The end of an era in the UFC appears to be on the horizon this weekend (Friday December 30, 2016) as it seems longtime commentator Mike Goldberg will be parting ways with the UFC after this week’s UFC 207 pay-per-view (PPV). According to a report, Goldberg will call his last fight card for the promotion in
The end of an era in the UFC appears to be on the horizon this weekend (Friday December 30, 2016) as it seems longtime commentator Mike Goldberg will be parting ways with the UFC after this week’s UFC 207 pay-per-view (PPV).
According to a report, Goldberg will call his last fight card for the promotion in the Las Vegas event headlined by the return of Ronda Rousey, who challenges bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes for the 135-pound strap. MMA Fighting’s Luke Thomas would later confirm the report:
Goldberg’s removal comes as the first of what is expected to be a long list of changes to come by new UFC owners WME-IMG. Goldberg, who has been with the UFC since 1997, has longtime sat alongside Joe Rogan to call some of the most prolific contests in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) for nearly twenty years now.
As for who will be replacing ‘Goldie’ Octagon-side, no name has been revealed just yet, but the rumors continue to throw out names such as Brazilian jiu jitsu pioneer Eddie Bravo and radio show host Jim Rome.
What are your thoughts regarding Goldberg being replaced? And who do you think should be the man to step up and take his place alongside Rogan at the commentary desk?
The UFC commentary desk could be seeing some big changes in 2018, as Dave Meltzer is reporting that networks in play for the UFC’s broadcasting rights want to get rid of the ‘hype master’ style of announcing that is currently offered by commentators Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg: Note from Meltzer regarding TV negotiations. Networks
The UFC commentary desk could be seeing some big changes in 2018, as Dave Meltzer is reporting that networks in play for the UFC’s broadcasting rights want to get rid of the ‘hype master’ style of announcing that is currently offered by commentators Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg:
Note from Meltzer regarding TV negotiations. Networks want to remove “hype master” Rogan/Goldberg style of announcing, UFC willing to change
The UFC and FOX signed a deal back in 2011 giving FOX seven years of exclusive broadcasting rights to the leading mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, but with the deal nearing its end in 2018 the UFC is now hearing offers from other major broadcasting networks and is asking for a price tag of $450 million to get in on the sweepstakes.
It seems, however, the networks in the running are asking to mix-up the commentary for the program, which would mean the removal of the beloved duo of Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg. Rogan has recently reduced his workload for the UFC, as he is only working PPV events now and is no longer working events overseas.
Plenty of other viable candidates could be in play for replacing Rogan and Goldberg, as Kenny Florian and Brian Stann immediately jump to mind as they have been doing good work on the UFC’s Fight Night and international events as of late.
We still have a good amount of time to go before anything is official, but it could only be a matter of time before a huge chapter in the UFC’s history comes to a close in two of the most iconic voices the sport has ever heard.
Mixed martial arts has evolved so much in the last 20 years, going from a sordid pleasure to a mainstream attraction in a relatively short time. It seems like just yesterday that bar brawlers who could knock a guy out were the biggest draws, names like Tank Abbott of the UFC old school spring to
Mixed martial arts has evolved so much in the last 20 years, going from a sordid pleasure to a mainstream attraction in a relatively short time. It seems like just yesterday that bar brawlers who could knock a guy out were the biggest draws, names like Tank Abbott of the UFC old school spring to mind on that topic. Now we see a much more polished product, with the market leader the Ultimate Fighting Championship constantly carving a new era in the sport.
Of course the one punch knockout artist is still one of the biggest attractions for the casual fan, but what we see in terms of skill and training in the modern UFC athlete far exceeds the limitations of the men who’s blood and sweat make the foundations of modern MMA. One man who’s followed the sport keenly is WWE legend Bill Goldberg, who talks about owning one of the biggest MMA gyms in the 1990’s, and discusses the evolution of mixed martial arts with The Ringer.
“I was a huge fan of the UFC, and of mixed martial arts, back in its embryonic state, when the Gary Goodridges, and the Don Fryes, and the Tank Abbotts were getting paid 100 bucks to smash people’s face for entertainment. I owned the largest MMA gym in the country back in the late ’90s.”
“They used to train?—?whether it was [Randy] Couture, or Frye, or Kevin Randleman?—?they used to train at my place. I had a love affair with the martial arts and it very much interests me, and I thought the combination of a guy that weighed 290 that could do a backflip and do these submission moves would succeed. I knew that the UFC and that mixed martial arts in general was going to prosper”
“I was at Jared Allen’s Night-Ops golf tournament, benefiting the military, and Ryan Bader was there two days ago. And Bader came up and asked to pick me up, asked me to pick him up; it’s a completely different relationship. All those guys wanna be us. All the fighters wanna be in professional wrestling, I don’t care what they say. There’s a huge parallel in it and they [the MMA fighters] very much appreciate those guys [the pro wrestlers] and conversely we very much appreciate what they do.”
Of course where this translates in to current events is the UFC’s growing relationship with the WWE. With Brock Lesnar, the most successful pro wrestling to MMA crossover set to make his return at UFC 200, fighters Paige VaZant and Ronda Rousey are rumoured for a Summerslam and Wrestlemania exchange. The worlds of wrestling entertainment and mixed martial arts have never been closer than now.
But Goldberg, even though one of the most well known faces in the outlandish and brash world of pro wresting, is not a fan of Conor McGregor’s style.
The UFC of 2016 is a far cry from the early days in a lot of ways. One massive alteration in terms of production is the much more aesthetically pleasing and slick appearance of events. Both for the fans at home and those watching live in the arena, the promotion as a whole has become
The UFC of 2016 is a far cry from the early days in a lot of ways. One massive alteration in terms of production is the much more aesthetically pleasing and slick appearance of events. Both for the fans at home and those watching live in the arena, the promotion as a whole has become a well oiled machine, working like clockwork on the most part. For the past 20 years, UFC color commentator Joe Rogan has been on hand to see the promotion grow from a guilty sin to a legitimate mainstay in the sports world.
The likeable Rogan also reaches much further than the mixed martial arts world, with his own podcast and successful stand up shows, the 48 year old from New Jersey has his thumbs in many pies right now.
His partnership with the often clumsy and equally entertaining Mike Goldberg could not be scripted. Like something out of an 80’s US sitcom, Rogan and Goldberg make the perfect commentating pair, but with rumours of the UFC being up for sale rampant, there’s been a lot of talk about Joe Rogan calling it a day on commentating fights.
The larger than life Rogan discussed much during his recent interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, starting with the hot topic of the month; Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather:
Do you think Conor vs. Floyd Mayweather could actually happen? Um, I don’t think that it’s real. But, it could be. And it wouldn’t be a good fight for Conor. I can’t imagine a world where Floyd Mayweather doesn’t box as good as Conor.
Speaking of Mayweather – is it harder to go from MMA to boxing or boxing to MMA? Boxing to MMA for sure, because there’s a far greater learning curve in the grappling, and there’s no grappling in boxing – but MMA does have boxing. MMA fighters have some knowledge of boxing, and some of them are much better at it than others. Like, there’s some guys that I think could go into boxing right now and be successful. Uriah Hall’s a perfect example. He’s got lightning-fast hands, he is a super athlete and his hand techniques are so sharp and clean. I think that he can go into boxing and actually do really well on a professional level. I think Anderson Silva in his prime probably could have done well as a professional boxer.
But, what do I think would happen if Roy Jones Jr. fought Conor in an MMA match? Conor would fuck him up…
The UFC Fight Night 59: “McGregor vs. Siver” weigh-in took place earlier today from Boston, MA., with all fighters on point in their respective weight classes. Check out the full video replay above, or storm to 25:10 to see what you really want.
With the Irish flag hovered around his body, Conor McGregor hit the stage, and upon making weight, bragged about hitting it right on the noggin and wrapped an imaginary title around his waist.
The UFC Fight Night 59: “McGregor vs. Siver” weigh-in took place earlier today from Boston, MA., with all fighters on point in their respective weight classes. Check out the full video replay above, or storm to 25:10 to see what you really want.
With the Irish flag hovered around his body, Conor McGregor hit the stage, and upon making weight, bragged about hitting it right on the noggin and wrapped an imaginary title around his waist.
“That’s 1-4-5 … that’s championship weight. Tell Jose I’m coming.”
Other highlights include Benson Henderson and Donald Cerrone being really great friends, Ron Stallings trying to get into Uriah Hall‘s head, and Sean O’Connell tapping Matt Van Buren’s nose in a flirty kind of way. Apart from that, composure was more or less maintained, and things didn’t get all that testy (no pun intended).
Join us tomorrow night for our habitual liveblog and post-fight recaps.
Perhaps the nicest thing we can say about Mike Goldberg’s stint as an NFL play-by-play announcer (and subsequent Twitter tirade) was that it was shortlived. While Goldberg has already been pulled from this week’s Vikings-Bills game, he was quick to apologize for his social media retaliation via, you guessed it, Twitter:
I just want to apologize to everyone at FOX and elsewhere for my momentary lapse of reason Sunday night,” Goldberg wrote on Twitter. “I let some mean-spirited folks on twitter get to me and I should have had thicker skin instead of reacting so quickly and emotionally. I don’t want to be a distraction on the upcoming broadcast Sunday, so we mutually agreed that it would be best to sit this next one out. I’m not happy about it personally but, professionally, it’s the right thing to do after my mistake. Thank you to FOX and to others who have been so great to me and understanding.
Oh, I can’t stay mad at you, Goldie. I can, however, revel in your shortcomings via this lowlight reel of your one-off gig last weekend, via SportsGrid.
After the jump: You know.
Perhaps the nicest thing we can say about Mike Goldberg’s stint as an NFL play-by-play announcer (and subsequent Twitter tirade) was that it was shortlived. While Goldberg has already been pulled from this week’s Vikings-Bills game, he was quick to apologize for his social media retaliation via, you guessed it, Twitter:
I just want to apologize to everyone at FOX and elsewhere for my momentary lapse of reason Sunday night,” Goldberg wrote on Twitter. “I let some mean-spirited folks on twitter get to me and I should have had thicker skin instead of reacting so quickly and emotionally. I don’t want to be a distraction on the upcoming broadcast Sunday, so we mutually agreed that it would be best to sit this next one out. I’m not happy about it personally but, professionally, it’s the right thing to do after my mistake. Thank you to FOX and to others who have been so great to me and understanding.
Oh, I can’t stay mad at you, Goldie. I can, however, revel in your shortcomings via this lowlight reel of your one-off gig last weekend, via SportsGrid.
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