“I’m not sure how much longer I have…” Legendary commentator Jon Anik considers leaving UFC after toxic fanbase hurl abuses after UFC 297

UFC 297 saw one of the closest title fights in UFC history. The middleweight champion Sean Strickland put his belt on the line against Dricus Du Plessis in the main event. As such, the fight went the distance with ‘Stillknocks’ winning a split decision. However, since the fight was razor close, debates opened up on who legitimately won the fight. As such, Jon Anik’s take on the fight received a huge backlash from the MMA community. Now, he exposed his mental processes and revealed that he was contemplating retirement.

UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik sided alongside the judges and said Dricus Du Plessis won the fight. Since a fair share of people thought Sean Strickland had won, they went to Anik’s social platforms to trash him for his opinion. Here is what he said about the online drama:

A lot of these fans are just in attack mode. I just feel like there’s a lot of malice and disrespect from the fan base. 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 in this space, honestly.

Jon Anik via Anik and Florian Podcast

Further in the interview, Jon Anik explained being accessible to fans due to his nature and job requirements. He said understanding the fans’ thoughts and the MMA community was part of his job, and he couldn’t ignore their opinions. As such, he faced a dilemma with the situation and finally opened up about leaving the MMA space if it got too much.

Jon Anik joined the UFC in 2012 and has since become one of the crucial members of the UFC broadcast team. Arguably, he was also considered the voice of the UFC for his decade-long service in the promotion. As such, his retirement talks have shocked the MMA world.

Fans react to Jon Anik’s revelation of receiving hatred from the MMA community

UFC color commentator Jon Anik received hatred on the internet for his opinion about the winner of Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis. The judges favored Du Plessis and handed him a split decision win. Soon, controversies arose since it was a debatable fight. As such, Anik backed the judges and claimed they made the right decision. Due to this opinion, he recently faced a lot of toxicity on his social accounts.

Jon Anik exposed the hatred he received from the fight community in his recent podcast appearance. As such, he looked frustrated and expressed his emotions on the matter. Further, he doubted his longevity in this career after experiencing online backlash. As such, fans also reacted to his comments. Here are a few interesting fan reactions:

Most of the fight fans supported Jon Anik and felt worried about his thoughts on retiring. However, a few called him soft for not handling criticism well. Some even blamed Sean Strickland’s fanbase for the hatred Anik received.

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