Alabama National Champ. LabCorp Janitor. UFC Fighter at 30.

Eryk Anders1:33

Oh, yeah. Not everybody throws their stuff outside and let the sun dry.

Eryk Anders1:36

Uh but I always had like an extra pair of pants cuz I wasn't doing it. I just like

Being clean is just uh maybe I'm OCD. I don't know.

But I never wanted staff. Uh

And I just wanted to keep my stuff clean and not smell like a goat all the time.

Eryk Anders2:05

Man, I just opened the gym uh about a year ago and uh you know during the summer the kids they don't have anything to do so they'll come train in the afternoon then come train at night. Well, I noticed this kid kept coming back in the same clothes and I'm like dude are you changing your clothes? Are you taking a shower after practice? He was like no. I was like dog what? So he would train at like 11. From like 11:00 to 1 he'd do kickboxing or jiu-jitsu, then kickboxing then come back at 6 and do it again.

I'm like, "Dog, so you just spent 5 hours and your sweaty clothes?" He's like, "Yeah, I'm going to get sweaty again. What's the point in showering?" I'm like, "Dog, listen. You go home like where do you sit? Like you lay in your bed and your sweaty clothes?" Said, "No, I'll be on the couch." So you're in a public uh area in your sweaty clothes. His mom came in. And I was like, "Listen,

You need to tell your kid to shower."

Eryk Anders2:58

And she was like, "Oh, I tell him all the time. I don't even want him to give me a hug." And I'm like, "Listen, man. A mother's love is unconditional. She's going to love you no matter what you do,

But she doesn't even want to hug you cuz you smell like a goat. All right. That right there should tell you something. Please shower before you come back here next time."

Eryk Anders3:31

How old is it?

Eryk Anders3:34

That [clears throat] my kids were like that too. I you know I'd threaten their life. I'm like dude go take a shower.

Eryk Anders3:39

And they would be like ah no no no. And then they finally get in the shower and they take like a 45minut show. It's like dog why we go through this every day. Go take a shower. I don't even care. Take a 45minut shower.

Eryk Anders3:59

Nah, she wasn't she wasn't she wasn't too bad, man. You know, um they did want us to be disciplined and, you know, be on time and do all our stuff, but you know, she wasn't like a drill instructor at all.

Eryk Anders4:14

Uh she was a nurse.

Eryk Anders4:16

Yep. And then she, you know, this is this is like the best kept secret of the military. My mom uh she uh went to college, went got into the Air Force and she was in the Air Force for like 26 years, [clears throat]

Retired as a fullbr colonel, but she spent the majority of her career in college, like in school. She's got like five degrees,

You know what I mean?

Eryk Anders4:45

Yeah. And then she get they'd give her a new job. And then uh she was working with the Pentagon for a while and like building like u like disaster like like say like a earthquake happens in

The [snorts] Philippines or whatever. She teaches their government how how to deal with the like put the infrastructure in to deal with the disaster themselves so that America didn't have to come in and you know our role is like limited in like helping them rebuild and

Eryk Anders5:14

Do that kind of stuff.

Eryk Anders5:17

Uh he was a lawyer by trade but since we moved around all the time uh he would have to pass the bar in every state that we moved to

Which is you know it's like one of the hardest tests. So he was kind of a stay-at-home dad for the most of the cool time.

Eryk Anders5:33

Nah.

Eryk Anders5:35

No, I don't think so. If you if you listen to him, you know, he's, you know, Usain Bolt. He's like track athlete and got all this, but then like, you know, he was 45 whenever I was born. So,

Eryk Anders5:46

All I know is the old man. So, I'm just like, I don't see it, dude. I don't see it. But maybe though. I don't know.

Eryk Anders5:55

Man? You know, to [clears throat] be honest, and this is what I tell everybody cuz they just think that like I just played football and then just decided to fight and boom, was just good at it. I'm a workhorse. I'm probably a C plus level athlete naturally. Um, but I just see like who I'm playing against and you know, the guys are at where I'm trying to be. So, I just try to outwork everybody um to make it to the next level. So, you know, it's like studying for the test, you know, C++ level athlete, work, train, study for the test.

I can get a A on the test.

Eryk Anders6:32

You know what I mean?

Eryk Anders6:38

Outside linebacker.

Eryk Anders7:02

Practice like day in day out, right? You got the red jersey on. Don't touch that guy.

Eryk Anders7:15

Yeah. And they they called it an outside linebacker. They call it like a jack. Yep.

Matt basically played defensive end.

Yeah. you know, and I'm only 6 foot. I was probably 225, 235, somewhere in there at the time. And those guys on the other side of the ball, man, they're 6'5, 66, 350, 375. Uh we played against a dude named uh for LSU. His name's Herman Johnson. He's the biggest baby ever born in the state of uh Louisiana.

He was 68, 375 lbs. I swear I tried to run past him and he

Palmed my chest and like his palm was like the size of my shoulder pads. I was like, "Holy shit."

Eryk Anders8:03

Oh, man. The whole So, I'm like from outside of San Antonio, a little town called uh Bulverie. It's right next It's between uh New Bronals and San Antonio. And like one stoplight town at the time. and uh the whole town would shut down. You know, we'd have like four or five thousand people, you know, people who have whose kids graduated in the early 90s are still coming to the game.

Grandpa's coming to the game, you know, aunts, uncles,

The little kids, standing room only

And it didn't matter who we played.

So, if if you watch Friday Night Lights and Varsity Blues and put them together,

Eryk Anders8:45

No, I was a three technique.

Eryk Anders8:47

Yeah, I was a D line.

Oh, wow.

Eryk Anders8:54

No. [clears throat] So, I man the way I even ended up at Alabama is, you know, kind of lot luck, coincidence, and circumstance. Man, I made my own highlight tape, uh, VHS at the time. Uh, I looked up all the addresses to all the schools. So, I made 125 copies of this tape and mailed it to all the schools and didn't hear nothing back. Um, but [snorts] my brother's friend's dad was a coach, uh, a JV coach, and he saw like how much work I was putting in.

And so, uh, every year Alabama has like the summer camps and stuff.

Eryk Anders9:34

Well, he was college roommates with the offensive line coach at the time. And so he went to the camp, had lunch with him, and gave him my tape. It was like, man, this kid's a workhorse. Worst case scenario and be a great special teams player for you. Well, two weeks before the season started, uh, this kid, a running back, didn't qualify academically. So now, boom, this scholarship just manifests out of thin air.

Eryk Anders10:05

Yeah, I was going to go to Ole Miss.

Eryk Anders10:11

Yeah. So it was like uh Memphis and Texas Tech offered me and then Ole Miss came in and I was like well I'll go play in the SEC but wasn't thrilled about Ole Miss.

Eryk Anders10:23

You know the whole South shall rise again. They're the Rebels. It's Mississippi.

But I was like it's the SEC so I'm going to go. And then uh I was actually in Hawaii at my brother's wedding and uh it was like the night after the wedding. Uh Shula called me, Mike Shula. And so, you know, I'm like, you know, hung over and he calls me. He was like I'm like, "Hello." He's like, "Hey, Eric, it's Mike Shula, head coach at the University of Alabama." [clears throat] Hey, coach, how are you doing? Uh he told me to come on to visit.

I got home, got on the plane, uh lied about everything. cuz I had I put on Timberland boots so I was like 6'3. You know what I'm saying? I told him I was 215. I might have been 200 wet. And he was like, "How much do you weigh?" I was like, "15?" He's like, "Okay, we're going to go get on the scale and if you're one pound under uh 215, we're not going to offer you." And so I'm sweating. I'm like, "Shit." I'm like looking for weights to stuff in my pocket, right?

Uh so we get over to the scale. The scale doesn't work. The scale is broke. So I'm like, so about maybe 30 minutes later, I was signing my scholarship.

Eryk Anders11:41

But only because everybody else in the nation had already I was like the last guy picked.

Eryk Anders11:46

You know what I mean? Like there was just nobody left. And I'm like, "Hey." You know?

Eryk Anders11:57

[ __ ] Yeah. [ __ ] that guy like whatever. But dude, it was like they had Patrick Willis. Um there was another linebacker there that was a stud. No one had ever heard it. No one No, I didn't know about DeMeco Ryans uh at the time who ended up being probably the best linebacker I've ever seen. Played in the NFL for a while and now um I don't know if he still is, but he was the head coach for the Texans for a long time.

Eryk Anders15:01

Yeah. Yeah. So the equipment manager, his name was Tank. Uh so everybody like man you got that new tank issue like every time like some new something would come out like man. Uh but yeah, you could just go back there and get whatever you wanted. Uh, which was good for me because I just came with a trunk with like I didn't even have a pair of jeans when I got there, you know. Uh, I just had shorts, a pair of shoes, and you know, the rest of my clothes.

And uh, so that's all I wore was that

Eryk Anders15:32

Yeah, of course.

And what were the facilities like? Oh, they d they were amazing cuz you know in high school we worked out in the shed with rusty weights and

You know now they got platforms and you know bumper weights instead of iron weights and

Uh all the food you could eat and now but even compared from then to now did this like they they have like an NFL facility now they go there to eat the uh practice uh facility.

Eryk Anders16:08

Nuhuh.

Eryk Anders16:17

Yeah.

Eryk Anders16:19

I believe it. With this NFL uh NIL stuff, all the money is flowing now.

Eryk Anders16:25

Everywhere.

Eryk Anders16:28

Dude, I want back pay. You know, every year uh before the season started, they would say, "Man, you can't take nothing from anybody. If someone so someone so much just buys you a Happy Meal, you can lose the year of eligibility." And I'm sitting there like, "Man, listen,

I'm broke, man. The gentleman offers me a meal, I'm taking it, dude. Forget

Eryk Anders16:52

12 million.

That's all I see is is memes now of him. He's like, "$12 million. It's like the biggest robbery. They got the biggest bank robber in history.

Poor guy, dude.

Eryk Anders17:03

They do.

Eryk Anders17:06

But my question [clears throat] is like, whose fault is it really that you take this raw athlete, the number one uh recruit in the nation

And he's still playing like he's in high school?

Eryk Anders17:17

Two or three years later. Yeah.

Whose fault is is that they're not developing him?

Completely agree.

Eryk Anders17:37

Well, one I think he shot himself in the foot with the way he acted after. So like

If you're not that guy, if you're that like the rule doesn't apply for everybody.

Eryk Anders17:48

If you're that guy, they're going to put up with you. But if you're not that guy, like the leash is short. So, don't give them a reason.

Eryk Anders17:55

That's what my dad would always tell me. Don't give them a reason not to play you. Don't be a dumbass. Don't not like go to class, be on time, do all the things.

Uh, now if somebody else does it, they're the

Starting running back or starting quarterback, they got a longer leash than you.

Eryk Anders18:21

"Yeah, he's suspended indefinitely." as he should be.

Eryk Anders18:28

Dude, you know, last year he was supposed to be a top he he's going to be a first round draft pick and he came back probably because he's probably making more in college

Than he's going to make on a rookie contract.

But man, his his stock is plummeting, dude. I don't want a headache, dude.

No way.

If you're acting like that in college, how are you gonna act?

Eryk Anders18:56

Yeah.

Eryk Anders19:03

Man, I got a story about him, man.

Eryk Anders19:06

Uh so we played miss when he was there.

Okay. And uh Snell Sneed, Jevin Sneed was uh their quarterback and he threw a pick and I was running down the field to block somebody and that dude ran past me to go make a tackle. Like I wasn't even moving. Like I never had to guard him, but you know, they would be like, "Oh, man." You watch him and he didn't even have a offensive position. They made up one for him. They called him an offensive weapon.

Eryk Anders19:32

And I see why. And I wasn't a slow guy. I was a 445 guy, but dude, he ran past me like I wasn't even moving. I was like, "Holy [ __ ] dude." I

Eryk Anders19:53

He's sturdy. I had to reroute him out of the scene one time and I so I shoved him and I was like, "Damn, little holy cotta sturdy, dude."

Eryk Anders20:12

I believe it.

Eryk Anders20:20

Yeah. Yeah. I think he got drafted by KC.

Eryk Anders20:34

I need

Eryk Anders20:44

Training

Eryk Anders20:46

But they're probably going to do that anyways, dude. Derrick Henry's, you know, he's probably got another five, six seasons left in him. He's probably going to be the alltime leading rusher.

Eryk Anders21:12

Yeah, they should have I don't even [sighs] I know like uh they had him at running back here in Tennessee, right, man? They should have put him in the slot, dude. He's You can't guard him in space. Yeah,

They should have gave him

Eryk Anders21:30

They did everything with him. They put him in the slot, they put him at wide out, they put him at running back, they ran the Wildcat.

Eryk Anders21:36

Yeah. He's a beast, dude.

Eryk Anders22:00

Um so I had my hand in the ground then they stood me up. They're like obviously I'm not playing

Eryk Anders22:07

215.

So they stand me up and I did I just like it was yesterday. I remember the first play uh I I was uh on the scout team going against the uh starting offense and I was playing linebacker. When you play linebacker, you have to see 180, you know, you got to see the whole field.

Uh they snapped the ball and everything turned to a blur. The linemen were fast, the running backs were fast, the receivers, everything was just like so much faster than it was and you had to see so much more. So, even on film, it's like everybody moves except me. I'm like, "Oh [ __ ] I don't even know where the ball is at or what's going on." Uh, so like it took a while to adjust to like playing in space, being on my feet, not my hand in the ground.

And Shoula's defense uh Shula's uh like program was so much like completely different than Savings. Like Shula had us out there doing Oklahoma drill. It's angle tackle drills. If you didn't play on Saturday, like you had to play or you played minimal reps, you had a full-on scrimmage uh on Sunday. So, everybody was always banged up. Then you didn't stand a chance, you know. Um even the starters, you know, they'd be out there, you know, everybody's limping going into the game on Saturday. Uh [snorts] and there were times like we were up against like Florida, for example.

We were up 35 to three against Florida. Uh he kept the starters in and proth throw broke his leg. Uh compound fracture, never played again. Probably would have won the Heisman that year. Damn. He was having that kind of year. Then uh uh now he would give us Monday off. Saving came. He was like, "Hell no, you don't get a day off." Um but then like he took like cuz he understood like you have to perform on Saturday. So if I kill you during the week, you're not going to perform.

You're sore, you're tired, you have all the bumps and bruises. So, Monday would be like a like more of a special teams practice. Tuesday, we'd be in full pads, but thud, never to the ground. Just like form them up, hit them,

Which is why it's hard for me to watch football now because they don't know how to tackle.

And then practice would get lighter uh over the course of the week. But, man, he would have the game plan for defense. He was it would be like uh if it's first and 10 on their 20 if they're in this formation 80% chance they're running this play 4% chance they're running this play if this guy motions they're running this play so that we would just okay understand the situation the down and distance what yard line they're on the formation is that okay it's a jet sweep or okay it's a zone read or whatever.

So, we knew on defense what they were doing before the ball was snapped most of the time. So, uh, Saban really took like the NFL approach. Uh, Shula like tried to be a hard ass and like kill everybody, but the whole purpose is to win games, you know? So, if you're not able, uh, how are you supposed to win?

Eryk Anders25:38

Shit."

I mean, every play has like a variation. Like the offense can audible, too.

Eryk Anders25:49

Um it probably wasn't a uh like a SEC school, but probably like one of the other like um like a Georgia Southerns or

Eryk Anders26:01

Something like that.

I don't remember like anybody's offense being so complicated that like you just couldn't get a read. And sometimes they had really good athletes and it was just like I would tell Saving I'd be like, "Coach, he's on scholarship, too." Like, you know, come on, man. You know, [ __ ] What do you want?

Eryk Anders26:26

Yeah. And again, I was never the best athlete, so I was just like a hustle guy. Um, uh, tried harder, practiced harder. Courtney Upshaw was my backup.

Eryk Anders26:38

You know, thank God I was a senior cuz, man, I've never seen anybody, uh, double in size like he did.

Really? He literally came in at 225. Uh, and then the next year he was like 260. I'm like, cuz he comes from like he's naturally a big guy, but he's from Euphala, Alabama. They probably don't got a weight program.

Eryk Anders27:01

Probably wasn't eating very much. Uh, so he was just a ball player. And then he got on the weights, ate good, and then boom. I'm just like, [snorts] I got

Eryk Anders27:34

Yeah, that was my uh thing that like like I like I keep hate to keep saying, but I was like crazy undersized, dude. Yeah. The guys behind me were like 6'3, 6'4, 6'5, uh, 260. Like, look at the the guys who play the outside linebacker, defensive end now, dude. They're giants. So, I was on like a catfish diet, dude. I would eat as much as I could whenever I could. Wake up in, you know, like 2:00 in the morning, eat, go back to sleep, wake up, eat.

It's exhausting, you know? I know is like what that sounds like, but dude, it was hard

To like keep weight on. Uh some guys like they don't have like [snorts] they're not they don't come from like the best financial or socioeconomic situation. So they don't have a refriger refrigerator full of food or all that stuff. Now you get to college man you got the weight room. You have all your food taken care of. You know you're not stressing about when you're going to eat next. And then their body finally develops. Especially over time cuz from 18 to 22, dude, you're a completely different

Eryk Anders28:41

You know, physical specimen.

Eryk Anders28:51

Yeah. So, when I was there, we had to like go to like uh public like uh like the common students like other students could go there, too. Now they have everything at the practice facility. So they can eat as much and they actually have nutritionists and dieticians in there says, "Okay, you have to gain weight, eat this. You need to lose weight, eat that." So man, like physically they're in like the best possible situation they can be. Uh the thing that blew my mind is some of these guys are just like crazy athletes, but their high school coaches don't teach them like the X's and O's.

Eryk Anders29:26

Like that was my problem. I didn't know what anybody behind me was doing in high school. Didn't care.

It's a pass, go get the quarterback. It's a run, go get the ball.

But when you get to college, you have to know what everybody's doing.

So you see these athletes and they're trying to not only remember what they're doing and where they're supposed to be, but where the guy next to them and the guy behind them. So they would just freeze. And I'm like, dude, if you're going to [ __ ] up, [ __ ] up going 100 miles an hour.

Eryk Anders29:58

You're getting cussed out regardless. At least get cussed out going full speed. So, at least when they watch film, they'd be like, "Well,

At least, you know, like I played for uh Kevin Steele was one of the linebacking coaches uh when I was at Alabama, and he was at Florida State when Ernie Sims was a a linebacker there. Uh I don't know if you know who Ernie Sims is, but he's probably one of the scariest people ever." Um he was like, man, he would [ __ ] up three out of four out of five plays, but he ran a 43.

Eryk Anders30:29

So he could get to where he was supposed to go just by being an athlete and end up being a first round draft pick. So he said, "Man, if you just get on your horse and if you [ __ ] up, do it 100%."

Eryk Anders30:39

Like it may work out for you.

Eryk Anders31:19

Yeah, I think quarterback is the hardest position to play in all of sports. You have to know what all the 11 guys on the other side of the ball are doing and you have to know what all your guys are doing over here. And then you have to see everything and feel

Like the pocket collapsing and where you can run and where you can get out, where you can scramble by time to make the throw.

Eryk Anders31:52

Yeah, dude. I don't want to get my ass, you know.

Eryk Anders31:57

So, uh, again, like I was just kind of like the last one left. Like, uh, I played a lot my junior year because the thing I think that Saban did the best out of everybody is a develop players and then find out how they can contribute. I was smaller, but I was faster than everybody. Um, so he let me rush the passer.

So, third and long, obvious passing situations, he put me in to go put pressure on the quarterback. Then the so you know that was um that was awesome because it's like uh I don't know how to put it like the fans they were like they would get like excited on third down cuz they like they know that I'm coming in

You know to go put pressure and they're like a dude it's great you're under size but you're still out here doing things and making it happen. So the fans like loved it. Um then fast forward the next year the guy in front of me transferred. They tried to put uh Dont'a Hightower, who's a

Tennessee guy, he's from uh Columbus,

Uh in there, but it just didn't work out because the guy they tried to put where he was at

Uh just couldn't do it.

So, they put him back uh and then, you know, kind of gave me the reigns to the position and um I had a really good senior year.

Eryk Anders33:24

Hell no. So even like [clears throat] this is another like crazy situation. Uh my red shirt sophomore year we played Colorado uh in Shreveport in the uh whatever the bull game is. And I didn't play it down. My parents came to the game. Uh so did one of my brothers. Snuck into a casino. Gambled with my dad all day all night. Came back playing cards and I was like, "Yo, I'm going to leave. I'm a transfer dude. This is bullshit." Um he was like, "Nah, just stay.

At least you'll get your degree from Alabama. It'll be worth something." Um and just, you know, ride it out. He died that night.

Uh in his sleep. Yeah.

Eryk Anders34:07

He died that night. Uh and so like that was like obviously my last conversation with him. So

Um I was like, "Okay, you know, he knows what he's talking about." So I stayed. uh ended up uh the next year was my red shirt junior year. They let me rush the pass and then I ended up starting my senior year. Had I have left like who knows where I would have ended up, what would have happened. Um I wouldn't have my son. Uh wouldn't have won a national championship. Um so

Eryk Anders34:42

Yeah.

Eryk Anders34:44

Yeah.

Eryk Anders34:47

Texas. Another crazy scenario. Ricky Williams and Vince Young were my guys. They were like my favorite college football players at the time. Uh, so I wanted to go to Texas. I live 90 miles from

Eryk Anders35:02

Austin. So I want I always wanted to go there, play for them, and

But uh they didn't give me a look. So then like to go play the team that I wanted to play for my senior year uh in the Rose Bowl, which at the time was like the most prestigious uh bowl game. And then on and the the same field that Vince Young single-handedly beat USC just like four or five years earlier and then to go and beat them and then I had like a sack force fumble at the end of the game that kind of sealed the deal.

Um, man, the [snorts] story really couldn't be written any better.

Eryk Anders35:58

You're a G, dude. I could never run that.

Eryk Anders36:08

You know.

Eryk Anders36:12

Uh dude, at the time that was like the the the one of the biggest moments of my life. Um to win a national championship to have and dude, I balled too. I had like seven tackles, four for loss, sack, force fumble, a pass break up. Um, so yeah, it's [ __ ] probably the best game I played in all of my college career, uh, is that game. Uh, so to like perform how I perform, to win, to beat Texas, uh, to contribute in a major way.

I'm from Texas.

Eryk Anders36:45

So everybody was like, you know, [ __ ] I'm an Eryk Anders fan, but I'm a Texas fan in tour. So I got to go home and talk [ __ ] talk [ __ ] to all the Texas guys. And

Eryk Anders36:59

Uh dude, like so we like fly into uh the Tuscaloosa airport there

And dude there were like thousands of people waiting for us. We flew in the next day

Then to go to the uh they bust you back to the practice facility where everybody's cars at. Everybody was there.

Man, it was like you're on God status. Yeah. You know, you're literally an idol for everybody who loves Alabama, which that's a lot of people. They have a huge fan base all over the country.

Eryk Anders37:34

Well, I was done. You know, I was getting ready for the I went to Georgia shortly uh to Atlanta shortly thereafter to start getting ready for like proday and the com things like that.

But I would come back on the weekends, you know, see my son and whatnot. But man, just being on campus, going around campus still, even to this day, that was 17 years ago.

Eryk Anders37:54

You know, I meet people and he's like, "Ah, man, huge fan. Been following your career. Uh, loved you when you played at Alabama, fighting in the UFC, this, that, and the third." And it just blows my mind because, you know, that's a long time ago. Alabama's won several national championships since then.

Uh, but people still remember.

Eryk Anders38:30

Shut the [ __ ] up. You did, [ __ ]

Eryk Anders38:35

I did not. No, I went to the proday. Um, I did all right. Got picked up by Cleveland as a free agent. Got cut.

Eryk Anders38:49

Uh, it was cool.

Eryk Anders38:52

Yeah,

Eryk Anders38:54

Even faster.

Um, and I went with Colt McCoy, too. And, you know, he got hurt and then like, you know, got hurt and didn't play.

Um, which I'll go ahead and clear the air. Our whole game plan, like everybody back home is like if Cole McCoy would have played, they would have won.

Yeah. Well, dude, like when Cole McCoy was in the game, they had first and goal from the three and couldn't score.

Eryk Anders39:18

You know, our whole game plan was for Colt McCoy because he could run and throw.

Eryk Anders39:22

So, our whole game plan was to keep him in the pocket. We didn't even rush him or nothing. Just keep him in the pocket. Don't let him make plays on his feet and make him beat us with his arm.

Eryk Anders39:32

Uh well, he got hurt and then Garrett Gilbert came in and he was happier than a pig and [ __ ] to sit there in the pocket and throw and not get rushed. Right. He's a freshman. He doesn't want that pressure and he's a pocket passer anyways. So, we didn't even blitz him till the fourth quarter and then him and Shipley got on a they got in sync and Shipley was killing us.

Eryk Anders39:52

And uh so if if Cole McCoy would that that wouldn't have happened.

Eryk Anders39:57

You know, so uh they better be glad that he got hurt or made that business decision and uh let that guy Gilbert come in because that was the only shot that they had.

Eryk Anders40:22

I mean it wasn't like um

Eryk Anders40:29

For sure. Especially coming from saving um like the X's and those wasn't too hard but like everything's just like a faster pace. Everything's on a time thing. Um,

Eryk Anders40:42

Um, I played again in the SEC. Yeah. You know,

Eryk Anders40:46

So, I was playing against other SEC guys that, you know, uh, some of the guys I played against, you know, like everybody's from everywhere.

Uh, but the pace and speed of the SEC, I think even now still with NIL and everybody moving around is still next level compared to all the other conferences. Um it was just like the verbiage like they put like the plays was like this was like learning another language.

Eryk Anders41:13

Uh so you have to like go from the meeting and perform immediately. Um

Because like they don't need you.

Eryk Anders41:22

You know they can cut you go get somebody else and

You know whatever. It's not like you're a scholarship player. You got to be there for four years. Nah. They can get rid of you whenever you want. So, for whatever reason, wasn't big enough, strong enough, fast enough, got cut, [snorts] went to Canada. They can only keep like four or five Americans, otherwise there would be no room for the Canadians to play.

Um, so I got cut from there, played a year of arena football, which was like the biggest mistake ever.

Why? Because man, I went from playing for Saban where everybody's disciplined. Uh uh no one's like everybody's for the team to a bunch of guys who like this is their last ditch. They're not playing for the love of the game. They're playing because they don't want to do anything else or can't do anything else. Uh so like, you know, it'd be like, you know, fourth and goal from the or third and goal from the one and then somebody would like punch another guy in 15 yards.

I was like

Eryk Anders42:26

So it was just like I thought that it would be like that. Everybody was kind of on the same page, but like

Instead of a team, it was just a bunch of individuals with the same uniform.

Eryk Anders42:36

If that makes sense. Y

So I didn't enjoy it very much.

And you know, the only reason why I did it is cuz the guy hit me up and was like, "Dude, we've had guys go, you know, play for the Broncos, blah blah blah, whatever. get film. The UFFL uh was big back then or was popping off and that was kind of like a spring um or a summer league. Um so they gave people something to watch during the kind of like what the uh they have another league now. I forget what it's called.

Eryk Anders43:08

XFL. Yeah.

Eryk Anders43:11

Well, it's like I don't know the Birmingham Stallions.

Eryk Anders43:14

Uh I forget what it's called. Anyways,

Um

They have it now and it's going pretty good, but

Uh I was like maybe I can get in that and then, you know, work my way up to the to the big leagues, but that never happened. And so I was just like, man, if it's not the NFL, then

Eryk Anders43:31

[ __ ] it. I just go back home, won a national championship, got my degree. So,

Eryk Anders43:38

Health studies.

Eryk Anders43:40

Realistically, eligibility.

Okay. Yeah, I have never used my degree a day in my life.

Eryk Anders43:58

Well, I like Yeah, I'm the same way. Um, but I wanted to do kinesiology and I think that they saw like my test scores and stuff and it was just like, listen, that's probably not for you. But they didn't wear it like that. They told me that all the classes were during football practicing. So he's like, "Hey, we got this other degree that's also on the health field." So I was like, "All right, whatever." Um, and then when I found out that that wasn't true, the NCAA had a rule at the time where like every year you have to have x amount of your degree completed.

Yep.

Um, so I may have been like a sophomore, junior and I wanted to switch my major, but then I wouldn't be eligible because

So I had to stick with that and I was like, "All right, well,

Whatever."

Eryk Anders44:51

I uh I just thought that I would, you know, there was some booster who would have a job for me and all these people wanted to go to lunch like, "Hey." So, I thought it would be a job interview because I was like, "Hey, I really don't have time to just go tell Nick Saban stories." So, if you're not,

Eryk Anders45:19

Well, my big thing was is like, dude, I got to pay rent. I got a kid to take care of.

That was my big thing was my kid.

Eryk Anders45:25

Uh, so like I would go to like lunch with these people. Um and all they for like an hour and a half, 2 hours they just want to hear Nick Saban and Mark Ingram and Alabama stories and I was happy to tell them.

Eryk Anders45:37

Um but then at the end I like so about that job.

Eryk Anders45:40

They like oh well you know we're not really hiring right now. And I'm like well what the [ __ ] Why am I here? Yeah.

You know what I'm saying? If you wanted to just go to lunch you should have just said that.

Eryk Anders45:50

Um so I ended up uh I did everything under the sun, dude. I got a job like cleaning factories. Um, and like dude, this was a dangerous job, dude. When I went to the job, this dude pulled me to the side. He was like, "Listen, dude. I know who you are. You don't belong here. I'm just going to let you know 90% of the people here have been strung out on meth at one point, and probably 50% of that 90% know how to manufacture it. So, be careful." And when I say it was dangerous, d we were working with like a water lance, which is like a power washer on steroids.

The [ __ ] can cut sheet metal and it's contaminated water. So, dude, dudes were losing fingers.

Eryk Anders46:35

Uh, and there contaminated water. So, now you have dirty water in your bloodstream. And it's just like a whole thing. Uh, then, uh, I was a janitor at a LabCorp. Um, I got a job with the lady cleaning apartments. Um, then I got on with Coca-Cola. And then my big break, I started working at Redstone Arsenal uh down there in Huntsville doing logistics for um Apache helicopters, which is probably the coolest job I ever had because

What does that mean?

Eryk Anders47:10

What were you doing? um like working with like Lockheed Martin and Boeing to make um Apache helicopter specific for Sweden. So I was like working with the country of Sweden

Um because they need like specific things for the terrain like the helicopter would have skis instead of the actual

Uh like landing thing

Eryk Anders47:38

Yeah. So just like making sure everything was going where it was supposed to go and being put together correctly and things like that. Um then my contract ran out and so I just I split. I went to my apartment manager. I was already training uh and fighting at this time. Uh I just went to my apartment manager and be like, "Listen, I just lost my job. Uh can I get out of my lease?" And she was like, "Cool." bought a or rented a U-Haul, packed all my stuff up, put it in a um in a uh what do you call it?

A storage unit in Birmingham and I've been living there ever since. And this is probably 2014 or living in Birmingham.

Mhm.

Eryk Anders48:23

Nah. Uh, I I so I got a job as a customer service rep, which was like, dude,

Eryk Anders48:31

Dude. Talking to somebody on the phone and getting cussed out,

Uh, because of something they did. In my head, I'd be like, dude, you would never speak to me like this.

I've been in that position, million years. Not because like I fight or whatever,

But just because like people don't talk to each other like you're on the phone, so you're, you know,

And I'd always play this game with myself. Like I would like look up their thing, but before their picture came up, I'd be like, "Man, this is like a 56 redhead frog from the Midwest." And then boom, they'd pop up. I'm like, "Yeah, I knew it. I knew it."

Um, but then uh then I I start going to school to be a paramedic. Uh so I get a job as a firefighter. Uh cuz I like the schedule. I work 24 and then I could train for two days straight. Um, and all this time like I'm getting up in the morning, going to train, going to work, not even coming home, going straight to the gym, training again. Um, and I was married at the time. So, you know, I get home at like 11:00 at night.

Everybody in the house is asleep, eat by myself, shower, go lay down, get up, and just rinse, recycle, repeat. Um then [snorts] uh my wife at the time, she was like, "Uh, what would it take for you to quit your job and quit school? You can always go back to work." And I was like, "Man, um I think if I pay off my car, um I can, you know, uh teach enough private lessons and classes at the gym to, you know, pay all my other bills." So, boom, she wrote a check right there, paid off my car.

The very next day, um, what do you call it? Uh, put in my two weeks and then started working at the gym and then like because she was like, "Give it two years. If you, uh, if you don't make it, you can always go back to work." And then like

Eryk Anders50:27

Um, she started her own business, like a secondary language acquisition school. So, she was speaking, she speaks five languages.

Eryk Anders50:42

We were living, you know, I mean, we were we were okay. You know what I'm saying? We weren't like struggling. And,

Uh, she's like crazy financially savvy.

Uh, she had already had some like rental properties and things like that. So, um, she wrote the check. It was like 3,500 bucks.

Boom. quit my job, started working at the gym, and like two years to the day I signed uh with the UFC.

Eryk Anders51:16

Um No, I started at 24. Um and then my coach at the time, who he's like a a pill addict, like he'd be nodding off as we were hitting Mets. Um he's not who I would tell my kid to go

Train with if he wanted to fight.

Um and he would have me fighting like every two weeks and he had me sold on this. You need ring experience, you need ring experience, man. I had 25 amateur fights and nobody does that.

Eryk Anders51:46

Um so from 24 then I went pro at like 28 29. Yeah, I think 28. And then at 30 I made my UFC.

Eryk Anders52:02

Um, man, so MMA isn't then wasn't it isn't then what it is now. Like now everybody's good at

Eryk Anders52:11

So I was like a better athlete and I was fighting rednecks.

Eryk Anders52:14

You know, like guys who trained independently,

Which means they didn't train at all. They just showed up to fight.

Eryk Anders52:24

Yeah, freestyle. Uh, so man, I would literally just walk across the cage, throw a left, pick him up, put him down, and just hit him until the ref stopped. Uh,

Eryk Anders52:37

Yeah. Yeah. Basically early days.

Yeah.

Eryk Anders53:09

Bryce Mitchell

Eryk Anders53:12

I think he had two fights uh in the UFC. I think Bryce Mitchell was one of them. Uh, and then I can't remember who the second guy was, but he kept trying to pull guard and the guy just kept throwing him on the ground.

Eryk Anders53:26

Yeah.

Eryk Anders53:28

This is the thing. Like I saw a stat. I can't remember the exact numbers, but let's say there's been 100 champions throughout the history of the UFC. Just 100 to make math simple.

Like 70 of them come from a wrestling background. Then like 20 of them come from a jiu-jitsu background which is like a skewed number because

Jiu-jitsu like no one knew jiu-jitsu back in the day.

Eryk Anders53:51

So they were out there fighting in geese which is crazy.

Uh and then uh kickboxing, boxing, and then it trickles down. I think karate was the last one.

So you have to know how to wrestle now. Uh just because like if you're a striker, you need to know how to sprawl. Y

That's wrestling. If you're getting your ass beat, you need to be able to take it to the ground. Like wrestling kind of dictates where the fight takes place. Um, so nobody could wrestle uh in Alabama. Like I don't even think I fought like a state champion level wrestler.

Eryk Anders54:26

Ever. So I would just, you know, and they would be scared to death cuz I was like so much bigger. Like I actually cut weight to make uh 85. I started fighting at heavyweight. Uh then I fought at 205. Then I changed coaches. Um went with uh Chris Connley who I think there's been six people from the state of Alabama to fight in the UFC. Four of them maybe there's more now. Make math simple. Let's say there's been eight people to fight in the UFC. Six of them have trained uh with Chris.

Oh,

Eryk Anders54:59

So uh I started going over there. Um he was like, "Dude, you need to fight at 85." And I was like, "Hell no. There's no way I could cut that. When were you when he was telling you this?

I was probably like 235. I'm fighting at 2.

Eryk Anders55:14

Uh, probably 225, 230.

Eryk Anders55:24

Dude. I And then uh there was a guy named Marcus Brimage uh fighting there uh with Chris and he fought in um the MGM before the T-Mobile opened up and it was Jon Jones and Cormier. the first time they fought as a main event.

So we I went and I saw the size of those two.

Eryk Anders55:44

And I was like 85 it is though.

85. And also like cuz I always felt like I've only been training, you know, six years at this point. You know, everybody else has been training their whole life, whether it be wrestling, jiu-jitsu, or boxing or whatever, some kind of martial art. Um, so I figured if I could have athleticism, size, and power, like that would kind of even the playing field a little bit. Um, and I was already big for 205. I was just short. Uh, cuz those guys are like [ __ ] Jon Jones is like 6'4 with like a 82 inch reach.

Eryk Anders56:19

So then I started fighting at 85. Had a lot of success.

Um, but I didn't even have my first real knockout to my debut uh in the UFC.

Eryk Anders56:32

I TKO'd.

Eryk Anders56:33

Like I was eight and0 and I think I had seven finishes.

One of them was a submission where the dude just quit before I even locked in the choke.

Eryk Anders56:45

Yeah. Just I had one arm. I didn't even like squeeze.

Eryk Anders56:51

Yeah. I didn't even have his back all the way up.

Eryk Anders56:57

Dude, it wasn't even that. He was like I was kind of like in a quarter mount uh position

And I uh just one arm around his neck. I didn't even like lock it up and as soon as my arm touched his neck he was tapping.

Eryk Anders57:10

Like 30 seconds into the fight.

Those are the kind of guys I was fighting uh

Eryk Anders57:16

Yeah.

But I would just literally, you know, throw a couple punches. They would back up to the cage, pick them up, put them down, get on top of them, and they would just, you know,

They didn't get back up usually.

Eryk Anders58:02

Exactly.

He was actually like foot sweeping people and lat dropping people.

Eryk Anders58:09

Yeah. But Cormier, he like get on a single A, pick him up, put him down. You know what I mean? Like his variety of takedowns. There wasn't like a huge variety. He was just better than everybody. Jon Jones could do everything. Kabir could do everything. That's to me was was so impressive about those guys. It's like, dude, once they get their hands locked or they get their hands on you.

Eryk Anders58:28

Give it up, dude.

Eryk Anders58:34

Uh, Raphael Tall. Um, they called me. Um, I I just beat uh Brendan Allen actually uh in LFA for the belt. Uh, then they called me. It was like, do you want to fight? I think the guy's name was Trevan Giles. And dude, my hand was busted, dude. I was like, I can't, dude. I have one hand, and it's my right hand. I'm left-handed, like exclusively. I can do nothing right-handed. I can't eat, right?

Eryk Anders59:01

Bat, shoot, nothing.

Uh, right-handed. So, I was like, dude, my hand was out to here, and I was like, [ __ ] dude.

Um, dude, I can't. I'm going to get smoked. And then [clears throat] they called me like a week later and was like, do you want to fight Rafael NL? And I was like, "Dude, I can't say no twice."

Eryk Anders59:18

So I was like 238. The fight was in 10 days. I have to weigh in at in 9

Eryk Anders59:23

Yeah.

Eryk Anders59:25

238.

Eryk Anders59:27

So I did like he called me and I I already know Jason house my marriage. Whenever he calls it's about business. So like I see his I see him pop up on my phone. I start walking to the scale immediately. I get on the scale and I'm like hello. He's like can you do it? I look at the scale. It says 238. And I was like, I can do it.

Eryk Anders59:50

It's a lot. A lot. I could never do that now. I'd probably die.

Eryk Anders59:56

39.

Eryk Anders1:00:28

Well, man, I don't know what it is, but man, I sweat like profusely. Even the um now like you do like you can cut weight like if you fight in Vegas, you can cut weight at the PI and like [clears throat] kind of have somebody watch over you to make make sure you're safe. Uh, my last fight against Brad Tabaris, um, I cut 15 lbs in about an hour and a half of like total like weight cutting time.

Eryk Anders1:00:55

Hell no. I don't do nothing, dude. That's the thing, dude. I just try to like calm, relax. I'll get my sweat going like the first round do like 30 minutes in the sauna and then I have like this big pool hot tub. Now I just go sit with like a bag of ice on my head and my like laying on a towel or whatever. The uh the nutritionist or whoever the girl is at the PI, she said, "Man, I have never seen anybody sweat as much as you and cut as fast as you." Literally.

And she does this every weekend, by the way. Um so, you know, I was 238 and then as soon as we got off the phone, they were on the sweats, the shoes, you know,

Eryk Anders1:01:36

Um, I don't even remember how I did it to be honest.

Eryk Anders1:01:42

When you do it like that? Yeah.

Eryk Anders1:01:44

And, you know, I struggled with that a lot uh early on because

I didn't like I would just try to cut the last two weeks instead of the whole eight weeks. I would eat like [ __ ]

The first six weeks and then try to tighten up the last two weeks. Well, when I started really like dialing it in and you know, okay, boom, I got 8 weeks, 12 weeks, whatever, let me do this like slowly over time instead of uh a lot at once. It can either suck a little bit for a longer period of time or it can be held for a short period of time. So, I was like, man, it's better for it to just kind of suck for a little bit.

And then after like the first two weeks, dude, you kind of get used to like the calorie deficit.

Eryk Anders1:02:30

Uh and kind of your body will adapt and adjust to anything you do to it.

Eryk Anders1:02:35

So after like the first two or three weeks, like you kind of go through that, damn, I'm like I'm tired all the time, like my muscles are burning or whatever. Then you get used to it and it's like boom, uh you're back at 100%. Um and then you know, you only have 15 lbs of water that you've been drinking. Two gallons of water, that's 16 lbs. Yeah.

So, you're probably closer to 185 than the scale says. You're just water logged.

So, it comes off way easier than actual being 200 lb of mass trying to cut water that may or may not even be there. You know what I mean?

So, like there is a science to it. There is a method to the madness. And when I started doing it like that, dude, the way like they would always be like the older you get, the harder it is to cut weight. Dude, the older I get, the easier it cut because I cut like [ __ ] early on because I could. Uh, but then like my performances got better, the weight cuts got easier, I was able to train longer and harder during practice. I wasn't getting hurt as much.

Um, so, you know, it's better to do it over time than all at once.

Eryk Anders1:03:46

Uh, I went to Arizona for a while. Um,

Eryk Anders1:03:49

Fight ready.

Yeah. Um, and then there was like a whole like debacle with that. So I left there and

Eryk Anders1:03:56

So like the owner of uh Fight Ready, um, he's got a bunch of money. Um, so he was like, "Yo, you come out here, get you a car, pay for your food or pay for your uh, accommodations and you just train and that's it." So I did that for a while. So then after and then uh maybe two or three fights uh I did that then I fought Kyle Dawkins which at the time was at my best performance uh I think but the owner had beef with my manager Jason House because one of Jason's guys missed weight against one of the fight ready guys and then ended up knocking him out or whatever and he was like that's unprofessional blah blah blah and just went on this whole like tangent.

Uh, so he calls me the day after the fight and he was like, "Hey, that was a great performance. You know, I want to send you to uh the Netherlands to go kickbox and then I'll send you to Brazil to go, you know, do jiu-jitsu specific training, blah blah blah, but uh you can't have Jason represent you anymore." And I was like, "Why?" And he was like, "Well, my that guy missed way and knocked out this guy, blah blah blah.

Eryk Anders1:05:09

I was like, "That's not my issue." You know what I'm saying? It has nothing to do with me. You know, that's part of the game. Guys miss weight all the time. By the way, there's so many people from Fight Ready who have missed weight.

Eryk Anders1:05:26

You know,

Eryk Anders1:05:28

Uh, so I didn't like understand because like this guy missed weight from your gym, but you didn't kick him out of the gym,

You know? This like Jason has nothing to do with it.

Eryk Anders1:05:38

You know,

Eryk Anders1:05:41

Yeah. So, I was just like, man, I'm, you know, I think I may have been like 35 with I was like, dude, I'm grown.

I don't need a father. You can't tell me who I can and can't hang out with.

Eryk Anders1:05:53

So, I was just like, you know,

Eryk Anders1:06:25

Yeah, man. That sounds nice. But like like I try to do that at Alabama. Like I would try to bring guys because I was just tired of like leaving all the time. I think me traveling all the time cost me my marriage.

Uh so I was just like man I'm need to stay home and like be a father at this point.

Um I can't just bounce for two months at a time. So, and like I would like try to bring people in like my friends and they'd be like, "Ah, wow." You know, [ __ ] you know, I was like, "Dude, I'll pay you, you know, buy your flight, give you a car, you know, whatever, whatever I need to do to because my training partners were so limited." Yeah. In Alabama,

Eryk Anders1:07:07

Uh, so there's just one guy uh who would come uh every single time. His name is Ray Waters. He's one of the best athletes, the physical anomaly.

Yeah. um this guy um he would come help me with my fights uh whenever I had a fight all the time. Um and we're still cool to this day. Like I he'll always be you know cuz he's got you know kids and you know stuff at home too that he would come you know just live at my house and train and you know do all the things and made a lot of sacrifice for me to end up being successful. Um so it's it's that sounds really good.

Um, but it's difficult unless you get like a homegrown guy.

Eryk Anders1:07:52

Uh, but then like you still have to give them coaching. You can't coach yourself.

Eryk Anders1:08:34

Dude, I love uh the fight culture in Philly.

Eryk Anders1:08:38

I used to go up there. I went up there for a jiu-jitsu tournament uh jiu-jitsu match with Joe Piper.

Eryk Anders1:08:44

And Joe's a bad boy,

Dude. Listen, that whole [ __ ] camp uh are beasts. Like even like going into like the the gym, like it's in like this old what looks like abandoned warehouse and you have to walk up the stairs. I remember walking in there and I was like, "Dude, I [ __ ] I feel like Rocky right now." Uh

Eryk Anders1:09:08

Dude? Sean Brady, Eddie Alvarez. I don't think Eddie Alvarez trained there. Uh but he is a Philly guy. Joe Pyer, Jeremiah Wells,

Eryk Anders1:09:19

He's from New York and trains in uh uh Florida with um

Eryk Anders1:09:27

Yeah,

Eryk Anders1:09:36

Yeah. Yeah. He's a good dude, too. He's got a crazy story as well.

Eryk Anders1:10:04

No, I get it dude. Whenever I quit doing drugs I quit cold turkey, dude. I was like [ __ ] it.

Eryk Anders1:10:19

Um, but those Philly dudes like they are just some of the grittiest like toughest [ __ ] Like I loved training up there uh with those guys. Um, and now he's going to fight uh Bo Nickel and Sean Brady is going to fight um uh Gabriel Bone Fee, who actually lived in my house for a while. Uh Gabriel did in uh November. So

Eryk Anders1:10:45

Yeah. And then they have do a plethora of guys coming up that are, you know,

Eryk Anders1:11:02

Dude. And the thing about Philly is like, dude, they got everybody in there. They got Brazilians who train. They got Russians, Ukrainians, they have I don't know what it is about Philly, but they have hella Eastern Europeans.

Eryk Anders1:11:13

Uh, in that gym, uh, you know, they come from their background, you know, whether it be wrestling or kickboxing or whatever. And then John Marquez and um Jonathan Webb are [ __ ] clearly some of the best coaches in the game to do so much with the little gym population that they have. So man, those guys are going to do

Eryk Anders1:11:38

I've trained everywhere.

Eryk Anders1:11:40

Um when I had that logistics job in Huntsville, they wouldn't like give me a whole lot to do and I never had a clock to punch or really even a supervisor who cared what I was doing. So, I would just disappear for two weeks at a time. Uh, I flew down to American Top Team uh when I was still an amateur uh and trained down there for two weeks.

Eryk Anders1:12:05

Yeah, that was [clears throat] probably the first gym that I ever uh like like mega gym if you will uh that I went down there. Um, and it was cool cuz some of the guys were like, "Dude, you [ __ ] played football." This is maybe like two or three years after I had played. He's like, "Oh, [ __ ] you won a national championship."

But when I went down there, uh, everybody, every single person that I had told I was going there was like, "Do not train with Hector." Hector Lumbard.

Eryk Anders1:12:31

Do not train with Hector.

And I was like, "All right." And dude, I was like blind. I've had eye surgery since then to correct my vision, but d I was like blind. So I'd be [ __ ] like walking around squinting everywhere. So like uh the coach shows the move or whatever and then you know I'm the new guy. I don't know nobody. So everybody already has their training partner and they all split off and they're drilling and like dude I'm [ __ ] like this and I see three dudes uh standing there.

So I walk up to them and I'm like uh man you guys want to train and they were like nah. So I'm like [ __ ] So now I'm looking for somebody else to train with and one of the dudes come.

Eryk Anders1:13:11

They don't know me.

Eryk Anders1:13:14

So, I I was like, "All right, whatever." So, I'm like looking for somebody to train with and one of the dudes taps me on the shoulder and was like, "Hector wants to go with you." And I'm like, "Hector, Hector, Hector, why do I know that name?" And when I get close, like I see I was like, "Fuck, dude. This is [ __ ] Hector Lumbard."

Eryk Anders1:13:31

We were like uh Cage Wrestling.

Eryk Anders1:13:33

Uh so, wrestling off the wall.

And I like stuffed one of his takedowns and I was like, "Okay, where?" And this is when [ __ ] Hector was the man in Bellator. This dude won like [ __ ] I don't know like 30 fights straight or some crazy [ __ ] like that.

Eryk Anders1:13:52

I think he has a Napoleon complex and felt like I was challenging him. But I wasn't dude I didn't even know who he was. I didn't even know that was him. I was just looking for somebody to [ __ ]

Eryk Anders1:14:02

Train with. So I stuffed this takedown and he did not like that dude. So the very next rep he [ __ ] him. Boom. Judo tosses me. And dude, I swear I landed on my stomach and I could feel like my my my ribs compress. Uh, and I and then he just got up and walked off the mat. That was it. I was like, "Fuck."

Eryk Anders1:14:25

Dude. He was He's an Olympian judo guy. That wasn't going to I was an amateur fighter who,

You know, had only done a little bit of boxing. Yeah.

Eryk Anders1:14:35

My jiu-jitsu wasn't very good.

Eryk Anders1:14:46

And I'm sure that he was on steroids at the time cuz he was a [ __ ] fight. He's probably like 56, but was fighting at the 185.

Eryk Anders1:14:59

He's about as wide as he is tall. U but no body fat. Just [ __ ] yolked. And dude, he [ __ ] Wow. hit me with Planet Earth. And then as I'm getting up, I just see his back and he's walking off the mat and I was like, I guess that's that. And then I wrestled with Steve MCO, who uh I'm pretty sure is also an Olympian. Um he was fighting at the time and you know, he was just kicking the [ __ ] out of me.

Eryk Anders1:15:26

And uh so I was like, "Yo, you know, what am I doing wrong?" He's like, "Man, you know, you're doing everything right. I'm just better."

Yeah. And I was like, well, you know, I get it.

Eryk Anders1:15:42

No. Uhuh. No, I didn't. Um I don't think I saw them. Um I would just go and they probably had like their own practices cuz those guys were already established at that point.

Um so I would just go to like the team practices and you know the boxing. I just, you know, I went to every class that I possibly could

Um to soak up as much as I could.

Um and I, you know, I did all right against the guys on my level, but like

Like I said, like Hector was like the Bellator champ.

Eryk Anders1:16:14

Um Steve MCO was an Olympian.

Eryk Anders1:16:18

You know, so I'm, you know, training getting my ass beat by two Olympians. So I mean, if you're going to get beat up, dudes, [ __ ] it. Whatever. They weren't like malicious. They weren't like hitting me or whatever. Hector just proved a point

And then dipped and then

MCO was just wrestling me up. So, it's not like I was getting hurt or nothing, but I understood like if this was a real thing like where I stand.

Eryk Anders1:16:46

No.

Eryk Anders1:16:54

Yeah. So like uh we just you know kind of grew apart a little bit. Um I think um like she's Brazilian. I think once she got her citizenship uh things changed a little bit. Um I came home from a fight uh one time and she was like we have to you got we got to talk. And I was like what's up? Um, and she had a STD and I was like, I don't have that.

Eryk Anders1:17:27

You know, what's up? Um, and then, you know, she said that, uh, she had got it from her ex who, you know, he had it and then, you know, whatever. And I'm just like, dude, there's no way you haven't had an outbreak in 10 years.

Eryk Anders1:17:40

You know, you started a business, you were stressing.

Um, [snorts]

Uh, you did fitness competition, so you were cutting weight, you did jiu-jitsu. there's you put your body under a lot of stress, man.

You would know. Um, so I was trying to get custody of my kid. I was like, "So, we made an agreement. You do you. I'mma do me. But on paper, we'll stay married so I can get once I get custody of my kid, we'll go ahead and end things."

Eryk Anders1:18:09

Yeah. I had my son when I was single in college.

Eryk Anders1:18:16

Yeah. Uh, so when we got together, he had just turned four. Um, so and then his dad is in Brazil. So, you know, for all intents and purposes, like I raised him.

Um, so we uh what do you call it? We decided to on paper stay married. So, cuz I thought in the court's eyes it would look better if I was like in a stable, functional marriage and household. Um, but then like you know uh I would you know go to fights with other women. I went to a mar uh a friend's wedding uh with another woman. So she would like call me on fight night and like try to pick fights with me. And

I'm just like what is the issue here? Yeah.

Like you know you clearly already did what you know with with you know other men.

Uh we agreed that you could you know you know we can do whatever we want. Uh so then uh she ended up sleeping with one of my teammates and then a guy that I played football with and then he like sent me all like the text messages and stuff. Uh

And even then like I was just like look I don't care. Like that's not my woman. That's your woman. Like it's like I'm not tripping.

Um but then like she told him that uh I tried to kill myself and wanted to kill myself and I was like hold up. So now she just like fat because that never happened dude.

Eryk Anders1:19:42

There's never been a time where I just like yo I just want to end things.

Uh so that was like for me the straw that broke the camel's back and so we haven't like I blocked her number even blocked their email. So

Eryk Anders1:19:55

Oh we're great. We're great. Um his son or him and my son like you would think they were biological brothers the way they act.

They live with you? No, my son lives with me and then my stepson, he's actually playing soccer in Spain right now.

Eryk Anders1:20:09

Yeah. Must be good.

Yeah. He played for PSG's U8 team.

Eryk Anders1:20:14

Uh last winter. Uh and he was only 14. Now he's 15 and plays for Valencia in Spain.

Eryk Anders1:20:26

Yeah. I'm actually going there in two weeks to go visit him.

Eryk Anders1:20:31

Nah, he's got football.

Eryk Anders1:20:36

And then he goes straight into wrestling after that. So yeah, we like we always take a trip every summer, the three of us. We always go somewhere and do something, whether it be a road trip or

Like this summer we drove to uh Columbus or Cleveland

Uh to watch Brazil versus Egypt for the World Cup friendly World Cup game. Yeah.

So that was cool.

Eryk Anders1:21:00

20.

Eryk Anders1:21:01

Yeah.

Eryk Anders1:21:03

Uh 10 and nine. 10 N and one.

Eryk Anders1:21:07

Yeah.

Eryk Anders1:21:08

No, I got uh

Eryk Anders1:21:10

Disqualified. I got ruled in no contest.

Uh I was beating the [ __ ] out of this kid and he was playing that game where he'd be on the ground and get up. Get on the ground.

So I threw a knee and it like grazed his shoulder and just like barely touch.

Eryk Anders1:21:24

Darren Stewart.

Eryk Anders1:21:26

So he got up and was acting all like knocked out. And then later on he did an interview where he was like, "Yeah, I was playing the game and blah blah blah." I was like, "Dude, you're a bitch."

Eryk Anders1:21:37

Then we ended up fighting um a few months later.

Um and then I beat him anyway. So

Eryk Anders1:21:48

12,000 and 12,000.

Eryk Anders1:21:52

Yep. I won my first two. So I fought for 12 and 12 and then 14 and 14. Then I main evented against Machita uh and made 25 and 25 plus a 25 grand main event bonus.

Eryk Anders1:22:10

Ah, dude, it was [ __ ] awesome.

Eryk Anders1:22:12

Well, dude, so I soccer kicked the dude and knocked him out um in Lincoln and then Justin Gate and at the time they would do like knockout of the night um

Eryk Anders1:22:32

Yeah. Now they just do um uh what is it called? Performance of the night.

Eryk Anders1:22:37

Uh so I soccer kicked this dude, knocked him out in like the last 20 seconds of a close fight. So I was like, "Fuck yeah, I know I'm getting knocked out of the night." Then Justin Gatechi knocked out James Vic and I was like I'm walking into like a bar at this point uh to watch the rest of the fight and the first thing I see when I step in is Justin Gate. Bow, knock this dude out and I was like I know this [ __ ] did not steal my bonus.

Then we both ended up getting a bonus word.

Eryk Anders1:23:18

So I made like 260 grand plus another 20 from Venom.

Eryk Anders1:23:24

And then you know a few other dollars from other like sponsors and things like that.

Eryk Anders1:23:31

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I came a long way. Big time.

Eryk Anders1:23:35

Uh a year ago. September 22nd.

Eryk Anders1:23:38

Yeah. September 22nd was the anniversary. And I did that so that when I retired from fighting, I didn't have to I could retire on my terms. Like I'm 39. I can't fight 25 year olds anymore.

So I was like, "All right, this chapter is done. I won my last fight. I opened the gym.

Um, and then I fought my last fight and then now that's pretty much all I do is train and coach."

Eryk Anders1:24:15

Hey, make sure you're on payroll, man.

Don't work for

Eryk Anders1:24:20

He um

Eryk Anders1:25:25

Sure.

Eryk Anders1:26:42

Uh, I tell them the same thing. If you break all your toys, you're not going to have nothing to play with.

Eryk Anders1:26:46

Um,

Uh, and then like you said, like the the kids who like want to compete and are competitive, I always have them partner with each other. and like the newer kids partner with them uh

With each other because it's crazy like when you and I were growing up we played outside so we learned how to like move our body and then like the neurological like your nervous like your um central nervous system uh and how to like move and react and man some of these kids can't even do a cartwheel and I'm like why can't you do a cartwheel? No one ever taught me. I'm like, "Dude, no one, unless you do gymnastics, no one ever learned how to do a cartwheel.

You just kind of fall out of a tree one day and like roll around on the ground or you're playing in the yard or whatever, but they don't they don't do that." So,

I think now like the athletes like the like the elite athletes is very topheavy.

Eryk Anders1:27:40

There's no middle class.

Eryk Anders1:27:42

Or the middle class is very small. Uh, and then you know the iPad kids, the Gen Z kids, um, they're not they never developed how to like they can't even imitate. Yeah. Sometimes like if you watch Animals in the wild or I learned like I had no idea what a double leg was, but I saw the coach do a double leg and I just imitated what I saw him do.

U, and that's how you learn. So like like some of the kids I literally have to like take them and like a puppet move their hands and it's cool, you know, it's fine. Like I I I like like when they come in not knowing nothing, they can't shrimp, they can't do a cartwheel, they can't,

You know, barely walk in a straight line and then you work with them for a month or two and then the next thing you know they're bum bum bum bum bum. Like damn. So it's like super rewarding. Um, and then like the the kids who are competitive and trained, I tell them, "Dude, let the, you know, other kid put you in a bad bad position and work from the bad position,

You know, cuz you may get there in a in a match." Yeah. You know, so now you're getting reps at defending the bad position

Or, you know, getting them off your back and, you know, like when you get to a dominant position, let them out.

Eryk Anders1:28:57

You know, and you just kind of like,

You know, play with your food a little bit, but you'll get better as a result. you know, and then you can help that kid be like, you know, how why is that happening to me? And this is like it's the same for the adults, too. Um, I do this with the adults, too. Uh, start in a bad position, learn from the bad position. We do a lot of like positional

Eryk Anders1:29:17

Sparring, if you will, cuz if I just tell you, okay, shake, bump, and go, you're going to be on your knees, and then you're going to do this whole sumo monitor lizard thing.

Eryk Anders1:29:29

Yeah. And I even heard like John Danaher who's like one of the best coaches. If you take a five minute round, um, you're gonna spend three minutes getting into the position, then you only work on the position for two minutes. Rather than if you have a five minute round and you start in that position, then you get five minutes. Over time, that 5 minutes turns into hours versus the 2 minutes uh that you start in the position ends up only being like 30 minutes or whatever, random numbers, but uh you'll get more time working from that position.

You'll get better at that position. Uh rather than if I just tell you to go, you're going to do what you're good at.

Yeah.

Eryk Anders1:30:08

That's right.

So, um I think that's the way that people get better. Uh in jiu-jitsu, wrestling is a little bit different cuz it's like hard to like, okay, start from a cradle position and work your way out. It's like, dude, what? He's got his hands locked and he's going to pin me like the match is over.

Eryk Anders1:31:04

Yeah,

Eryk Anders1:31:19

Yeah. I got a few girls like that. She's like ultra flexible. Yeah,

She'll she'll triangle you from like any position ever.

Um, so, uh, I think the girls are like a little bit more like coordinated and like their brain actually works. Like boys are like scatterbrained. And

Eryk Anders1:31:50

Well, even I I tell them I was like, "Man, take the attributes out of your training."

Y

Um so you can actually work on the technique because if you're stronger than the person you just muscle out of the position

Well, when you go in a tournament against somebody your same skill level, weight and strength, and you can't, you know, flex and bust out, now what?

Eryk Anders1:32:09

Now you're [ __ ] cuz you don't know how to do it.

That's right. you know, so take the attributes out, whether it be, you know, strength, speed, you know, flexibility, like actually learn the technique and then when you go uh compete or wrestle live or drill live, then you can add the attributes back into it. But the like the training, you just wasted all your time training if you just train to be strong from a position or you just train to like bench press somebody off of you. That may work sometimes. You're going to run up on somebody who, you know, they've got you mounted and you try to bench press them and they go to Smount and then they start taking your back and you never learn how to do anything right.

Uh you're going to find out

Eryk Anders1:33:06

Yeah. Uh so that's uh you know where I spend a lot of time you know preaching and telling them you know just you know focus on the technique and then add the attributes later.

Eryk Anders1:33:27

Yeah. Every fight I tried to buy a house.

Eryk Anders1:33:30

Um then we split you know I got divorced we split the the houses and whatnot. So, you know, I kind of had to start from scratch. So, I got

Uh five rentals and uh uh the house that I live in.

Eryk Anders1:33:53

Yeah. Cuz my thing is like, dude, I'm not like a financial guru, dude. I'll nickel and dime myself to death, you know? $10 on this, $15 on that, you know? So, I was like, I need to get my money and then boom, put it into something that

Uh, you know, somebody else is going to pay for and it's also going to appreciate in value. So, if I do try to sell it,

I never really spent any money on it. Just a down payment.

Somebody pays the mortgage, I make some money on top of that.

Um, and then,

You know, whenever I do go to sell, it's worth more than I bought it for. So,

Eryk Anders1:34:31

It's in uh Vestavia, Alabama. It's a suburb of Birmingham.

Eryk Anders1:34:36

Ya Boi Fitness Academy.

Eryk Anders1:34:41

N jiu-jitsu and kickboxing.

Eryk Anders1:34:44

Uh I don't want fighters. They're a pain in the ass, dude. I don't want like I manage fighters and that's enough for me. Um but to actually like coach them and train them and give them all that time that it takes to develop and coach somebody, um that I'm not looking to do that.

Eryk Anders1:35:20

You win."

You know, uh like a lot of women will come in there and be like, "I want to learn self-defense, so I want to kickbox." And I'm just like, "Listen, lady, if you go out for drinks or dinner with your friends and then you walk back to the car and you're fumbling with your keys and the boogeyman jumps out, he's not going to square up with you. He's going to grab you from behind, you guys are going to be wrestling around on the ground.

And then you could be a world champion kickboxer or boxer. If I'm on your back or somebody's on your back, especially like a man on a woman's back,

Y boxing and kickboxing is not going to do anything for you. You need to know jiu-jitsu.

You have to." So, like the women have to get over the having a guy in between your legs and like people sweating on you and things like that.

Um, but then once they do it, um, they genuinely love it and, uh, like to do it.

Eryk Anders1:36:10

So, it's just kind of getting them over that hump of like a this is like practical self-defense, uh, and then two, you know, having somebody on top of you in a uncomfortable position.

Eryk Anders1:36:39

Yeah.

Eryk Anders1:36:43

Oh, no.

Eryk Anders1:36:51

Yeah. something happens like you know they'll do it young and they'll love it and they'll be into it and they'll train hard and they'll be some of your best uh uh you know people who train at your gym

But then somewhere along the line puberty hits and then

You know they start liking boys and you know then their priorities shift and I guess the same thing happens to boys

But boys like genuinely like to play sports and like do things so they'll keep coming back

Uh

But you know the girls it's like, "Oh, I don't want to get all sweaty." And then they get like dainty and

Yeah.

Eryk Anders1:37:34

Yeah. That's why I tell him. I was like, "Man, you come in here, throw that ghee on, beat up boys, and then,

You know, call them afterwards."

Eryk Anders1:37:56

Uh, Vestavia.