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One of the most surprising pieces of fallout from the UFC’s latest PPV card came not from any of the fights or even the fighters. Shortly following the event, UFC commentator Jon Anik made headlines when he spoke about the backlash he’d received from Sean Strickland fans, after revealing that he agreed with the official decision that Dricus du Plessis deserved to win the middleweight title.
“And I don’t know if these fans are casual fans or not, right?” Anik told podcast co-host Kenny Florian. “But, 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. Because, if I go do pro football I’m not necessarily going to be dealing with this lowest common denominator all the time. And, I dunno, man. I just feel like there’s a lot of malice and disrespect from the fanbase.”
Unfortunately for Anik, if he’d hoped that his feelings would quell divisiveness, that doesn’t seem to have been the case. Especially not from Sean Strickland.
Ex-UFC champ Sean Strickland responds to Jon Anik
After Anik’s statement started making the rounds in the MMA blogosphere Sean Strickland took a moment from reflecting on his title loss to respond to Anik’s feelings of despair over fan malice. Unsuprisingly, Strickland had no sympathy for someone that wasn’t himself.
Anik climbs down
Maybe it was Strickland’s words, maybe it was continued fan backlash, maybe it was a call from UFC brass? Or, maybe it was purely further reflection on the state of affairs. However, in a post to his Instagram account on Saturday, January 27th, Anik posted an apology to “those MMA fans whom I’ve offended.”
“Last week on my podcast, I was in a heightened emotional state following myriad allegations of bias at UFC 297 and I made some regrettable comments relating to the MMA fan base,” Anik’s statement reads. “While I was surprised at the extent to which my comments were re-purposed and sensationalized, I need to be more responsible on an open microphone. So much work goes into the execution of just one UFC pay-per-view so it can be tough when my integrity on broadcast is called into question.
“That doesn’t excuse my retort. I am just a fiery, passionate, flawed, empathetic guy and sometimes my emotions lead the dance. To those MMA Fans whom I’ve offended, I am sorry. That was not my intention. For 12 years, I’ve prided myself on being accessible to the fan base and that will continue. I’ve learned a lot over the last 48 hours. On to Anaheim…”
Well, for those fans worried that we might find ourselves short of Anik’s services in the near future on UFC broadcasts, it doesn’t sound like he’s actually considering stepping away any time in the near future. So, that’s a plus. In the meantime, it seems like what had been a well-intentioned push-back on toxic fan culture and needless hostility as been snuffed out, quick. That’s a bit of a shame.
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