the entire interview on Soundcloud or the Tide 100.9 Youtube page.

Anders conducted the interview from his hotel room, shortly after subjecting himself to the COVID-19 coronavirus test.

"It's out of my control, what all we have to do, everybody's gotta do it. You know, we just come in they check us for the anitbodies and swab our brains to see if we have coronavirus and what not. They pretty much tell us how everything's going to work. Fight night's going to be a little bit different with no crowds," said Anders.

The middleweight is preparing for his 10th fight in the UFC and is looking for his third consecutive win. He was scheduled to fight last month in Portland, Oregon but his event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anders told The Game that watching film is the next level of preparation for any athletic competition. He said his time at Alabama taught him what to look for and how to prepare for competition.

He described the weight-cutting procedure as his least favorite part about the fighting industry.

Anders said that his fighting ability is completely different than when he started MMA in 2012.

"Night and day I think. When I very first started the only punch I had was the left-hand. Now I'm mixing it up, mixing in the wrestling, different strikes not just the left-hand. Kicks, punch, wrestling I can do it all now," said Anders.

Anders played for Nick Saban from 2007-09 and said the best thing the coach did was he created an atmosphere of competition in the football program.

Anders trains at Spartan Fitness in Homewood, Alabama. He credits the camaraderie in the gym and gives kudos to his training partners for getting him prepared for each of his fights.

The 2009 national champion spoke about UFC's chance to grow over these few weeks by being one of the only sports in action. He said the television audience will be able to hear the fights much better and may get a much more personal feel of the UFC.

You can listen to Ryan Fowler on The Game each weekday from 2-6 p.m. on Tide 1009.9 FM or stream it on the Tide1009App.