Eryk Anders lays out retirement plan, vows to KO Chris Weidman at UFC 309: “We meet in the middle and someone falls”

Eryk Anders is nearing the end of his MMA career.

Anders will return to the Octagon on Saturday at Madison Square Garden at UFC 309 against Chris Weidman. It’s a venue Anders has wanted to fight at in his entire career, so he’s thrilled to get the chance to do so.

“It’s great, Madison Square Garden is one of the most prestigious venues in the world,” Anders said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “They could have offered me King Kong, if it’s in MSG I’m there, I’ve been wanting to fight there… He fought Bruno Silva last, we are both coming off wins, if he fights Bruno why can’t he fight me? He’s had a legendary career, but with his leg and age, I don’t want to sound like a prick, but with his leg and age, he’s not championship caliber. It doesn’t make sense for him to fight top-15 guys, so from a fan perspective, two guys who are going to move forward and punch each other.”

Although Anders is getting a big fight against Weidman which could propel him into a ranked opponent. He doesn’t care as he says he’s no longer chasing the belt or the rankings anymore. Instead, Anders just wants to be in fun fights.

“I’m not chasing the belt anymore, I’m not chasing the top-15,” Eryk Anders said. “I’m chasing entertaining fights and I think I can get what I need at home with my kids, my oldest son lives with me now. It’s hard to be in two places at once. That was the main catalyst and I can bring guys in.”

Eryk Anders vows to KO Chris Weidman at UFC 309

Entering his UFC 309 fight, Anders is a slight betting favorite but he doesn’t pay attention to any of that. Instead, he knows beating Chris Weidman will be tough.

But, Anders has confidence he will eventually land the knockout shot.

“It’s an MMA fight, don’t be surprised if I shoot, I’m not going to be surprised if he shoots,” Anders said. “But, it’s no secret I like the hands. I want to throw hands… We meet in the middle and someone falls and I like my chances.”

If Anders gets hand raised, he says the goal is to finish up his contract, which has two more fights after UFC 309. After that, Anders says he will retire from MMA at 20 UFC fights.

“I got three more fights, this and two more. I’m trying to get all my money, I’m not turning down fights so whatever comes next comes next… That’s it, I will be 38 in April, so I don’t think I will get three fights before April. That is a good time to retire, not too young, not too old and that will be 20 UFC fights. They re-signed me and they wanted to do a three-fight deal and I was at 15 fights, so give me five and let me get 20 and I will bow out gracefully,” Anders concluded.