The UFC has set the return fight for one of the top prospects in the middleweight division, and I’ll give my thoughts on it in today’s MMA odds and ends.
Eryk Anders vs. Tim Williams, UFC Fight Night 135
A middleweight bout between Eryk Anders and Tim Williams will go down at UFC Fight Night 135, which is set to take place Saturday, August 25 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. The fight was reported by Mike Heck of Fansided/Sports Illustrated MMA. Anders (10-1) is 2-1 in the UFC with wins over Rafael Natal and Markus Perez and a controversial split decision loss to Lyoto Machida in his last fight. The former football player should have picked up the biggest win of his career over Machida in his last fight but somehow the judges in Brazil found a way to give the nod to Machida. It’s too bad that happened to Anders, because if he won that fight he would have earned himself a top-10 opponent, but instead he’s now fighting a journeyman in Williams, while Machida went on to fight Vitor Belfort and brutally knock him out and end his career. Williams (15-4) earned his way to the UFC after a long career fighting on the regional circuit only to see himself get brutally knocked out by Oskar Piechota. Williams does have a tremendous amount of experience fighting in promotions such as Cage Fury Fighting Championships and has competed with the likes of former UFC fighters Jay Silva, Nah-Shon Burrell, Andre Gusmao, Anthony Smith and Ron Stallings, but for the most part he has lost when he’s stepped up in competition. Despite the loss to Machida, I still view Anders as a top middleweight prospect, and I see him dominating Williams and winning this fight. I fully expect Anders to be a huge favorite in this one.
