Eryk Anders ended his professional MMA career with a win, as he defeated Brad Tavares during the UFC Vegas 114 prelims.
Tavares looked to get an early start with his kicks, but Anders looked to grab him and grind his way to clinch control. Anders then rocked Tavares late in the round, controlling the remainder of the round with more dirty boxing and takedown attempts.
Tavares battled back in the second, working with counterpunching, scoring a knockdown on Anders at one point. Anders survived the onslaught, however, and took back control in the third by scoring a takedown and using his wrestling.
Anders won on all three judges' cards, with a 30-27 total and two 29-28 scores.
Eryk Anders Defeats Brad Tavares, Retires From MMA
Anders originally was a football player, a member of the 2009 BCS National Championship team at the University of Alabama under longtime head coach Nick Saban.
After brief stints with the NFL and CFL, Anders made his amateur MMA debut in 2012 before turning pro in 2015. Anders won his first eight pro fights, including a win over Brendan Allen for the inaugural LFA middleweight title, before signing with the UFC.
Anders made his UFC debut at UFC Long Island in July 2017, scoring a first-round knockout of Rafael Natal. After a win over Markus Perez, Anders already found himself in a UFC main event for the first time in February 2018, losing a controversial split decision to MMA legend Lyoto Machida.
Anders went 10-9 (1 NC) in the UFC.
Tavares, meanwhile, has now lost four of his last five fights.