Jon Anik has had enough of the UFC fans.
Post UFC 297, Jon Anik had some words to share on his podcast. The popular broadcaster and play-by-play announcer for the UFC pay-per-views has had enough of the negative comments he’s been receiving. During UFC 297, Sean Strickland faced off against Dricus Du Plessis, in which Strickland lost his title in a close split decision. As the fight was finishing, Anik scored it for Du Plessis, which angered many fans. Doing so, he received a lot of backlash online and is fed up about it.
“I am growing tired of this MMA space a little bit, and just the morass of negativity when there is a close fight because even if you and I both thought Dricus du Plessis won the fight, we try to present that information respectfully,” Anik said. “When I go on to X, or when I go to our YouTube comments, it seems like a lot of these fans are just in attack mode. I don’t know if these fans are casual fans or not, but I appreciate the passion, but I’m getting to a point where at 45 years of age where I don’t know how much time I have left in this MMA space, because if I go do pro football, like, I’m not necessarily going to be dealing with this lowest common denominator all the time.”
He continues.
“I don’t know, I just feel like there’s a lot of malice and disrespect from the fan base. We can disagree, don’t take it from me, Demetrious Johnson and Kenny Florian thought ‘DDP’ won the fight. 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.”
Jon Anik is a very proud man and put all he has into this job. Most of us would agree it is the staple of the commentary team. Anik debuted commenting for the UFC back in January 2012. Ever since then, most would consider he’s the voice of the UFC.
Jon Anik and His Interactions
However, Jon Anik wants to be accessible to the fans and interact with them. Most people, like the fans and his friends, are telling him to ignore the online world.
“I try to be accessible and engage with fans, especially on X, and some of my broadcast partners—Joe Rogan chief among them—their profile is so high, and they are so famous that they can’t possibly engage with the fans regularly,” Anik said. “Even somebody like Daniel Cormier. So you’ve got to post and ghost a little bit. But for me, I try to be that accessible conduit for the fans, and what I’m finding is that 90 percent of what I am sifting through is negative, and a lot of those comments are said in an antagonistic, attacking type of way. I’ve got three kids and just better things to do with my time.
“But again, I’m trying to be accessible, especially after a fight like this. I want to be able to engage, but when I see the venom that some people are coming at us with, it just makes me disengage. So I guess maybe my thesis statement should be if you see me disengage and not be as omnipresent and as accessible on X. It’s because the fan base is starting to turn me off. [ESPN reporter] Marc Raimondi had a very thoughtful post about this on Instagram, this sport is getting worse by the minute in terms of all the negativity in the air.”
What Jon Anik Would Do Next
The irritation for Anik has pushed him to the edge that even made him consider leaving the UFC altogether. This made him consider how much longer he has within the commentary booth.
“A lot of fans are suggesting to me to not even engage with these people. How many comments have we heard about ‘To be the champion, you’ve got to beat the champion?’” Anik said. “So I would throw it back to you fans who think that Kenny and I are not understanding what you’re saying. Or are dismissive of what you are saying. So are you folks suggesting that for a judge like Sal D’Amato in a close round, say Round 3, he should give it to Strickland because he’s the champion? Because if that’s what you are suggesting, that is absolutely inane. And take it from [Severe MMA reporter] Seán Sheehan, when the fight starts, neither man is the champion. That’s the way you need to judge the fight.
“But those of you suggesting that there’s any bias, or you don’t like me. Well, you’ll probably get your f****** wish come 2026 because honestly, at this point, I’ve had it.”
Quotes taken from Jon Anik and Kenny Florian’s podcast.
Do you agree with Jon Anik? Can you see Jon Anik leave the UFC in the next 2 years? Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit to Embed from Getty Images
