UFC commentator Jon Anik recently shared som insights about the controversy surrounding him and two-time title challenger Colby Covington.
After spending a year on the sidelines, Covington made a comeback last month. He was the official backup for the UFC 286 trilogy bout between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman. It was later confirmed by UFC President Dana White that Covington would be the next contender in line for the welterweight title.
Anik took to Twitter to express support for welterweight contender Belal Muhammad, who many believe deserves a title opportunity.
However, Covington responded by issuing physical threats towards Anik and involving his kids in the conversation.
He said: “Jon Anik, dude, I don’t want your kids to grow up without a dad. Just realize you live in Boca, I live in Miami, motherf**ker. You’re not too far from me. So you better shut your f**ing mouth.”
Addressing the incident on Morning Kombat with Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell, Anik revealed that he had privately addressed the issue with Covington.
He acknowledged that while Covington’s threats were concerning, he never felt particularly threatened. Anik also said that he appreciated the support from other athletes, including Jorge Masvidal and Jamahal Hill.
He said: “I think you can argue that he crossed the line, but I never felt particularly threatened. Moreso I felt the support from Jorge Masvidal and Jamahal Hill and a lot of other athletes and I certainly appreciate that.”
“I don’t know that you need to inject anybody’s kids into the equation and there will come a point in time on Snapchat or somewhere else where my 11-year-old daughter is going to come across that clip and there will be some explaining to do, but by and large, Colby and I are good.”
“We have addressed it privately. We messaged each other. And it’s interesting because I’ve tried not to lean into it. I just leaned into it a little bit there, but ultimately there were two parts of that navigation when he said what he said.”
“First of all, what did I say that has upset the high-profile professional athlete? I’ve got to figure that out first. Did I say something? Did I analytically go too far with my editorialization of the welterweight championship pecking order?”
“So once I realized his beef is really that I gave Belal Muhammad a platform. I didn’t really say anything that sensational, then you can address what he had said and if I’m being honest, it was Colby in character for me. When I first saw the clip I thought nothing of it and then my phone got pretty noisy and I thought more of it as the day went on.”
Despite addressing the issue privately with Covington, Anik also expressed concerns about potential escalation from Covington’s ‘cronies’.
He said: “I’ve been more off-put by maybe some of Colby’s cronies who are like, ‘Yeah, you don’t have to worry about him, but maybe it’s me.’ But there have been high-profile athletes that have taken issue with what I have said and I try to bury the hatchet.”
“Either stand by what I said or apologize. There’s not a show that goes by where someone is not upset with something. It’s the world in which we live.”