Category: UFC 297

UFC’s Jon Anik apologetic after recent comments

Posted on by Zane Simon in MMA News, UFC 297, UFC News

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.

UFC 297 backlash has Jon Anik considering a new career

Posted on by Zane Simon in MMA News, UFC 297, UFC News

At this point, it seems crystal clear that the UFC has leaned into its place in the current conservative culture war. Once a man who swiftly cracked down on fighters like Miguel Torres and Frank Mir for their public comments, Dana White has branded himself as a ‘free speech’ champion of late, green-lighting his fighters to dive into whatever trash talk they see fit to bring to UFC press conferences and social media.

He’s taken his Power Slap brand to the Rumble social media platform which actively courts conservative creators and viewers, and made a public promise to trash Peloton bikes at the UFC PI after learning that they had asked Theo Von to pull a podcast segment featuring noted anti-vaxxer RFK Jr.

“We don’t do anything woke over here at all,” the UFC president told Fox News back in April of last year.

It’s a move seemingly sparked by White’s time of political favor during Donald Trump’s presidency, where he secured a chance to advise the President on national policy and gained a prime speaking position during the Republican National Convention. It’s also positioned the UFC to be a brand rehabilitator for Bud Light, after they faced a wave of conservative backlash for a brief ad campaign featuring trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Sean Strickland fans irate over UFC 297

That kind of slant has been a boon for fighters like Sean Strickland, who have ridden the seemingly never ending wave of culture war topics to carve out their own fanbase in the MMA ecosystem. In the lead up to UFC 297, Strickland took the opportunity of a reporter’s question about his past homophobia to launch into a speech about how LGBTQ allies are “the definition of weakness.”

Following Strickland’s defeat on PPV, several pundits in the MMA industry found themselves facing a wave of backlash for their support of the title fight verdict, which saw Dricus du Plessis take a split decision over the Xtreme Couture talent—winning three of five rounds on two judges scorecards. One of those facing fan ire, apparently, was none other than UFC broadcast personality Jon Anik.

In a recent episode of his Anik & Florian Podcast with former title contender Kenny Florian, the longtime play-by-play announcer talked about fan reaction to his commentary—suggesting that it was bad enough he’s considering walking away from the UFC altogether.

“…even if you and I both thought Dricus du Plessis won the fight, we try to present that information respectfully,” Anik explained. “And when I go on to X or I go on to 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, right? 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.

“And we can disagree. Don’t take it from me, Demetrious Johnson and Kenny Florian thought DDP won the fight. I dunno, 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 notes Strickland judging oddity

Before all the fans got to him, Anik did have another interesting thought on UFC 297 and Sean Strickland’s experience with the judges. Notably that Sal D’Amato has been involved in each of Strickland’s last three split decisions, and has been the opposing judge to the majority verdict in every one.

Anik gives Strickland & du Plessis a pass on trash talk

As for his thoughts on Strickland’s personality and the things that both he and Du Plessis said ahead of the fight? In an interview with MMA Fighting, Anik expressed the feeling that the UFC should probably draw a line somewhere when it comes to trash talk, but more or less gave both fighters a pass.

“Obviously, they both have value on a microphone, and they do, but I guess I’m not the most sensitive guy in the world when it comes to the words. A lot of people have taken stances in terms of that line, and we should keep wives and families out of it, and I’d be lying if I said that I think there absolutely needs to be some promotional line drawn. I just don’t know that words affect me as much as actions like a Jeremy Stephens push.”

Speaking personally, I’ll say I hope Anik doesn’t walk away from the UFC. In a commentary booth that can regularly devolve into live podcast territory, petty bickering, and general blind-leading-the-blind nonsense, he’s consistently been a driver of focus, research, and consistency. A UFC product without him will be notably worse.

Ex-UFC champ Israel Adesanya ready to ‘test that ass’

Posted on by Zane Simon in MMA News, UFC 297, UFC News

Among the several story lines on offer at UFC 297 was the potential setting of the stage for what should have been one of the biggest fights of 2023. Dricus du Plessis’ build up to a fight with Israel Adesanya was at least a year in the making.

As far back as 2022 (if not earlier) du Plessis was making public comments, needling Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou over their claim to the title of ‘African’ UFC champion. As far as ‘Stillknocks’ was concerned, anyone that didn’t still live and train on the continent didn’t have shouldn’t be carrying the moniker. A stance that clearly got to Adesanya as du Plessis inched closer to contention.

Israel Adesanya ready for UFC comeback?

Unfortunately, despite months of (tortuously online) bickering and buildup, the UFC booked Adesanya for a title defense just two months after du Plessis’ most recent fight. The 30-year-old couldn’t make the date, and Sean Strickland took his place against the ‘Last Stylebender.’ The rest, as they say, was history.

With du Plessis picking up the win this past Saturday, and grabbing gold in the process, however, it seems that Adesanya fight is right back on the table. Despite coming off a loss and several months of hiatus, Adesanya was just about the first name on the champion’s lips.

“I saw Alex Pereira get into the cage and I thought, ‘Well, okay. Here we go again. Let’s do the face off right now. Let’s see if I can recover in time.’ But it looks like that’s not happening. But, right now I have to tell you, man, I’m really enjoying this.

“I would love—there was another guy who tried to take my shine. He lost his shine, now I have your shine. You didn’t get into the cage tonight, but Israel Adesanya, get your a— back in the UFC so we can settle this score.”

Adesanya responds

Just a few weeks ago Israel Adesanya made it clear that his return to the Octagon was imminent. Despite telling fans that he likely wouldn’t fight again until 2027, the Nigerian-born New Zealander teased a much sooner return to action in an interview with iFL TV.

“…Life has forced me to take some time off and I will. But you will see me soon. I said 2027 and the r—ds out there actually thought I meant that. But you’ll see.”

With du Plessis now calling him out direct, the City Kickboxing star took to his own YouTube channel to drop his thoughts on UFC 297, Strickland losing his title, and a potential title fight in his future. From the sound of things, we’ll almost certainly be seeing these two in the cage against one another this year.

“The main event, it was nice to watch,” Adesanya said (transcript via MMA Fighting). “I thought Dricus, I thought he would use his wrestling more in the middle of the rounds, but he did use it at the end, which was smart of him to steal the rounds. I thought maybe, my ‘guesstimate’ on watching this, [rounds] 3, 4, 5 he took. Now he is the fourth African champion in UFC history, so congrats to you my African brother Dricus du Plessis.”

“Legit I’m happy for him, I actually like his story,” Adesanya added. “But he still did what he did and I’m still going to test that ass.”

What about Sean Strickland and a potential rematch? Despite scoring the fight for the Xtreme Couture talent himself, UFC president Dana White has already sounded ready to move on.

“Eventually, these two are going to end up fighting again, I’m sure,” White told reporters after the event. “But we’re not thinking about an immediate rematch right now.”

Least dominant UFC champion?

Posted on by Zane Simon in UFC 297, UFC Editorial

This article first appeared on the Bloody Elbow Substack on January 21, 2024. For early access to exclusive content become a paid subscriber!

The UFC has been leading the way for mixed martial arts in North America for more than 30 years now. In that time, the promotion has seen a whole slew of title holders. Since the first heavyweight champion was crowned in 1997, 98 different men and women have worn UFC gold.

Some of those have become all time legends. Fighters like Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Amanda Nunes, and Valentina Shevchenko set new standards for their divisions—defending their belts for years on end, while the competition struggled to keep up with greatness.

Others have fallen far to the wayside. The Ricco Rodriguezes, the Murilo Bustamantes, the Johny Hendrickses. No shame in it—the chances for anyone to win a title belt in the UFC are incredibly slim. Not everyone can become a legend, sometimes it’s just enough to get your name in the history books at all.

The curse of the dominant UFC champ

One of the the hallmarks of lesser title reigns are often that they come directly in the shadows of greatness. Part of the price of having truly dominant figures in combat sports is that they can create a power vacuum around them. Suddenly the ‘champ’ is gone and the 4-5 top contenders that seemed a mile away from ever beating them only have one another to deal with.

We’ve had 5 light heavyweight champions since Jon Jones vacated his title in 2020. Yesterday Sean Strickland was middleweight champ, today it’s Dricus Du Plessis. Come 2025 would anyone be that shocked if Israel Adesanya was wearing gold again?

Much more than ‘Stillknocks’ however, it’s hard not to see Raquel Pennington’s performance in the UFC 297 co-main event and think that the belt likely belongs to whoever steps up next. She looked slow and cumbersome in a fight where her opponent gassed badly before the championship rounds, and then very clearly quit on herself before the final bell.

Pennington deserves all the credit

I don’t want to deny Pennington the thrill of victory. A lifetime of hardwork went into this moment. She deserves her flowers. And hopefully she’ll get enough decent paydays out of this that she’ll be secure in retirement no matter how her title reign shakes out. But, it has to rank up there with Bas Rutten’s guard game and Nicco Montano TUF Finale for ‘yeah, but…’ moments in UFC title fight history.

Say what you will about Matt Serra’s victory over GSP, but there was no doubt about why he won that belt. Somehow, inexplicably, even Carla Esparza beating Rose Namajunas had more feel that Esparza was the champion of the moment. Mostly, I think because her win streak included victories over Alexa Grasso and Yan Xiaonan.

The actual win over ‘Thug Rose’ might have been comical and her downfall inevitable, but there was no denying that, for one shining moment, she was the clear top contender who went through the right fights to be there.

Still in Ronda Rousey recovery mode

Pennington went on a hell of a win streak herself to get to UFC gold, but even in a division as paper thin as women’s bantamweight Ketlen Vieira’s the only really relevant win on the path. A little unfair, to be sure, given that Pannie Kianzad and Macy Chiasson are still ranked. It’s also the price of a division that has never really recovered from the end of the Ronda Rousey era—which Amanda Nunes extended.

The women who made up those prime years—Holly Holm, Nunes, Miesha Tate—are no longer near their prime, if they’re even competing at all. And unfortunately for fans, they haven’t been replaced by a following wave of talent. There doesn’t seem to be a next generation of elite performers who can clearly stand above their peers, either at the top of the UFC, or at the bottom of the division starting their climb. A ton of competitive fights, but no outliers to define greatness.

In that pack, Pennington has been the lucky one. Too tough to get finished by any but the best, and busy enough to win six decisions in her last eight fights—with one submission win and a controversial loss to Holm as well. For an athlete that was barely treading above .500 a few years back, it’s a remarkable testament to her heart and determination. A reminder that there truly is great value in never giving up on a dream.

Context is key

And, if we’re being entirely honest, I wouldn’t automatically pick her to lose to most likely next contender (and former champion) Julianna Pena either. After all, Pena is still only three fights removed from getting handily out-grappled by then 36-year-old Muay Thai stylest Germaine de Randamie. It could happen again.

That alone probably means that Pennington doesn’t deserve the mantel of ‘least dominant UFC champion’. Relative to her competition, she’s right in the thick of things. Moreso than Esparza was against Zhang, or Serra was in the inevitable GSP rematch—or more than Michael Bisping after he took his victory lap against Dan Henderson. Still, it’s a dubious honor when the owner of a UFC title still seems like they have so much left to prove.