SUMMARY
- Jon Anik, UFC commentator, expresses frustration and hints at possible retirement.
- Anik, along with co-host Kenny Florian, believes Dricus du Plessis rightfully won the UFC 297.
MMA is a tough sport, not only to participate in but also to comment upon. MMA fans are some of the most passionate fans across all sports, and they have their own strong opinions on fight results, especially when fights go to decision. UFC commentator Jon Anik has something to say for the MMA fan base.
Anik began his career at the sports media company ESPN where he worked for around 5 years. He later joined the UFC in 2012 and ever since has been a play-by-play commentator in the MMA organization.
In a recent episode on the Draft Kings YouTube channel, Anik talked about the increasing animosity in the MMA fanbase. About the hate comments he received on social media and how fans have sometimes no respect for the person giving his/her opinion, in this case, Anik himself. He further talked about his thoughts on the matter and hinted at a possible retirement from commentary.
Jon Anik expresses frustration amid hateful fan reactions
Jon Anik gave his opinion on the UFC 297 main event between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis. According to the UFC commentator, it was Dricus who rightfully won the fight in Canada. His co-podcaster, Kenny Florian too agreed with Jon Anik on the matter. But some didn’t agree. And those were the viewers, at least a healthy amount of them.
They bombarded the comment section with hateful comments directed at Jon Anik. Most of them were trying to show him down for his honest opinion about who won the fight. In a later episode, Jon Anik addressed this issue with his co-host, Kenny. He said, “Because even if you and I both thought Dricus Du Plessis won the fight, we try to present that information respectfully.”
He then mentioned the aggressive mentality of the fans nowadays. Anik stated, “And when I go on to X or I go to our YouTube comments, it seems like a lot of these fans are just in attack mode. And I don’t know if these fans are casual fans or not. Right. But I appreciate the passion. But I’m getting to a point at 45 years of age where I don’t know how much time I have left in this MMA space.”
Jon Anik then compared how it would be different for him if he shifted to a different sport like pro football. He claimed he wouldn’t have to face such fans in those cases, saying, “Because if I go do pro football, like I’m not necessarily going to be dealing with this lowest common denominator all the time. And I don’t know, man, I just feel like there’s a lot of malice and disrespect from the fan base.”
🚨| Jon Anik expresses his frustration and even hints retirement from UFC commentary amid fan reaction to him thinking that Dricus Du Plessis rightfully won at UFC 297. 😬
[@AnikFlorianPod]#MMA #UFC pic.twitter.com/1THnMjUKy6
— MMA Frenzy (@mma_frenzy) January 25, 2024
He went on to say, “And we can disagree. Like, don’t take it from me. Demetrius Johnson and Kenny Florian thought DDP won the fight. I don’t know. I’ve just been very off put with the negativity that has permeated my feed since Saturday night. And I’m just not sure how much longer I have in this space, honestly.”
It seems as if Jon Anik, not being a former MMA fighter gets slack for the supposed lack of hands-on experience. But such should not be the case. It’s difficult to predict what’s going through his mind, but his fans would surely hope it’s not retirement from the MMA space.
Michael Bisping gives his perspective on UFC 297 controversy and Jon Anik
Michael Bisping is a former English mixed martial artist who now works as an analyst and commentator with the UFC. He also has a podcast on YouTube where he entertains his audience with various guests who feature on the podcast. He shares his own views and opinions about news and stories floating around in the MMA scenario.
Would be one of the biggest losses ever if Anik walked away. Love the guy and what a talented commentator – it is not a surprise he has pro football in his back pocket if he wants to do it. He’s that good
— Andy (@AndyHHSports) January 25, 2024
On a recent episode of the ‘BELIEVE YOU ME’ podcast, the featured guest was Kenny Florian. Out of many things discussed on the podcast, one thing was the topic of Jon Anik. But before that, Michael Bisping opened up about his views on the Strickland vs Du Plessis fight at UFC 297.
He thought it was a close fight and anyone who said otherwise “don’t know the sport enough”. He further added, “They were close. At the end, I wasn’t sure which way it was gonna go.”
He then gave his verdict on the fight saying, “I thought Dricus would have it, but I was like, if Strickland got it I wouldn’t have had a problem… I think Dricus going forward, pushing the pace, landing the biggest shots, and just being more aggressive kinda swayed it a little bit for the judges”.
After expressing his thoughts on the fight, he focused on the Jon Anik issue. Michael said, “Going back to Jon’s comments I think you know, ultimately, it’s kind of a good thing. If you think about it… Cuz as you(Florian) said the sport has grown massively from where it was. And I think every time there is growth more people get involved and start watching it, that’s just the way it’s gonna be.“
Bisping, a former UFC middleweight champion, went on to say, “The bigger the sport, the bigger the issues…And bigger the fanbase, you’re gonna get some dickheads along for the ride as well,” To which Kenny agreed. “And we’re not calling all of you dickheads by the way!” Michael said and laughed it off with Kenny Florian joining in on the laughter.
What are your views on the statements made by Jon Anik? Do you feel like the UFC fanbase is getting more and more toxic? Tell us in the comments below.