Jon Anik has called hundreds of fights as the official play-by-play announcer for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), but the veteran broadcaster experienced a first last week at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia.
Featured to call one of the greatest on-paper fights in UFC history, Anik watched reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski climb in weight in a bid to become a two-time champion by defeating the reigning champion of the United States. lightweights, Islam Makhachev. This all happened in Volkanovski’s Australian backyard, so the tension was at an all-time high.
Unfortunately for Volkanovski, the judges ended up awarding Makhachev the unanimous decision victory after a very close five-round affair. In fact, many people still believe that Volkanovski did enough in one of his most impressive performances to date to claim the 155-pound strap and qualify as a two-division champion.
That didn’t happen, however, and the Australian fans in attendance weren’t too happy when the final decision was read to shut down UFC 284. They even started throwing food in the direction of the Octagon. .
“After the decision was announced, it’s the first time I’ve done – I’m sure it’s not the first time people have thrown stuff in our direction – [but] this is my first time getting a burger and fries on the back, and it was definitely a lot heavier than fries,” Anik told MMA Fighting.
“On the Anik & Florian podcast, we tried to lead the dance with the technical stuff and the fight itself as opposed to the scorecards. But when so much is at stake, I understand why people who are emotional and passionate have their opinions, and I think the sport at its highest level is so close, and elite fights between elite fighters are often the hottest ones. disputed.
“There are a number of different directions we could go. The pound-for-pound discussion is largely cosmetic. I believe that the next fights for Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski are more important, and I would say that in terms of [UFC 284 fight’s] raising expectations, you could say it exceeded them.
Despite all the backlash Makhachev has received for allegedly taking an IV ahead of his main event fight with Volkanovski and the fact that he nearly lost his lightweight reign to a 145-pounder, Anik thinks fight fans have to give credit to the Dagestani fighter. for his efforts.
“People say, ‘Oh, his first title defense [he] should have fought Benny Dariush, instead he picks a featherweight,” Anik said. “Pick a featherweight? He fought the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world who has a one-inch reach advantage against him, who stepped back twice to be the guy in a lightweight title fight. So the road was kind of paved for Makhachev, and he got into the belly of the beast, and made it to Perth, which in theory he didn’t necessarily have to do.
“So I would like to lead the dance to people who want to give Islam credit for going five rounds for the first time, for going up against its pound-for-pound equal in many ways. You can sort of cut the hairs when it comes to weight and height and everything else, but I think it’s going to be a very competitive rematch. I think the betting line is going to be a lot closer the second time around; I think the stock for both gentlemen is definitely going up. It would be hard to argue against the rise in Volkanovski’s stock, but can Islam get any credit for its part in all of this? That wasn’t him snatching someone from the lightweight class to [his first] title defense.
Do you agree with Anik? Does Makhachev deserve our credit?
Ring !
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