- published: 03 Mar 2016
- views: 791
Jon Anik (born July 3, 1978) is a former ESPN anchor and host of ESPN.com's MMA Live. He currently works for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as a commentator.
Anik was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from The Rivers School in Weston, Massachusetts in 1997 and enrolled at Gettysburg College, where he graduated with a degree in political journalism. Anik spent one semester at American University in Washington, D.C., working as an intern for the George Michael Sports Machine.
Anik is a former ESPN anchor and the host of MMA Live on ESPN2. He has anchored several live events for ESPN, including MMA Live’s coverage of UFC 91, UFC 94, UFC 98, UFC 100, UFC 101, UFC 113, UFC 114 and UFC 126. From 2006 to 2008, Anik worked for ESPN Radio, where he anchored SportsCenter updates and served as a fill-in host on Game Night. He also does a weekly MMA chat every wednesday for ESPN.com.
In 2011 Dana White announced during a press conference that Jon Anik would be joining the UFC. Anik made his commentary debut during the international broadcast of UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller. He is the lead play-by-play announcer for all FX and FUEL TV fights and is also the host of the UFC's flagship sports magazine show UFC Ultimate Insider.
Dana White (born July 28, 1969) is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.
Born in Manchester, Connecticut on July 28, 1969, White grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, Ware, Massachusetts and Levant, Maine. White is a passionate Boston Red Sox fan. During his youth, he bounced back and forth between Boston and Maine. He attended the University of Massachusetts Boston but did not finish; however, while there he did launch a boxing program for inner-city youth.
White has a background as an aerobics instructor. In 1992, White established Dana White Enterprises in Las Vegas. He conducted aerobics classes at three gyms in the Las Vegas area and began managing MMA fighters Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.
While working as a manager, White learned that Semaphore Entertainment Group, the parent company of the UFC, was looking for a buyer for the UFC. White contacted childhood friend Lorenzo Fertitta, an executive at Station Casinos, and a former commissioner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Within a month, Lorenzo and his older brother Frank bought the UFC, with White installed as its president. White currently owns about 9% of Zuffa, LLC, the entity the Fertitta brothers created to own and manage the UFC.
Daniel Cormier (born March 20, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and a former Olympic wrestler. He is currently signed to Strikeforce, fighting in the heavyweight division. Cormier is ranked #4 in the heavyweight division by Fight Matrix.
Cormier is the son of Joseph and Audrey Cormier. He has an older brother named Joseph and a sister named Felicia. When Cormier was seven, his father was shot and killed on Thanksgiving Day in 1986 by the father of his second wife.
He was a three-time Louisiana wrestling state champion in high school and high school All-American. In high school, Northside High School, he suffered only two losses after his freshman year, both coming in injury defaults. He had a 101–9 record during his high school career and was also an All-State performer in football. After high school he attended Colby Community College where he was a two-time junior college national champion. After Colby he transferred to wrestling powerhouse Oklahoma State University where he was an NCAA runner-up, losing to Cael Sanderson in the finals.