Jon Anik Leaves ESPN for UFC
“This is a dream come true.”
This was the statement veteran broadcaster Jon Anik made at today’s UFC 137 pre-fight press conference after Dana White announced that Anik would be joining the UFC broadcasting team in early 2012.
In preparation for the UFC on FOX transition, Anik, who is the former host of the weekly “MMA Live” show on ESPN2, will now be commentating for UFC Fight Nights and The Ultimate Fighter finales, which are scheduled to air on FX starting next year.
The UFC moves from Spike TV to the FOX family of channels (FOX, FX and FUEL TV, among others) in 2012 and with the growing fight schedule and the live “TUF” airings on Friday nights, the current broadcasting team of Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan would not be able to cover every event. Enter Anik.
“We’re very happy to have Jon as part of the team,” White said during today’s UFC 137 pre-fight press conference in Las Vegas. White explained that the FOX deal, which is a hefty seven-year contract, has presented an abundance of new opportunities and growth to the UFC brand. In turn the company will need to branch out and hire new, reliable faces to help the transition take a smooth course. With that in mind White said the UFC had been trying to button up a deal with Anik for quite some time and now that deal has been officially locked up and announced.
In addition to “MMA Live,” Anik has hosted a number of different UFC-related weigh-in specials that have aired on ESPN. He has also done work for ESPN.com and ESPN Radio.
We can now officially welcome Anik to the UFC team and we look forward to hearing and seeing his work as the UFC makes its transition to FOX next year. Congrats Mr. Anik.
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Dope move! Anik is an intelligent guy and great broadcaster for MMA!
Lucky Guy. Anik knows his shit. Wonder if he trains too
They better not get rid of Joe Rogan, he’s half the entertainment!
dont worry dana white made it clear what his being is about joe rogan and mike goldberg cant be at every single event cuz they plan on having WAY more events so hes there to be in the places they cant
I agree, just Mike Goldberg should be removed
personally, i gotta spark a blunt whenever he talks. cant listen to him sober… makes me want to shoot myself in the head with a .357. even when hes yapping, and when im high as ****, the shit he says blows my ****in mind..
sorry goldberg your cool but sometimes you just gotta shut the **** up.
Couldn’t agree more. Joe could stop being in love with certain fighters also. I was kinda pissed when he kinda screwed Nam Phan out ouf his time when he beat Garcia. Garcia deserves credit but give Nam first crack at the Mic.
Anik and Florini, future partners?
Holy shit! Big Move, Anik is a stud!
They should have gotten Bas Rutten. The guy is hilarious, entertaining and knows his MMA shit!
as funny as he is he has his moments where he is biased cuz that dude if F-ING hilarious like what he said about steven segull
Such a great move! Anik will bring a lot to UFC. Will miss his ESPN chats though.
What a good fit! I just hope that this good news doesn’t get lost in the negotiation mix-up that Directv and FOX are going through right now. My neighbor agrees that Anik is also a great addition, but he recently got the bad news that Directv might be dropping FX, amongst other FOX channels. I’m subscribed to DISH Network since I work for them and I can look forward to seeing FOX and UFC do it up