Most of the top MMA fighters in the world have a background in only martial arts. But on the other side, some fighters have other sporting backgrounds including UFC middleweight contender Eryk Anders. ‘Ya Boi’ made a tremendous jump from professional football to fighting and has gone on to amass an impressive record for himself in MMA.

Eryk Anders is back in action in a pay-per-view with one of the most exciting headlining fights of the year, UFC 309. The Texan fighter will enter his toughest fight yet as he butts heads against former champion Chris Weidman on the preliminary card. But, for now, let’s get acquainted with the details of Anders’ background because ‘Ya Boi’s got an interesting backstory.

What is Eryk Anders’ ethnicity and nationality?

The 37-year-old UFC middleweight contender has American parents and was born in a US Air Force base in the Philippines. However, when it comes to his ethnicity, we don’t have much information that can be considered concrete, to say the least. Anders started his career playing football for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 2006 to 2009. The first feather in his cap as a professional football player was when we won the 2009 BCS Championship.

Thereafter, the biggest moment of his football career arrived when he signed with the Cleveland Browns to play in the NFL. However, football wasn’t Eryk Anders’ calling as, just a couple of years into his football career, he decided to embark on his MMA journey to eventually fight in the UFC.

The 37-year-old fighter’s career has been nothing but an outright mixed bag. He was unbeaten when he started competing in the Dana White-led promotion, but lost that status pretty quickly in his third fight against the former champ and legend, Lyoto Machida. Additionally, Anders’ UFC record stands at a modest 8 victories, 8 defeats, and 1 no-contest.

Nevertheless, ‘Ya Boi’ won his last fight against Jamie Pickett, and looks to carry this momentum forward against Chris Weidman. To Anders’ advantage, Weidman himself hasn’t had the best return to form, especially since his freak injury in 2021 following an abysmal run of 2-5 since 2015. On paper, Anders has the advantage, given that he’s the younger fighter with no history of serious injuries. However, it’s hard to pick against the former middleweight champion who shut the lights out for Anderson Silva.

It’s also interesting to note that apart from his pro-football and MMA career, Eryk Anders also had a stint as an actor, appearing in a minor role in the fifth season of the Netflix-hit series ‘Cobra Kai’. Before finding his successes in the US, the current Texas native had a unique childhood experience because his mother was in the armed forces. Let’s take a look at his early life.

All about Eryk Anders’ religion and early life

There isn’t much known about Eryk Anders’ father, Gayle Anders, but his mother, Kerrie Lindberg, was a member of the US Air Force. Moreover, she was stationed at a base in the Philippines – called the Clark Air Base in Pampanga – when she gave birth to Anders. The UFC fighter would later sporadically shift to new locations – from Okinawa in Japan to New Mexico in the United States.

When Eryk Anders was in his mid-teens, he and his family made Texas their permanent home, where he would embark on his pro football and MMA careers. Meanwhile, there’s no word on his religious background, although his tattoos signify that he’s a devout Christian. Moreover, ‘Ya Boi’ is a bilingual individual who can speak English and a bit of Portuguese.

What do you think of Eryk Anders’ storied history? Do you feel the 8-8-1 fighter has what it takes to beat the veteran Chris Weidman at UFC 309? Let us know in the comments below.