Originally, last night’s UFC Sao Paulo card was supposed to be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Jimi Manuwa and Glover Teixeira. Unfortunately, Teixeira was then forced out of the fight with an injury and replaced by beefed-up middleweight Thiago Santos. Then, in the midst of fight week, Manuwa was forced out of the fight with an injury of his own and replaced by rising middleweight contender Eryk Anders, who took the fight on a mere 5 days notice.

Given that the middleweight Eryk Anders took this light heavyweight fight on just 5 days notice, there’s really no way to fault him for coming up short — especially since he put up one hell of a fight until the referee stopped the fight between the third and fourth rounds.

While Eryk Anders’ gamble to accept this fight on short notice didn’t pay off, he seems to be in good spirits. Post-fight, the former college football player issued statements on Twitter and Instagram, assuring that he doesn’t regret accepting the fight on short notice, and that we’ll see him again in December.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BoEWaAtFKa6/

‘Regardless of the outcome I had a lot of fun last night. I rolled the dice, came up short, and literally left everything in the cage. I can live with that. No moral victories, just on the next. Thank you everyone who watched and gave support.” -Eryk Anders on Instagram.

https://twitter.com/erykanders/status/1043769446144385025

“Shhhhhiiiiiiiddddd it be like that sometimes.. see you pussies in december. To vivo,” Eryk Anders on Twitter. 

While nothing is official yet, Eryk Anders has been gone back and forth with fellow middleweight contender Elias Theodorou on Twitter surrounding a potential fight at UFC 231 this December in Theodorou’s native Toronto. This could be the December fight Anders is referencing.

Prior to this loss to Thiago Santos, Eryk Anders was riding high on a highlight-reel, third-round head kick of Tim Williams, which occurred less than a month ago. This win was preceded by a split decision loss to former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. He’s now 11-2 overall.

What do you think the future hold for Eryk Anders after UFC Sao Paulo?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/23/2018.