Preview: UFC Fight Night 161 ‘Jedrzejczyk vs. Waterson’

Middleweights

Eryk Anders (12-4) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (29-11)

ODDS: Anders (-175), Meerschaert (+155)

It was less than two years ago that Anders was one of middleweight’s brightest prospects, so hopefully this return to 185 pounds can help him get his career back on track. The former University of Alabama linebacker’s physical gifts were clearly on display in his first two UFC bouts: He ran over Rafael Natal without much trouble in his debut before subsequently outlasting and laying some ground-and-pound on Markus Perez. After the Perez fight, Anders called out Lyoto Machida, which may have been the crucial moment in derailing his career. It seemed like an unrealistic call-out on paper, but the UFC’s main event scene was thin enough at the time that the promotion actually ran with the bout, which ended in a narrow decision win for Machida in his hometown of Belem, Brazil. Ideally, that would have meant Anders returning back to prospect showcases, but freshly established as a main event fighter, the UFC continued to throw difficult fights his way. Bouts against Thiago Santos and Elias Theodorou led him towards a more conservative style against better competition. A move to light heavyweight did not do much, though a quick win over Vinicius Moreira Coreira did at least confirm that Anders’ base athleticism will always give him a floor as a fighter. Back at middleweight, Anders has another tough fight ahead of him in Meerschaert, who is the sort of tricky test for prospects that Anders should have been getting all along.

Meerschaert certainly took the long road to the Octagon, taking over a decade to build up a resume that eventually earned him his UFC callup. As someone with so much experience, Meerschaert quickly found his niche playing spoiler to more talented up-and-comers. Meerschaert is not much of an athlete, but he makes up for that with toughness and his willingness to constantly hunt for a finish. His UFC ledger is dotted with wins in which Meerschaert ate a ton of abuse, only to come back and find his opponent’s neck. That all-out offensive approach does occasionally blow up in his face -- Santos and Jack Hermansson took apart Meerschaert without much trouble -- but the Roufusport mainstay remains dangerous until he is finished and should give Anders all he can handle.

This is an interesting fight, since it should provide a sense of Anders’ floor and Meerschaert’s ceiling. Meerschaert has traditionally struggled against the elite athletes that he faces -- Santos was the prime example -- but Anders has become such a low-output fighter that it is difficult not to see Meerschaert at least getting a chance to implement his game and start hunting for a finish. Anders’ fight against Tim Williams is of particular concern. Williams is not anyone’s idea of a top-shelf athlete, yet he still had success turning things into a grind before Anders scored a late finish. With that said, Anders did still win the fight, and if nothing else, he has shown enough grappling instincts -- when combined with his physical strength -- to keep Meerschaert from locking in one of those submissions. Given Meerschaert’s willingness to dump out his gas tank while grappling with his opponents, Anders should be able to take over late as he long as he survives the early going. The pick is Anders via third-round stoppage.

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