Former Alabama football player Eryk Anders knows what it’s like to find success in the sports world.
During his time as a linebacker for the Crimson Tide, Anders was a part of a national championship team. He knows the amount of work it takes, but also the amount of sacrifice and dangers you put your body through to excel at the highest level.
Since his time in football, he has made the transition to mixed martial arts and Anders believes he is now in a safer sport.
“Football is way more dangerous than MMA,” Anders said during an appearance on The MMA Hour, via Alexander K. Lee of MMAFighting.com. “Even if you get knocked out in MMA, it’s just one time, then you get up, you take a couple of months off, let your body heal. In football, you may not get knocked out, but you’re constantly getting hit, getting hit, getting hit, especially if you play that D-line, linebacker, running back, offensive line position. Every play it’s a collision and your body doesn’t appreciate that.
“Football, it’s a collision every play. Car wreck, every play. But now my body, I don’t have to lift all those weights and eat all that food, it’s kind of the opposite. When I was in college, my back always hurt, my knees always hurt from bearing all the weight and hits and whatnot, but now that I’m doing MMA, my body’s never felt better. I’m walking around at more of a natural weight, my diet’s much better, and the way we train I can go forever if I wanted to.”
The former Tide standout is now excelling in mixed martial arts, where he is 10-0 and currently set to headline UFC Fight Night 125 on Feb. 3 against former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.
If he keeps putting in the work in the gym, one day we could see Anders going from national champ to world champ.
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Ex-Alabama Football Player Eryk Anders: MMA Is Safer Than Football
