When Eryk Anders had his first professional MMA bout back in 2015, Lyoto Machida had already won and lost the UFC’s light-heavyweight belt and fought for UFC titles another two times.

Cut to early 2018. Anders (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who’s beaten every opponent who’s come his way since, is now booked to fight Machida. It’s a headliner – and on Machida’s (22-8 MMA, 14-8 UFC) home turf. Which means that, in what will only be his third UFC fight, Anders already has his face on posters, next to a former champion.

But if Anders is in any way fazed by the instant raise in profile, he’s not letting it show.

“This is what I want,” Anders told MMAjunkie Radio. “This is the next step – the next rung on the ladder in my career. So I really don’t put a whole bunch of thought and a whole bunch of stock into it.

“He’s just the next guy that I’m fighting. I’m not like all giddy or excited or anything like that. I’ve got to go out there, take care of business, and try to climb that middleweight ladder.”

The 185-pound bout headlines Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 125 event, which airs on FS1 from Mangueirinho Gymnasium in Belem, Para, Brazil. While that isn’t where Machida was born, it is where he was raised and spent most of his life, before moving to the U.S.

It makes sense that Anders doesn’t seem particularly intimidated. After all, the surging middleweight was the one who asked to be paired with Machida. The somewhat contained callout came shortly after Anders’ second UFC win, over Markus Perez, in a battle of unbeatens at Dec. 9’s UFC Fight Night 123 event.

Quick turnarounds clearly aren’t that big of a deal for Anders, who won LFA’s middleweight title less than a month before kicking off his his UFC run with the dismantlement of veteran Rafael Natal.

This time, though, he has to deal with a notoriously tricky counter-attacker who’s made a career out of eluding and misleading his opponents with his karate-based movement.

Anders, however, isn’t at all worried about the short preparation time to meet Machida. In fact, he thinks it’s his 39-year-old opponent, who looks to break the first three-fight skid of his career, who has cause for concern on Saturday.

“I think I’m the one that he needs to prep for,” Anders said. “I think my pressure is what beats Lyoto – not giving him space to throw all those things and front kicks. And, you know, to explode with that left hand of his. I think I’m the problem in this fight.”

To hear from Anders, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 125, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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