Anders details problematic weight cut, noble Machida
Eryk Anders: “Machida was very respectful. … He said, ‘Eryk, do what’s best for you. Don’t make the weight or make the weight.’”
Undefeated UFC middleweight Eryk Anders missed weight three times for his main event fight vs. Lyoto Machida at UFC Fight Night 125 in Belem, Brazil Saturday night. He described what happened in an interview with Brazil’s Combate.
It really wasn’t hard, the weight cut, said Anders, as transcribed bySteven Marrocco for MMAjunkie. It just takes time to cut the weight. We got to the hotel at 2 in the morning, turned the hot water on, and everything was working. Took a nap, woke up at 5 a.m. and no water. So apparently what happened is the hot water boiler blew up.
There were several hours, and we were trying to figure it out, moved rooms and then they started bringing pots from the kitchen with the hot water so I could do the bath. And I just ran out of time.
A CABMMA doctor cleared Anders to try again after he first weighed in at 187.9. Lyoto could have blocked the further attempts, and gotten 20% of Anders money, but he didn’t.
Machida was very respectful, said Anders. I think he kind of understood the situation. He gave me a choice. He said, ‘Eryk, do what’s best for you. Don’t make the weight or make the weight.’ Either way, he was going to fight. But me, being a mixed martial artist, I wanted to make the weight.
So they gave me an extra hour. (I) went around, walked around the city of Belem with a sauna suit and sweat clothes on, and I came back on weight.
In the co-main, John Dodson was not so forgiving. Pedro Munhoz missed weight by four pounds, and Dodson declined the catchweight bout, canceling the bout.
