Veteran UFC play-by-play lead Jon Anik has called action all over the globe for the Octagon. But this week, he revealed a rather surprising owner of the loudest crowd moment he’s ever experienced. That moment may come as a shock to some readers.
Anik, who took over from the veteran Mike Goldberg as a main play-by-play lead for flagship cards back in 2016, has been revered as the promotion’s best on-mic talent in the time since.
The Bostonian has often welcomed a slew of other color commentators in the booth, like Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier, Michael Bisping, Dominick Cruz, Paul Felder, and the impressive Laura Sanko, to name a few. In these years, he’s also witnessed some of the most iconic moments in UFC history.
He was present for the UFC’s biggest rivalry — a fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov against Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in Nevada, US. But for the accolade for the loudest and most amped-up crowd in combat sports, Anik is pointing at the Great White North.
The main event honors at UFC 113 saw sport icons, Lyoto Machida and Mauricio Shogun Rua, rematch for the divisional crown. Machida was stopped inside the opening round after Rua launched a huge knockout shot. This also put an end to their feud, which began with a controversial win for the former during their first fight.
And as far as Anik is concerned, while Aussie fans may be the most rabid at the moment, pound-for-pound, Canada is the leader when it comes to noise and per-capita fandom.
When Canadian crowd nearly drowned out Anik’s commentary
“The loudest MMA crowd I have ever heard UFC 113 in 2010,” Anik said in a video posted on Instagram.
“At the Bell Center, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The venue that we were at this past weekend. Shogun Hua versus Lyoto Machida. Shogun Hua knocked out Lyoto Machida — that building was so loud all night,” he recalled.
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“It made it hard to do television,” Anik continued.
“Which is what we do for a living, needless to say. I was very excited to get back to that environment. I think the biggest appetite for mixed martial arts right now is in Australia. But the loudest MMA fan, loudest MMA fans per capita, are in Canada,” he concluded.
Jon Anik’s recall of that fight from sixteen years ago has rekindled memories of the fabled rivalry between Shogun and Machida for UFC fans.
Shogun’s rivalry with Machida
First fighting back in 2009 at UFC 104 in Los Angeles, Rua came unstuck. Competing for the light heavyweight crown, Rua was unable to topple his countryman, Machida. According to the three judges’ Octagon-side, at least, who scored the fight 47-48, 47-48, and 47-48, all in favor of Machida.
This was met with immediate boos from fans in the arena. They questioned if the judges had seen the same fight. On paper as well, Rua was the clear winner, with 80-35 significant strikes and 82-39 total strikes.
If one deconstructed the fight round by round, Rua would still emerge as the overwhelming winner. Machida was overwhelmingly outstruck in every single one.
But as disappointing as the result was, it resulted in an immediate rematch. And this time around, Rua didn’t waste any time playing around or leaving anything to the judges.
Ahead of UFC 283 in Brazil, rumors suggested Rua and Machida would meet for a third time in a trilogy bout. However, the showdown failed to happen.
And Jon Anik’s pick of that last fight as seeing the loudest crowd could stay undisputed.
