Jon Anik hits back at critics of UFC 304 commentary during Belal Muhammad’s win

UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik vehemently denies any favoritism during Belal Muhammad’s title win in Manchester last month.

Muhammad defeated Leon Edwards for the UFC welterweight championship at UFC 304. His ongoing 11-fight unbeaten streak was capped off by a largely-dominant win over the incumbent Edwards in a rematch of their 2021 clash.

After the event, many fight fans took to social media to question Anik, Daniel Cormier, and Michael Bisping’s commentary. Anik, in particular, was questioned for perceived bias due to his relationship with Muhammad outside of the Octagon.

Jon’s brother, Jason, hosts a podcast entitled Remember The Show with Muhammad. Despite their close friendship, Anik says he treated UFC 304 like an average pay-per-view showcase.

Jon Anik responds to perceived Belal Muhammad favoritism

During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Anik reacted to critics of his UFC 304 commentary.

“I have interpersonal relationships on both sides of this,” Anik said. “I actually go further back with Leon than I do with Belal. Tim Simpson, [Leon’s] manager, is a good friend of mine, and historically, for me, the call that has, I think, helped my career the most was something that relates to Leon Edwards. If you listen to the Anik & Florian Podcast, our show open ends with Leon Edwards saying, ‘Head shot, dead,’ right? So there’s a lot of connective tissue and interpersonal stuff for me on both sides of all of these fights…

“But yeah, I felt like the call was down the line,” Anik continued. “Now, you can imagine all the different things that commentators hear from fans and fighters and coaches and bosses over the years. But I sleep well at night, I stand by that call, and I stand by Belal Muhammad as a friend. When we launched his podcast with my twin brother, four or five years ago, whatever it was, he had 18,000 Instagram followers, he was unranked. We believed in him in terms of him having a social media presence, and that he could maybe become a contender, if not championship athlete. And you know what? We bet on the right f*cking guy.” (h/t MMA Fighting/Mike Heck)

Anik made his UFC play-by-play debut in 2012. He’s arguably the greatest UFC broadcaster of all time and signed a new deal with the promotion in 2022.