Former Alabama linebacker Eryk Anders lost to Marc-Andre Barriault in a middleweight bout during UFC 289 on Saturday night.

Anders and Barriault launched the main card at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, with an action-filled fight that ended in a unanimous decision in the Canadian fighter’s favor. All three judges had all three rounds scored 10-9 for Barriault.

Despite all the back-and-forth in the bout, the fighters were put down on the canvas only twice, with Anders having to rally from the opening moments of the fight, when a body kick and straight right combination knocked him down and triggered the most frenetic round of the bout.

Anders had a takedown of Barriault in the second round, but he couldn’t follow up on it.

That round also featured two stoppages, with Anders on the receiving end of a couple of low blows, including a direct kick to the groin. Barriault had no deductions, though.

Barriault raised his UFC record to 5-5 and his MMA pro mark to 16-6. Anders dropped to 7-8 in the UFC and 15-8 in MMA.

Before the fight, Anders said he planned to compete five more times in UFC before retiring.

Anders played football at Alabama from 2006 through 2009. In Anders’ final appearance — the BCS national championship game — his fumble-causing sack of Texas quarterback Garret Gilbert gave the Crimson Tide the football at the Longhorns’ 3-yard line while holding a 24-21 lead with 3:02 left in the game. Anders led Alabama with seven tackles in the 37-21 victory over the Longhorns for the first of coach Nick Saban’s six national titles with the Tide.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.