UFC Vegas 14: Antonio Arroyo vs. Eryk Anders Picks, Odds, and Predictions

Eryk Anders and Antonio Arroyo fight Saturday in UFC Vegas 13 at the UFC APEX.

Eryk Anders enters this fight with a 13-5 record and has won 62 percent of his fights by knockout. Anders has split his last 10 fights and is coming off a May loss to Krzysztof Jotko. Anders is averaging 3.02 significant strikes per minute with an accuracy percentage of 45 percent. Anders is averaging 1.34 takedowns with an accuracy percentage of 34 percent. Anders is coming off decision loss at UFC on ESPN 8 where he landed 73 total strikes and 42 percent of his significant strikes. Anders is 5-5 under the UFC banner and has seen four of his last five fights go the distance. Coming from a deep football background and still learning MMA on the fly, Anders has improved his clinch game these past couple of years and has become extremely good at defending takedowns. Anders is still a work in progress, but his striking and ground and pound has gotten him to this point in just four years and remains his bread and butter. Anders wants to stand and bang, and eight of his 13 victories have ended in knockout. Anders will become a much better fighter once he improves his wrestling and ability to fight on the canvas with more comfortability. This will be Anders’ first career fight in Las Vegas.

Antonio Arroyo enters this fight with a 9-3 record and has won 44 percent of his fights by knockout. Arroyo has won five of his last six fights and is coming off a November (2019) loss to Andre Muniz. Arroyo is averaging 3.12 significant strikes per minute with an accuracy percentage of 69 percent. Arroyo is averaging 1.95 takedowns with an accuracy percentage of 41 percent. Arroyo is coming off a decision loss at UFC Fight Night 164 where he landed 47 total strikes, 61 percent of his significant strikes and produced one takedown. Arroyo is 2-1 under the UFC banner and hopes to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time in his career. Arroyo is a lengthy fighter who fights out of a tricky southpaw stance and has legit knockout power in his hands while delivering strong leg kicks. Two of Arroyo’s four knockouts have come by kicks, but he also knows his way around the canvas and has four career submission victories. Arroyo has only seen two decisions in 12 career fights, and he’s never been knocked out. 

This has a chance to be one of the better fights on the card and it’s a little surprising to see Anders in the underdog role given that he’s taking this fight on short notice. Arroyo is a well balanced fighter who knows how to finish fights, has the wrestling edge here and his kicks could give Anders some issues. With that said, Anders is somebody who has drastically improved since becoming a fighter and you see the progress he’s made every time he steps in the octagon. Anders has cleaned up his striking and his takedown defense is almost as good as it gets in this division. The results have been spotty recently, but I see a run coming for Anders and what could lead to a busy, productive 2021.

I’ll lay the cheap price with Anders.