Eryk Anders proved to be too much for Markus Perez on the feet and on the mat tonight at UFC Fight Night 123 as he notched up a comfortable unanimous decision victory.
Round One:
Perez with a kick upstairs that is blocked to start. Anders closing the distance now and then clinches Perez up against the cage.
He gets hold of a leg and tries to take Perez down, but he shows good balance and stays upright. Perez attempts a throw of his own, but it doesn’t go anywhere. He changes things up and lands a knee to the body instead then separates.
Perez with a head kick attempt and then Anders blasts him with a good punch. Anders back into the clinch now, but midway through the round Perez reverses the position and is looking for a takedown. He does a good job of landing it and then starts looking for a choke.
However, he eventually gives up on the attempt and that leaves Anders on top, though they are both soon back to their feet.
Anders on the attack now. He lands a big knee, but PErez is up to it. Now a hard right hand from Anders and Perez almost counters with a spinning elbow.
Anders able to get a back clinch against the cage, then changes up for a single leg attempt that doesn’t pay off. Perez moves away and Anders continues to pressure with strikes as his opponent turns on his heels and runs for a moment.
Perez then tries to catch Anders unexpectedly with a punch, but it doesn’t quite pay off, though he does end the round by bursting forward to land a takedown.
Round Two:
Anders charging forward looking for big punches early in the second round. Perez runs away again as he did at the end of the first.
Perez tries a front flip ick that doesn’t work out. Anders with a big knee to the head, but he takes it well. Anders connects with a solid punch as he continues to gain the upper hand in the striking battle.
Another straight punch drops Perez momentarily. He’s back up and seems ok, but he’s tiring and Anders isn’t letting him off the hook.
Perez utilizing a lot of lateral movement to buy himself some time and then tries a spinning elbow that doesn’t quite work out.
Anders wading in again with hard shots and Perez doesn’t like that. Perez with a big body kick, but Anders lands another punch and Perez opts to go to his back. Anders gets on top and starts blasting away with some big punches.
Anders working from half-guard and continuing to feed his opponent a steady diet of punches. Perez gets to his knees and then his feet and attempts to work a kimura, but as they go to the mat again it’s still Anders who is in the ascendency.
Round Three:
Perez with an overhand left. A big left and right from Anders sinks Perez back to the mat. Perez manages to struggle back to his feet under pressure from Anders, but then is stuck in a crouched position as Anders blasts him with a big knee to the body.
He stands, but Anders is soon hammering him with more punches and he’s wilting here under this pressure. Nice takedown for Anders and at this stage in the fight he’s cruising to victory.
A few ground and pound strikes from Anders, but not a whole lot of urgency to find a finish on the mat with less than half the round remaining.
An elbow drops down now as Perez tries to find a way to reverse the position. Anders senses that Perez might try something sneaky, so he backs away, then manages to come back in and ends the round landing a few ground and pound punches.
Decision:
No doubt about the winner here with Anders emerging with a unanimous decision victory (30-26, 30-25, 29-28).
