Eryk Anders Talks UFC Lincoln, Sparring With Francis Ngannou & Crimson Tide Football

Eryk Anders is returning to the Octagon later this month at UFC Fight Night Lincoln, taking on Tim Williams in a middleweight division affair.

The middleweight prospect hasn’t been seen in action since a loss to former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida in the main event of UFC Fight Night Belem, but Anders believes timing played a huge factor in why he hasn’t competed since then.

“Not really, but at the same time, if you look at it…all the middleweights were getting ready for fights or just had fights. So I think it was more of a timing issue, I did have elbow surgery the week after the fight. Maybe that had something to do with it, but I think…the recovery time wasn’t that long, so I think it was just a timing issue,” Anders said in an exclusive interview with Fightful’s James Lynch.

Anders may not be in the main event of his next fight against Williams, but the middleweight division clash does kick off the main card of UFC Fight Night Lincoln.

If Anders is looking to achieve one goal against Williams, it would be to score a knockout win and get a fight at UFC 230 this November.

“I think so, you know…I think all of Tim’s losses are all by knockout. I definitely going out there and looking for the win, making fifteen and five…be eleven and one. See if I can get that invitation to the Madison Square Garden card,” says Anders.

UFC Fight Night Lincoln takes place on Saturday, August 25 from the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska with Justin Gaethje and James Vick headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on Fox Sports 1.