UFC play-by-play ace Jon Anik is tired of all the negativity.
It's no secret that many MMA fans online can be aggressive trolls. Fighters, commentators, journalists, and cornermen have been on the receiving end of some nasty, unwarranted online hate. While trolling is certainly present with fans of other sports, most of the time it isn't as aggressive as it is for those who follow the UFC.
Despite his renowned reputation, even Anik isn't immune from the toxicity.
During the post-UFC 297 edition of the "Anik & Florian Podcast," Jon Anik revealed he's gotten some hate over his view of the Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland title fight. Anik isn't necessarily peeved solely because of a few bad apples, however.
The UFC commentator feels that MMA discussions in general have devolved into absolute nonsense that has nothing to do with sport.
"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," Anik said. "I don't know if these fans are causal 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 because if I go do pro football, like, I'm not necessarily gonna be dealing with this lowest common denominator all the time. I don't know, man I just feel there's a lot of malice and disrespect from the fanbase."
In particular, Anik hasn't been fond of the comments he's been seeing in the aftermath of UFC 297.
"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," Anik said.
Anik has received a slew of support from his peers, including UFC roving reporter Megan Olivi:
"+ when you put so much into each day at the office, with so much care and concern for the athlete, the comments are even harder to take. We all struggle with it more and more. Jon is the best in sports and doesn’t deserve to be made to feel this way. Our community must do better."
If you use any quotes from this article, please leave an H/T to MMAKnockout.com for the transcription.
More must-reads: