Jon Anik is in deep waters. The UFC commentator is one of a fan’s favourite personalities in the sport but not so much in the last few days. In a nutshell, after post last UFC event, the MMA analyst reiterated his opinion that according to him, Dricus du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland. However, he was susceptible to criticism from the fans who did agree with this assessment.
Witnessing this, he had a mental breakdown and hinted at possibly leaving the sport of MMA to cover American Football instead to prevent encountering, the “lowest common denominator,” that is, the fans. His comments did not sit well with the MMA world, at large at least and now he is in the centre of the latest controversy, arguably for the first time. Amongst several opinions, let’s see how Joe Rogan’s co-commentator perceives this debacle.
Was Jon Anik in the wrong? Former champion answers
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In a recent turn of events, former UFC middleweight champion and also Joe Rogan’s co-commentator, Michael Bisping had a few words of advice for Anik. It bears mention that he has been a fighter himself and is currently an MMA analyst and commentator, needless to say, his opinion is of great relevance.
In a recent episode of his podcast, Bisping justifies the backlash by saying, “Going back to Jon’s comments there, I think ultimately it’s kind of a good thing if you think about it because, as you said, the sport has grown massively from where it was.”
Moreover, he draws an analogy with the most popular sport on the planet, soccer. He added, “There’s something going on right now because all the football players, you know, they were all imitating monkey noises to a black player and all the rest of it.” Lastly, he urged Anik to not be bothered by certain MMA fans. He said, “.. the bigger the fan base, you’re gonna get some d*ckheads along for the ride as well.”
It can be reasonably said that Bisping thought a lot about the present fiasco and gave a balanced take. Moreover, he also did not side with either Anik or the fans which increases the merit behind his opinion. However, after being under scrutiny, how does Anik perceive it?
Anik takes back his words
Was Anik too harsh with his comments directed towards fans? One can argue, but now, even Anik thinks he might have gone overboard. In a recent Instagram post, he appears to be apologetic and explicitly apologizes to the fans who are offended. However, he stood his ground and made it a point to advance that he has been a truthful and ethical commentator.
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While in remorse, amongst other things, he said, “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…”
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Now that Anik has apologized, will his controversy come to a halt? Or is this a saga that is only brewing? We ask you to be the judge and tell us your thoughts and opinions on this matter in the comments below.
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