Last night (Sat., April 27, 2024), at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, history was made at UFC Vegas 91 when backstage reporter Charly Arnolt became the first woman to serve as a ring announcer in promotion history—for two fights.
Arnolt briefly replaced veteran UFC announcer Joe Martinez, who fell ill (his voice gave out), as she announced the winner of the Flyweight bout Karine Silva vs. Ariane da Silva. Then she introduced Ryan Spann vs. Bogdan Guskov and then the winner of that Light Heavyweight fight.
Martinez returned to announce the main event between Alex Perez and Matheus Nicolau, in which Perez starched Nicolau in the second round (watch highlights).
Charly cage announcing.pic.twitter.com/MJdaJwQrtY
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) April 28, 2024
Literally, minutes after making her announcing debut, Arnolt jumped on Twitter to react.
“Ya’ll. I’m Shaking,” Arnolt wrote. “What an experience that was!”
YA’LL. I AM SHAKING!! What an experience that was!!
— Charly Arnolt (@CharlyOnTV) April 28, 2024
This just happened!! What a cool night. https://t.co/K6LjnJsGJB
— Charly Arnolt (@CharlyOnTV) April 28, 2024
Arnolt left ESPN in April 2023 and joined Outkick because she felt she couldn’t speak freely. In an interview with Fox News, she said, “People are too scared to speak up for the fear of being called politically incorrect. The idea of cancel culture doesn’t exist here. I speak freely.”
For complete UFC Vegas 91 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.