In the wake of UFC 297, Jon Anik was hit with a deluge of toxic fans, and things got bad enough that the UFC play-by-play man is now openly questioning his future in the sport.
Anik, one of the best to ever do it, is the UFC’s go-to guy on major events, and has also been incredibly gracious with both media and fans. That, it seems, has left the door open to the sort of trollish behavior seen following UFC 297 in Toronto, where Sean Strickland lost his middleweight title to Dricus Du Plessis by split decision.
A close fight, certainly, but not a robbery, with the fight coming down to the third round — a round Strickland’s own coach, Xtreme Couture’s Eric Nicksick, told his fighter he didn’t like.
That didn’t stop “fans” from letting Anik have it when he stated he agreed with the scoring. Which in turn has led Anik to ponder whether sticking around MMA is worth it.
“I am growing tired of this MMA space a little bit and just the morass of negativity when there is a close fight,” Anik said on his Anik & Florian podcast, which he hosts alongside multi-time UFC title challenger Kenny Florian. “Because even if you and I both thought Dricus Du Plessis won the fight, we try to present that information respectfully. When I go onto X [Twitter] or I go to our YouTube comments, it just 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 the point 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, I’m not going to necessarily be dealing with this lowest common denominator all the time. I don’t know, man.”
“I just feel like there’s a lot of malice and disrespect from the fanbase,” added Anik. “We can disagree. Don’t take it from me. Demetrious 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. I’m just not sure how much longer I have in this space.”
It would be a huge loss for the UFC, and for the spot, for Jon Anik to walk, something that will likely only embolden trolls whose only need is for attention, whether it be positive or negative. A consummate professional, Anik has been the most reliable voice on UFC broadcasts for years now. As for the trolls, the sport is better off without them, but getting rid of them is no easy feat.
