Eryk Anders accepts Lyoto Machida decision loss: 'What I think is completely irrelevant'

Eryk Anders suffered the first loss of his professional career against Lyoto Machida in the main event of UFC Fight Night 125 on Saturday. Afterward, he was all class.

Anders (10-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) took in stride his split-decision loss to Machida (23-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) in the FS1-televised middleweight headliner at Mangueirinho Gymnasium in Belem, Para, Brazil. An argument could be made the decision should have gone his way, but he’s aware that a win is never guaranteed when a fight goes the distance (via Twitter):

Anders entered UFC Fight Night 125 with an undefeated record, including two strong winning performances under the UFC banner. He was thrust into the matchup against former light heavyweight champion Machida and managed to handle himself well over the course of five rounds.

Of the 22 media scores tracked at MMADecisions.com, 16 had Anders winning, mostly by a 48-47 score. Two of the judges saw it different, though, and as a result “Ya Boi” failed to have his hand raised for the first time in his professional career.

The 30-year-old attended the UFC Fight Night 125 post-fight news conference and elaborated on his stance about the result.

“What I think is completely irrelevant: The only people that matters who won the fight are the three judges,” Anders said. “I didn’t get it done. I feel like that’s what happens when you play an away game, so to speak. The home team gets the call. The fight was close. Maybe if we were in America, I’d get the call, but we’re here in Brazil. His hometown.

“For sure he won the first round. I think I had a strong third, fourth and fifth round. The fifth round, I think was the determining round.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 125, check out the UFC Events section of the site.