LAS VEGAS – Jon Anik has joined the UFC family.
UFC president Dana White today announced that the veteran broadcaster, who's been the longtime host and anchor of the weekly "MMA Live" show on ESPN2, has joined the UFC broadcasting team.
Anik will commentate UFC Fight Night and The Ultimate Fighter Finale events on FX, and he'll also call the action for the live "TUF" episodes that begin airing on the cable station in 2012.
"We're very happy to have Jon as part of the team," White said during today's UFC 137 pre-event press conference in Las Vegas.
Anik, 33, is taking a full-time position with the UFC. There's no word on his possible "MMA Live" replacement.
The UFC moves from Spike TV to the FOX family of channels (FOX, FX and FUEL TV, among others) in 2012 as part of a landmark seven-year deal. With a busy fight schedule and the live "TUF" airings on Friday nights, the current broadcasting team of Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan would have been stretched too thin.
In addition to "MMA Live," Anik has hosted numerous UFC-related weigh-in specials that have aired on ESPN. He's also done work for ESPN.com and ESPN Radio.
Anik, who graduated from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, also called the action for the online English-language streams of Bellator events that previously aired on ESPN Deportes. He also played himself in the this year's "Warrior" film.
Source: ESPN's Jon Anik joins UFC broadcasting team
