Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Mike

‘MMA fans as a whole suck’: Fighters defend, support Jon Anik after concerns about UFC future

Jon Anik MMA UFC Cub Swanson Jay Perrin Jimi Manuwa Kenny Florian Matt Brown Muhammad Mokaev Nazim Sadykhov

UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik isn’t sure how much longer he’ll be cageside as his resentment toward a portion of the MMA fanbase continues to grow.

Anik caught the attention of the MMA community Thursday when he stated on his podcast that he’s “growing tired” of the negative and very loud portion of the audience who seem unable or unwilling to have mature discourse about the sport.

Anik, who started working for the UFC in 2011, was promoted to lead play-by-play commentator for pay-per-views, as well as select UFC Fight Night shows, after Mike Goldberg departed in 2017. He was maligned for scoring this past weekend’s UFC 297 main event in favor of Dricus Du Plessis over Sean Strickland, which unearthed a bevy of backlash in his social media comments.

Although Anik is far from the only person in the MMA space who has felt the wrath of fans online, he is in the minority in terms of speaking openly about the toll it can take mentally. What that ultimately means for his long-term future with the UFC remains to be seen, but if the reaction to his comments show anything, it’s that he has widespread support from the athletes he calls the action for.

Multiple fighters spoke out to support Anik and added to his feelings about the degree to which fans can be toxic. Check out those reactions below.

* * * *

MMA Junkie

Matt Brown

Jimi Manuwa

John Kavanagh

Muhammad Mokaev

Jon Fitch

Cub Swanson

Nazim Sadykhov

Sodiq Yusuff

Ramsey Nijem

Paulo Costa

Gilbert Burns

Jay Perrin

Terrance McKinney

Kenny Florian

Sean O'Connell

Sean Strickland

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Coachella 2025 has unveiled its full lineup with Post Malone, Green Day and Lady Gaga
Green Day, Post Malone and Lady Gaga have been announced as headliners for Coachella 2025.
BANG Premier
BANG Premier
People around world associate rolled R with a jagged line, study finds
Speakers of 28 languages linked sound and shape at least 88% of the time, in ‘strongest case of sound symbolism to date’
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
8 revelations from Cher's memoir
Cher details some of the famous people she grew up with and the desperation she felt being married to Sonny Bono
Salon
Salon
Trump's Grammatical Time Machine
The president-elect uses conditional grammar to craft self-fulfilling speculative historical fiction.
Reason
Reason
Duct-taped banana artwork sells at auction for almost £5m to crypto entrepreneur
Justin Sun purchased a certificate of authenticity that gives him the authority to duct-tape a banana to a wall and call it “Comedian.”
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Banana Taped To A Wall Sells For $6.2 Mn In New York
A fresh banana taped to a wall -- a provocative work of conceptual art by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan -- was bought for $6.2 million on Wednesday by a cryptocurrency entrepreneur at a New York auction, Sotheby's announced in a statement.
International Business Times
International Business Times
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play