Jon Anik News

Fernando Quiles Jr. - November 12, 2025

As he enters a super fight at UFC 322 on Saturday, Islam Makhachev has received high praise from a top MMA analyst. Makhachev has been preparing for Jack Della Maddalena ever since “JDM” snatched the UFC Welterweight Championship from Belal Muhammad back in May. After vacating the UFC Lightweight Championship, which now belongs to Ilia Topuria, Makhachev is gunning for the 170-pound gold.

Harry Kettle - November 10, 2025

UFC commentator Jon Anik has given his thoughts on the Jon Jones/Tom Aspinall ‘ducking’ controversy. As we know, Jon Jones seems pretty set on competing on the UFC White Card next summer – perhaps even in the main event. With that being said, Jon has some work to do in order to receive such a placement. That includes apologizing to Dana White after ‘Bones’ recently admitted that he was in the wrong with how he approached the situation that ended with him retiring from mixed martial arts instead of fighting Tom Aspinall.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - September 10, 2025

Jon Anik doesn’t feel the change from calling UFC fights to boxing will be drastic. Anik has been the UFC’s play-by-play man for several years. He has called some of the biggest fights in MMA, but he’ll be in for quite the task when serving as a commentator for Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford on Saturday. It’s a big moment for Anik, as Alvarez vs. “Bud” is the biggest boxing match in recent memory.

Cole Shelton - July 29, 2025

UFC commentator Jon Anik is open to the idea of a knockdown rule in MMA after watching the Steven Nguyen-Mohammed Yahya fight. Nguyen took on Yahya on the prelims of UFC Abu Dhabi at featherweight. Nguyen dropped Yahya five times in the first round and got another knockdown in the second round for six total, before the doctor stopped it at the end of the second round. However, many fans wanted the fight to be stopped sooner, and Jon Anik agrees, as he believes that the fight could have been stopped early in the first round.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 3, 2025

One UFC commentator continues to be amazed by the current run Ilia Topuria is on. After knocking out two all-time greats in Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway back-to-back, Topuria decided to relinquish the featherweight gold in an effort to move up to 155 pounds. While some considered it to be a bold move for Topuria, he ended up starching Charles Oliveira in the opening frame to lay claim to the UFC Lightweight Championship.

Harry Kettle - June 15, 2025

UFC commentator Jon Anik has made an interesting claim regarding the upcoming Kayla Harrison vs Amanda Nunes fight. As we know, Kayla Harrison is the new UFC women’s bantamweight champion. She won the gold by defeating Julianna Pena, and she did so in pretty convincing circumstances. She was able to submit the former two-time champion and in doing so, further improved her legacy as one of the best female combat sports athletes of all time.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 6, 2025

One UFC commentator doesn’t believe Jon Jones cares if he gets stripped of the heavyweight title. Jones has been the UFC Heavyweight Champion since March 2023. He’s had just one title defense, and he hasn’t sounded gung-ho over the idea of fighting Tom Aspinall in a title unification bout. Aspinall has been the interim titleholder since Nov. 2023 and even has a successful title defense of his own.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 3, 2025

If you don’t think Julianna Pena has a chance at UFC 316, one top commentator strongly disagrees. Pena will be putting the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship at stake against Kayla Harrison in the co-main event of UFC 316. The title fight will be held inside Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday. Pena is a sizable underdog going into the bout, which is a familiar spot for “The Venezuelan Vixen.” She was a massive underdog before scoring a submission finish over soon-to-be UFC Hall of Famer Amanda Nunes.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 1, 2025

A top UFC commentator believes Merab Dvalishvili has already cemented himself as the greatest bantamweight of all time. Dvalishvili may have just one successful UFC bantamweight title defense, but his road to the title featured wins over elite competition. Before capturing gold, Dvalishvili had victories over UFC Hall of Famer Jose Aldo, former two-division champion Henry Cejudo, and former UFC bantamweight titleholder Petr Yan.

BJ Penn Staff - May 26, 2025

Jon Anik broke some huge fight news on his podcast this week. According to the long-time UFC play-by-play commentator former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad will take on Shavkat Rakhmonov this October. Anik revealed the fight during an episode of his Anik & Florian podcast, alongside his brother Jason and former UFC title challenger Kenny Florian.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 20, 2025

It appears Justin Gaethje is none too pleased about not getting a lightweight title shot at UFC 317. The two men fighting for the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship on June 28 will be Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira. “El Matador’s” title opportunity was a given since he vacated the 145-pound gold. The other spot belongs to “do Bronx,” who has a submission finish over Gaethje.

Harry Kettle - April 9, 2025

UFC commentator Jon Anik believes Alexander Volkanovski is set for featherweight greatness if he can win on Saturday night. This weekend at UFC 314, Alexander Volkanovski will once again attempt to become UFC featherweight champion. He will go up against Diego Lopes for the belt, which will become vacant once the fight starts. ‘The Great’ will try and reclaim the gold that was taken from him when he was viciously knocked out by Ilia Topuria, who went on to also knock out Max Holloway.

Harry Kettle - April 7, 2025

UFC legend Dustin Poirier is one of the names who will be part of the UFC 314 broadcast team this weekend in Miami, Florida. On Saturday night, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will make its return to Miami. The expectation is that we could be in for the best card of the year thus far, headlined by a UFC featherweight championship fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes. Regardless of your own expectations, there’s a lot of anticipation in the air as we get closer and closer to fight night.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - March 27, 2025

UFC play-by-play ace Jon Anik thinks one fighter has become the “forgotten man.” Anik has covered his share of big fights, and he’s seen some of the best athletes share the Octagon while calling the action. One division that he’s intrigued by is featherweight. There is a vacant championship fight set for April 12 between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes. That title bout will headline UFC 314.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - March 14, 2025

One rising UFC lightweight has caught the attention of Jon Anik. Anik is the current play-by-play ace for the UFC. He has seen his share of highly touted prospects come and go in the sport of MMA. A lot of them don’t last beyond the initial hype.

Harry Kettle - March 13, 2025

UFC commentator Jon Anik believes Justin Gaethje deserves a crack at Islam Makhachev’s UFC title. Last weekend, Justin Gaethje proved that he’s still an elite competitor in the lightweight division. He went toe to toe with Rafael Fiziev for the second time, and for the second time, he came away with a blockbuster victory.

BJ Penn Staff - December 4, 2024

Jon Jones has already achieve more as a professional fighter than boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr., according to UFC commentator Jon Anik. Anik, who provides play-by-play on the majority of UFC broadcasts, discussed Jones’ legacy in a recent interview with MMA Junkie. He compared the MMA star to Mayweather and Joe Calzaghe, both of whom retired with undefeated records.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - November 29, 2024

Jon Anik has a suggestion for how UFC Hall of Fame inductees are determined. As it stands now, there’s no publicly known criteria for earning the distinction. It’s led to some debates throughout the MMA community on who deserves to make it to the Hall. We’ve even seen Daniel Cormier explain why he wouldn’t have someone like Jim Miller get in.