Las Vegas, NV — There was a time when Mike Goldberg was the voice of the UFC, alongside longtime color commentator Joe Rogan. These days, it’s Jon Anik who seems as much a part of the promotion as Rogan and Dana White himself.
Anik was on hand Thursday for the UFC Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and fielded questions on a variety of topics — including the recently announced George St-Pierre grappling match at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational later this year.
While no opponent has been announced for GSP, one that comes to mind for Anik is Khabib Nurmagoemdov. “I think that makes a lot of sense,” Anik told media outlets including Cageside Press on Thursday. “We’ll see if Khabib has the appetite for that.”
As for the match itself, “I think it would be competitive, I really do,” suggested Anik. “I just wonder how Khabib would handle the preparation. We know Georges St-Pierre is training 24/7 365. I think it would be interesting to see what weight class they would compete in. I think it would be competitive, I don’t know if either guy finishes the other, but I would pay to watch.”
Of late, former Invicta fighter and commentator Laura Sanko has been working her way up the UFC’s broadcast ranks. Anik had high praise for Sanko, and believes she could find herself on a UFC Pay-Per-View soon.
“It would be amazing. She’s added so much to our broadcast team, particularly when it comes to her jiu-jitsu analytics,” said Anik. “For me, as a guy who never wants to put on a Gi again, the most valuable thing for me to have in a booth is a jiu-jitsu expert. And I think already, she is one of our elite, best grappling analysts just in terms of being able to simplify what is inherently complicated and break down everything that is happening on the ground.”
“So I think she’s already added a lot, and you might see her next to me sooner than you think.”
