Jon Anik was over the moon seeing Francis Ngannou have success against Tyson Fury.
Ngannou had a stellar showing in his “Battle of the Baddest” boxing match with WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. While the WBC gold wasn’t on the line, Ngannou fought as if this was a title bout. “The Predator” had far more success against “The Gypsy King” than most were expecting. He even scored a knockdown on Fury, who recovered but Ngannou’s pressure continued to find success. Ultimately, Fury won the fight via split decision, but Ngannou’s efforts alone have him feeling like a winner.
Jon Anik Recalls Initial Reaction to Francis Ngannou’s Performance
During an interview with MMAFighting‘s Mike Heck, UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik said he could barely contain himself when Francis Ngannou scored a knockdown on Tyson Fury.
“I was going crazy,” Anik said. “I was disrupting children and everything that was going on in the household. It was very exciting and obviously, it was at a time that was cool for us on the east coast of the United States to be able to watch it.”
Anik went on to discuss Ngannou’s story and how he overcame obstacles to become the biggest name in combat sports.
“I’m so happy for Francis Ngannou,” Anik said. “It was a very sad day for me as a voice of the UFC when he left the promotion because I was just very excited to see and call the Francis Ngannou era. The guy’s life is a major motion picture, as I’ve said repeatedly on our UFC telecast. The average citizen in Batié, Cameroon makes $1,300 a year on average. What he was able to come out of to become the baddest man on the planet by consensus is nothing short of unheard of, extraordinary.”
“He’s an outstanding athlete, and I think, lost in a lot of the big nature of what happened is that the desire for Francis Ngannou to be great and the discipline and the work ethic finally caught up to the physical gifts. There was a time in his UFC career where that wasn’t necessarily omnipresent. I’m just so happy for this individual and his team because they bet on Francis. They should have bet on Francis Ngannou and they reaped the benefits as far as the fight itself is concerned.”
“Fury deserves credit for accepting this Ngannou fight and giving Francis the opportunity, but does this not lay the foundation for an immediate rematch and hopefully a $25 million payday for Francis Ngannou,” continued Anik.
Here is MMAFighting’s full interview with Jon Anik:
