In December 1997 announcer Mike Goldberg made his UFC debut in the “The Land of the Rising Sun.” For almost 15 years, with only a handful of exceptions, he’s been the sole play-by-play voice of the UFC.No longer.The UFC’s brand new broadcast deal…
In December 1997 announcer Mike Goldberg made his UFC debut in the “The Land of the Rising Sun.” For almost 15 years, with only a handful of exceptions, he’s been the sole play-by-play voice of the UFC.
No longer.
The UFC’s brand new broadcast deal with the Fox family has ramped up an already busy schedule and announcers Goldberg and color man Joe Rogan simply couldn’t keep up with the demand. Tonight, the two men who have become synonymous with the UFC on television will give way to veteran ESPN broadcaster Jon Anik.
The 33-year-old Anik will host the brand new Ultimate Fighter and call the action on FX and Fuel. Partnered with fighter Kenny Florian, Anik will attempt to fill Goldberg’s very large shoes.
Bleacher Report caught up with Anik on the eve of his first show to introduce you to the man who will walk you through the action for what should be years to come.
The new year kicks off with a bang on Friday with UFC on FX 1: Guillard vs Miller, as the UFC officially starts their deal with Fox. The show takes place from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville,TN.The prelims start on Fuel TV 6PM ET/3PT, with the main …
The new year kicks off with a bang on Friday with UFC on FX 1: Guillard vs Miller, as the UFC officially starts their deal with Fox. The show takes place from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville,TN.
The prelims start on Fuel TV 6PM ET/3PT, with the main card on FX at 9ET/6PT.
The main event features Melvin Guillard vs Jim Miller in a battle of two lightweights looking to stay in contention in the weight class.
Guillard (29-9-2) is looking to rebound from a loss to Joe Lauzon at UFC 136; he faces Miller (20-3), who is also coming off a loss, against number one contender Ben Henderson at UFC on Versus 5 event. A win for either guy should put them right in title picture.
“I expect a great fight between Melvin and I,” Miller said at the weigh in Thursday. “We’re two of the best guys in the division. I’m hungry for the win.”
Here are the main card fighter’s weigh in results:
Mixed martial arts is the fastest growing sport right now, and with its continued growth as a sport comes the continued growth of fans. Fans of MMA are passionate and rally behind individual athletes very often, to the point where they almost feel part…
Mixed martial arts is the fastest growing sport right now, and with its continued growth as a sport comes the continued growth of fans. Fans of MMA are passionate and rally behind individual athletes very often, to the point where they almost feel part of the fighter’s camp.
This is due to the exposure we are getting from the head companies who represent the sport.
Zuffa, comprised of UFC and Strikeforce, is the biggest promotion on the planet. Bellator and others stick out as well. These companies are putting the sport into the homes of everyone worldwide and giving them much more than people imagined a decade ago.
With the growth the MMA companies have gained, MMA events are being put on very often. This is, of course, a plus.
There are some that would argue that there is “too much of a good thing,” but the majority seem to clamor for even more.
The question used to be, “Is there a fight this week?” This has and continues to change and adapt to, “Who is fighting this week?”
The frequency of events, whether they are PPV or free fights, has increased significantly over the past few years. 2011 brought upon many fights and new chapters of MMA, and certainly left many people’s wallets a little lighter.
2012 is on the right course to outdo itself in regards to the number of events put on.
So far, January 2012 has had/will have a fight every weekend of the month. February is slated to be event-less only one week of the month. This packed schedule has been provided by the UFC and Strikeforce alone.
Fans are spoiled, but this article is not painting it in a bad light. On the contrary, this is a simple fact that is just something to enjoy.
As MMA fans, who wouldn’t want a fight every weekend? Yes, having a PPV event every weekend might hurt for some, but there are always bars and restaurants to catch the fights for free as well.
What has happened, to much delight, is that most weekends are booked for Saturday night. On weeks like February 5th through the 11th, though, it almost seems like we go through withdrawal. As fans, we have become accustomed to this high-frequency fight night schedule that is being put on, to the point where one week off seems like forever.
This is a good thing, though. When people are used to a fight/event each week, there is little need to worry about promoting awareness of the fight taking place. Companies still need to promote WHO is fighting and WHY it is worth everyone’s money, but it is at a point where people can assume there is a fight on Saturday night and would be right most of the time.
The companies spoil the fans in terms of PR events, social media interaction and so on, but at the end of the day, we all want to see some good fights.
The downside to this spoiling is that some people can develop high expectations for every fight card. While a card like UFC on Fox 2 at the end of the month doesn’t seem PPV-worthy now, it could have years ago.
Higher standards of a money-worthy PPV event are slowly being adopted by some, but now with the Fox deal, a UFC event can be “not a PPV candidate,” but a valuable gem when free and on a major network like Fox.
We have already had a couple examples in the past where a title was put on the line, or a strong card in general was put on free television.
Naturally, we would like for any PPV event to have a championship fight on it, but sometimes this can’t be the case. In this sense, we can be spoiled to the point where we expect more than possible.
2012 will be yet another year of big changes, big title fights (especially with the new division) and be full of weekends with friends on Saturday nights.
Are we spoiled as MMA fans? Absolutely, and most wouldn’t want it any other way.
Zuffa announced today that they will institute a new performance-enhancing drug (PED) screening policy for all potential fighters prior to signing their contracts with either the UFC or Strikeforce.The move is a landmark decision by Zuffa, the parent c…
Zuffa announced today that they will institute a new performance-enhancing drug (PED) screening policy for all potential fighters prior to signing their contracts with either the UFC or Strikeforce.
The move is a landmark decision by Zuffa, the parent company of both major mixed martial arts promotions, that will help in its commitment in keeping fighters who use PEDs out of the cage.
“We’re committed to the health and safety of our athletes and we take it very seriously,” UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said in a press release. “We already work closely with athletic commissions to protect our athletes and now we’re taking it one step further. We’re going to test any potential UFC or STRIKEFORCE fighter before finalizing their contract. This shows that we don’t want performance-enhancing drugs in our sport.”
The new policy will require that any prospective UFC or Strikeforce fighter must submit themselves to a drug test prior to the finalization of their contracts with either promotion. This policy was instituted on Jan. 1 of this year.
Any fighter currently under contract with the UFC or Strikeforce will continue to be tested under the jurisdiction of the various state athletic commissions in conjunction with the guidelines set out by Zuffa and its promotions.
“The health and safety of our athletes is our top priority,” UFC President Dana White said. “We’ve seen the issues performance-enhancing drugs have caused in other sports and we’re going to do everything we can to keep them out of the UFC and Strikeforce.”
In recent weeks, two of Strikeforce’s most high profile fighters have been cited for violations. Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight champion Cris Santos was suspended a year for testing positive for steroids after her December bout and former champion Muhammed Lawal was revealed to have tested positive for steroids earlier today.
“Our athletes are already held to the highest testing standards in all sports by athletic commissions,” said White. “Our new testing policy for performance-enhancing drugs only further shows how important it is to us to have our athletes competing on a level playing field.”
Filed under: UFC, NewsFighters from now on will be screened for performance-enhancing drugs prior to signing with the UFC or Strikeforce, Zuffa announced Tuesday.
This announcement comes off the heels of two straight Strikeforce events with drug test …
“The health and safety of our athletes is our top priority,” UFC president Dana White said in a press release. “We’ve seen the issues performance-enhancing drugs have caused in other sports and we’re going to do everything we can to keep them out of the UFC and Strikeforce. Our athletes are already held to the highest testing standards in all sports by athletic commissions. Our new testing policy for performance-enhancing drugs only further shows how important it is to us to have our athletes competing on a level playing field.”
Current UFC and Strikeforce fighters will continue to be drug tested before and after fights as well as randomly in accordance with respective athletic commissions.
The policy of screening potential signees for PEDs officially came into effect Jan. 1.
ESPN brands themselves as the “worldwide leader in sports.” Typically this means coverage of huge sports like the NFL all the way down through sports as unique as Strong Man competitions and poker.Their coverage is usually interesting and e…
ESPN brands themselves as the “worldwide leader in sports.” Typically this means coverage of huge sports like the NFL all the way down through sports as unique as Strong Man competitions and poker.
Their coverage is usually interesting and even entertaining. It’s what has made them the man on campus for years now.
But ESPN should be completely ashamed of their recent story that could only be described as a hit piece on the mixed martial arts promotion known as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Not only is this piece entirely one-sided despite its halfhearted attempt to include UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, it is also incredibly and I would say intentionally misinformed for the benefit of creating a more interesting piece.
There are so many ridiculous points in the ESPN piece that it would take hours to explain just how bad it really is. But there are a few things that I decided cannot wait and need to be responded to immediately.
With that said, let’s take a closer look at some of the biggest loads of B.S. that were presented in ESPN’s video on UFC fighter pay.
The new year kicks off with a bang on Friday with 
Fighters from now on will be screened for performance-enhancing drugs prior to signing with the