Anik tired of negativity from MMA fans: 'Not sure how much longer I have left'
UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik is fed up with the influx of negativity within MMA - and he warned it might drive him out of the business sooner than later.
Anik reflected on the state of the MMA fan base following Dricus Du Plessis' split-decision win over Sean Strickland to become the new UFC middleweight champion at UFC 297 last weekend in Toronto.
"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 Wednesday on the "Anik & Florian Podcast." "Because even if you and I both thought Dricus Du Plessis won the fight, we try to present that information respectfully. And when I go onto 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.
"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. If I go do pro football, I'm not necessarily gonna 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 fan base."
Anik commentated UFC 297 alongside former champions Daniel Cormier and Dominick Cruz.
The main event between Du Plessis and Strickland was competitive, with all three judges handing in 48-47 scorecards (two for Du Plessis and one for Strickland). Thirteen media members scored the fight for Du Plessis and 10 scored it for Strickland on MMADecisions.com. UFC CEO Dana White said he thought Strickland should've won.
Not everyone will see eye to eye on who should win and lose a fight, but to Anik, things have gotten carried away.
"We can disagree," Anik said. "Don't take it from me. (Former UFC flyweight champion) 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 left in this space - honestly."
He added: "Those of you suggesting that there's any bias or you don't like me, well, you'll probably get your f-----g wish come 2026, because honestly, at this point, I've had it."
Anik, 45, has been a UFC play-by-play commentator since 2012 and has been in the lead role since 2017.