Christian Leroy Duncan was simply too dynamic for Eryk Anders.
In the main card opener of UFC on ESPN 72, Duncan (12-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) found a way to take out a very durable Anders (17-9 MMA, 9-9 UFC) in the opening round of their middleweight bout. The official stoppage time of the TKO was 3:53.
Duncan was relentless from the start. He came forward, offering a variety of striking techniques to keep Anders guessing. It wasn’t all clean, though. Duncan poked Anders in the eye accidentally and landed an inside leg kick a little too inside. Neither foul stopped Duncan from putting heavy pressure on Anders.
A spinning back elbow connected to rock Anders, and Duncan swarmed with punches to put the finishing touches on the opening-round TKO.
Check out video of the finish below (via X):
With the win, Duncan makes it two in a row. In his first appearance of the year, he won a unanimous decision over Andrey Pulyaev. For Anders, the result halted his momentum of back-to-back wins over Jamie Pickett and former champ Chris Weidman.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 72 results:
- Christian Leroy Duncan def. Eryk Anders via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:53
- Julius Walker def. Rafael Cerqueira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Elijah Smith def. Toshiomi Kazama via knockout (slam) – Round 1, 4:10
- Joselyne Edwards def. Priscila Cachoeira via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:24
- Uros Medic def. Gilbert Urbina via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:03
- Gabriella Fernandes def. Julija Stoliarenko via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Eric McConico def. Cody Brundage via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
