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Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Former University of Alabama linebacker and current UFC middleweight Eryk “Ya Boi” Anders is preparing for life after professional fighting with the launch of Ya Boi Fitness Academy in Vestavia Hills. The facility will take over the spot formerly held by D1 Training at 1014 Montgomery Highway. Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr. Bottom photos courtesy of Eryk Anders.
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Photos courtesy of Eryk Anders.
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Photos courtesy of Eryk Anders.
Eryk “Ya Boi” Anders is ready to pivot.
The former University of Alabama football star went on to a 15-year career in mixed martial arts, competing in the octagon. Now, with his final professional bout on the horizon, the Hoover resident is preparing for a new phase of life, one in which he will own and operate Ya Boi Fitness Academy in Vestavia Hills.
Photos courtesy of Eryk Anders.
“Whenever I got done playing football, I realized that you can't be, you can't compete competitively forever, especially in this (MMA) sport,” he said. “Guys are getting younger. They're getting a lot better, younger than they were when I first started. Yeah, every athlete has a shelf life.”
The academy will offer jiu jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, wrestling, weightlifting, self-defense and conditioning programs, along with kids classes.
The academy takes its name from Anders’ fighting moniker.
“It's my fight name,” he said. “It's kind of what I talk like. 'Help your boy out. Let your boy borrow $5.' My old roommate, Matt Elkins, just kind of started addressing me as such. It just kind of stuck.”
A decade and a half into his career in mixed martial arts and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Anders said it doesn’t feel as though much time has passed.
“It feels like just yesterday that I started,” he said.
Anders’ most recent fight didn’t turn out the way he wanted. He faced Christian Duncan in a middleweight bout in UFC Vegas 109 in early August.
Although Anders used a wrestling move to hold his opponent in the first round, he lost his grip and ultimately the fight. Duncan landed a couple of kicks to Anders’ shin before connecting with a spinning left elbow followed by a flurry of punches.
The fight ended as a technical knockout at 3:53 of the first round. His final fight will likely be in November.
The 38-year-old recalls having had his share of tussles as he grew up. He was born on a U.S. Air Force base in the Philippines, where his mother was serving.
Photos courtesy of Eryk Anders.
“I definitely fought quite a bit growing up,” said Anders, who went on to compete in mixed martial arts. “But I think that's just like a 90s kid thing. I was born in '87, so I think the world was just different back then.
“The kids were outside playing a lot more and hanging out in groups and doing things like that,” he said. “As you get older, that testosterone starts surging, or whatnot. I think that's just kind of the way of things back then.”
Anders has come a long way since his childhood scuffles. He shifted his energy to the gridiron, playing football in high school before taking his talents to the University of Alabama.
As a sophomore in high school, Anders moved to San Antonio, Texas, where he played football for Smithson Valley High School. He wound up taking his football talents to Tuscaloosa and the Crimson Tide.
From 2006 to 2009, Anders played linebacker for the Crimson Tide, starting 14 games in his senior season. His college career concluded with a victory in the 2009 BCS National Championship against Texas, a game in which he led Alabama with seven tackles and a forced fumble.
After college, Anders signed a contract with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and followed that with stints in the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League before beginning his career in mixed martial arts.
