Preview: UFC Fight Night 182 Main Card

Round SUB!

Contract in Antonio Arroyo's future?? #DWCS pic.twitter.com/350B7EATmj

— UFC (@ufc) July 17, 2019

Middleweights

Eryk Anders (13-5) vs. Antonio Arroyo (9-3)

ODDS: Anders (-135), Arroyo (+115)

When Anders made his UFC debut in 2017, he looked like an interesting long-term prospect. A former star linebacker at the University of Alabama, Anders still had a lot to round out in his game, but he was able to run through Rafael Natal and score a dominant win over Markus Perez to finish out the year. After the Perez win, Anders called out Lyoto Machida in a fight that seemed like too much too soon, but the UFC apparently liked the idea. It had an upcoming card in Machida’s hometown of Belem, Brazil, and without much in the way of better options, Anders got the main event call against “The Dragon.” Anders nearly took the win thanks to his advantages in physicality, but in retrospect, getting that main event slot may have been the worst thing to happen to “Ya Boi.” The UFC did well to give him a rebound opponent in Tim Williams—it was a fight Anders almost lost until a last-minute knockout—but now that he was established as a former main eventer with some name value, the promotion rushed him into some tough matchups against the likes of Thiago Santos, Elias Theodorou and Khalil Rountree that did not do much for his development. It is only in the last year that Anders has finally gotten the right type of fights, and to his credit, he finally seems to have shown some development. After a few stagnant years as a low-volume striker, Anders is learning to lead on the feet to complement some solid wrestling instincts. It is still nowhere near the ceiling that many hoped Anders would reach, but he is turning into a reliably functional fighter, and that alone should be enough to take care of business here. Arroyo showed some potential on Dana White’s Contender Series, as the Brazilian is a gigantic middleweight with a powerful kicking game and some submission skills when needed. However, his UFC debut against Andre Muniz in 2019 exposed him as a bit of a one-trick pony. Arroyo cannot really deal with a persistent wrestler and does not seem to have much cardio if he fails to score an early finish. Anders checks all the boxes to make this a miserable matchup for Arroyo. He is durable, he can wrestle and he is every bit as big and athletic for the division as Arroyo. The pick is a clear Anders decision, with some strong potential for a finish.

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