Former UFC Heavyweight "Big Brown" Brendan Schaub has been running a web series for the past few years where he takes an MMA fighter to a food truck, feeds them, and interviews them. All while giving a spotlight to a food truck. It's called Food Truck Diaries. It's good content. Today, Brendan released his latest Food Truck Diary. However, he didn't have a fighter on the show, instead, he brought on the voice of the UFC, Jon Anik.
The reason Jon Anik is a big deal is because of the unforgettable moments he gives us on the microphone. He has the perfect voice for play-by-play audio, and we got him for the best sport in the world. Anik could have stuck with college football as he mentioned when he first started at ESPN he was doing college football and boxing. Anik hosted a boxing show and an MMA show long before the partnership between UFC and ESPN. Anik also spoke on how Stuart Scott was a huge part of bringing MMA to ESPN and how he saw it as a growing sport. This was before Conor McGregor took the UFC to the juggernaut it is now. Anik even admitted he wasn't a big MMA fan until he saw Gracie vs Shamrock in Tunica Mississippi. He originally liked boxing better, but found it was becoming underwhelming compared to MMA. "All they do is hold all the time" is how Anik described boxing.
Before ordering their food from Yeastie Boys Food Truck, Anik joked about how because of this meal he is "gonna get fat as fuck right now!" He also said, "I'm not gonna fit in my suit in Brazil." Anik is a funny guy, his delivery is also exactly how he announces the fights. That alone makes his play-by-play, or punch-by-punch calls so much more real. Even the way he described his food was like listening to him call a fight. "This is BANGIN!"
As Schaub and Anik chowed down on their Bagels from Yeastie Boys, they spoke about some of Anik's most memorable moments, including how Khabib and Anik share the same UFC debut. Anik mentioned how great it was to watch the legend of Khabib grow from the beginning. Anik also spoke on the lows of his announcing career. He regrets his choice of words from his famous "custody battle" line that has been meme'd all over the internet. Anik was just trying to explain that both fighters were going through custody battles on the outside of the octagon.
Schaub and Anik also briefly touched on Dana White's recent domestic altercation with his wife. They both condemned Dana's actions. Schaub called it a setback for the UFC, Anik agreed. I feel like they just talked about it because they had to rather than really going into detail on the subject. After all, he is Anik's boss.
The banter between Schaub and Anik was great, Anik admitted Big Brown was actually one of his favorite fighters which was a nice moment for Brendan. Schaub called Rogan, Anik, and Cormier the Jordan, Bird, and Magic of announcing. The end of the show was mainly regarding exciting things to come in the UFC. Anik mentioned McGregor is going to fight this year. Schaub threw out several names like Tony Ferguson and Michael Chandler to face Conor. Yet, Jon Anik believes the biggest fight for Conor would be with Jorge Masvidal. How fun would that be? McGregor vs Masvidal? It really does not get better than that.
As always Food Truck Diaries ended with Schaub giving his guest a pair of shoes from Sooplex in Phillidelphia. Brendan gave Anik a really nice pair of black and white retro Jordan ones with optional pink laces. Anik said he'll be wearing them with the pink laces at the weigh-ins in Brazil this Friday.
Love that you cover all UFC content - I have to ask where was this "Yeastie Boys" Bagel food truck - was it Brooklyn?