Going on-air after Ronda Rousey's UFC 207 loss was one of 'weirdest things' Jon Anik had to do on TV

UFC commentator Jon Anik has broken down a a fair share of events, but UFC 207’s headliner came with its own set of challenges.

In charge of hosting FS1’s post-fight show, Anik told MMAjunkie Radio it wasn’t that easy to gather his thoughts after ex-champ Ronda Rousey’s (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) highly-publicized octagon return was shut down within 48 seconds by defending titleholder Amanda Nunes (14-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC).

Of course they were prepared for the possibility of Nunes finishing Rousey fast – just maybe, you know, not less-than-50-second fast.

“Having to go on the air 30 seconds literally after Amanda Nunes knocked out Ronda Rousey was sort of one of the weirdest things I’ve had to do on TV,” Anik said. “We do it all the time, we do these post-fight shows, but we knew we were going to go quickly and it was really hard to just collect my thoughts after that moment. It was just stunning the way it went down.

“You had 400-plus days of build-up for Ronda Rousey’s return only to see it come crashing down in a matter of seconds. And it came on the heels of a classic between Cody Garbrandt and Dominick Cruz that went the full 25 minutes, so you thought you were settling in for a little bit of fighting, and you didn’t get it.”

Which is not to say that Nunes hasn’t earned her time on the spotlight.

“We could spend 30 minutes on Amanda Nunes if we just want to leave the show with that and talk about Nunes,” Anik added. “She gave you enough in that fight and in that fight week with the way she handled everything, to talk about for 30 minutes. So big ups for Amanda Nunes.”

Anik, who’s also a play-by-play voice on FS1, discussed the singularities of breaking down a fight in which one of the protagonists was basically off the grid for its entire lead-up. After an year spent mostly in obscurity, capped off by a full-on no-media fight week, simply having enough on Rousey for analysis became a difficult task.

“We’ve got to be super careful on the broadcast, because potentially we’re calling the fights of these individuals,” Anik said. “So a lot of the noise you try to tune out. It’s interesting when it comes to this fight, because intangibly you had to look at those things for Ronda Rousey.

“Miesha Tate sat on the desk with us and changed her pick, from Amanda Nunes to Ronda Rousey, just based upon the physical, and fight week, and the way she thought Ronda was handling the limited things she saw her in.

“So that was all we were able to focus on, we weren’t able to focus on anything cause she wasn’t giving us anything. And as far as a lot of people were concerned, that was going to be something that worked on her advantage. It didn’t.”

Ultimately, Anik questions whether Rousey was able to cope with the non-champion life after the devastating knockout loss to Holly Holm in November 2015. But that’s pretty much as critical as he’ll get of Rousey at a time when she already has enough to digest.

“After the Holly Holm fight, one thing critically I did say – and maybe it’s not even that critical – was, ‘Here’s Ronda Rousey walking into her new life,'” Anik said. “Like Luke Rockhold loses to Michael Bisping, ‘Welcome to your new life, bro.’ I saw him three months later Luke just shook my hand, just shaking his head still. So, you walk back to your new life and not a lot of people can handle it.

“I don’t think she handled it well but certainly don’t look at me to pile on when the world is piling on her.”

Of the two champions who walked into the octagon on Friday, only Nunes got to keep her belt – with co-headliner Dominick Cruz ending up dethroned by an impressively composed Cody Garbrandt to end an almost decade-long undefeated streak.

On his end, Anik signed a mea culpa for perhaps underestimating Garbrandt’s chances. And, while he anticipates that the newly-crowned titleholder’s chin will be tested at some point, Anik believes this bantamweight reign could end up being a long one.

“Shame on us for not thinking that the elite athlete with four training camps under his belt this year could improve as a fighter and maximize fight night – which we talked about other fighters not doing,” Anik said. “So I don’t know, I feel like I sold him short a little bit in not giving him a chance. I thought Dom looked maybe a touch slower than he did in February against (T.J.) Dillashaw and in June against Urijah Faber, but Cody just seemed to be the sharper, crisper, faster athlete.

“I thought it was just a huge feather in his cap. And I think somebody’s eventually is going to touch that chin and really challenge Cody, but I think it’s going to be a tough man to beat for sure going forward.”

For complete coverage of UFC 207, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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