Eryk Anders details Walt Harris friendship ahead of potentially emotion-filled UFC on ESPN 8

Eryk Anders says he owes a lot to teammate Walt Harris.

In fact, Anders (13-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) credits Harris (13-7 MMA, 6-6 UFC) with his entry into MMA. The first time Anders ever sparred in an MMA gym, Harris was his opponent. From the start, Anders recognized what kind of guy Harris was. They’ve become great friends over the years and remain training partners to this day.

“I showed up and he was my first experience with MMA,” Anders told MMA Junkie during a virtual media day Thursday. “Needless to say, a five-minute round, probably four minutes and 57 seconds of it, I sweat the whole time in the corner, getting beat up on the post. He’s a gentle giant, man. He really is. He’s got a giant heart. In the nicest way possible, he beat me up.

“I just fell in love with the sport then and there. There was a whole new skill set I had to learn. I just felt it would be a lot funner to be not on the giving end, but the receiving side of these things. I don’t think if I have that experience, I have an MMA career.”

At UFC on ESPN 8, the two Alabama-based fighters will share the same card for the first time under the UFC banner. However, it won’t be the first time they’ve fought on the same show. At an Alabama regional event, Strike Hard Productions 20 in December 2012, Anders and Harris shared a card together.

UFC on ESPN 8 marks the first time Harris has fought since his 19-year-old stepdaughter Aniah Blanchard was found murdered this past October. Anders isn’t sure what the emotion will be like in the locker room on fight night, but said MMA has been a saving grace for Harris.

“It’s kind of hard to ignore the elephant in the room,” Anders said. “Everybody knows what happened. Everybody knows. … When he’s in the gym, he’s one of the guys, man. We make fun of him. He talks trash. There’s a lot of camaraderie that goes into this. We all kind of took that hit. His daughter has babysat my children before. I think it’s a little personal for everybody in the gym.

“The camaraderie and being around the fellas and coaches in training kind of helps get your mind off those things. There’s no telling what the emotions are going to be like on fight night, but I think everybody is focused and dialed in on the things they need to be focused and dialed in on. I think it would be very ignorant for me to say on fight night the emotions might not be a little bit different.”

By beating his UFC on ESPN 8 opponent Krzysztof Jotko (21-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC), Anders thinks he’ll take one step closer to a potential UFC card in Alabama. If the fighters’ success can outlast the COVID-19 pandemic and fans are once again able to attend events, Anders sees UFC Alabama as a big seller.

“I think if we both go out there and get finishes in devastating fashion as we are both accustomed to doing, I think if the UFC comes to Birmingham or wherever in Alabama, it’s going to be a sellout event,” Anders said.

UFC on ESPN 8 takes place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.