I agree completely that the UFC commentating team is extremely lackluster. Not to mention old and stale. Neither are real sports broadcasters. Rogan is a pothead comedian (who contstantly screws up names…ahem). The only other sport I’ve seen Goldberg do on tv is airplane racing. yeah. The UFC product is stale and rotting.

Mike Goldberg worked as a broadcaster for many events and/or teams previous to his UFC job. He has done play-by-play for the Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, and other NHL games on ESPN2. He has also worked as a studio host for college football games on FSN.

For instance, one of my favorite Lampley calls in a host of many, is from, of all things, Sturm-De la Hoya:

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way. It was supposed to be a perfunctory set-up for another mega-fight. It was supposed to be a set-up for one of the biggest fights of the last 20 years.

Now, it’s High Noon in Las Vegas between Oscar de la Hoya and Felix Sturm. That’s right… … …Felix Sturm.”

Or, him making Ron Paul jokes during Spinks-Taylor qualifies, too.

As well, the UFC crew don’t even call the fight. Goldberg plugs stuff and defers questions to Rogan. It’s not terrible, especially given the competition, but it’s not great.

Also, HBO has greatly cleaned up their act from a time where their influence actually hurt the sport. A couple years ago, when big network deals were forcing garbage like Vargas-Vanderpool and Mayweather-Bruseles, there was a problem. In the wake of Showtime kicking ass in 2005 with their boxing programming, HBO have gone back to basics and have been pretty damn good since.

There simply aren’t many available good options. One option I haven’t heard is Jay Glazier, the one time I heard him commentate an EliteXC fight I was surprised and impressed.

Regardless, commentary is a frickin joke in most sports. Expecting the UFC to give up two serviceable options that are already tied to the brand makes zero sense.

For 45:

Rogan might be a comedian who smokes up, but he describes the ground game better to the casual audience then anybody else in the business.

Who else is there in the business? There’s Bas Rutten, Frank Mir, Jeff Blatnick, and Eric Apple. Mir might actually do a better job, come to think of it.

And from what I’ve read, Goldberg is making some pretty decent money, rumours were that he was offered something like $500,000 per year by WWE and turned it down because he said Zuffa made him an offer that was good enough to compete with it.

MMA is still in a pretty infantile stage, you know. There’s not a lot of guys out there who write about MMA. The few that exist that aren’t beyond awful are thus able to get opportunities.

What would make broadcasting any different?

You can get someone capable to learn on the job for money. They’re not willing to pay anything and so that’s why Goldberg has been there for a billion years.

Regardless of all this, the most important reason that Zuffa is 100% wrong in this situation, is because this stance on control has lost them deals with HBO, CBS, and now possibly ESPN. Come on now. How can you argue that Zuffa is right if all theyre doing is shooting themselves (and more importantly, the fans) in the foot?

They bring negativity to shitty fights because at least there is the aire that you have some objectivity there, even if its not. This is beside the point that the people they have are way, way better. C’mon, you think Goldberg is on par with Lampley and Rogan with Merchant?

b) EliteXC Type: These announcers are hired by Showtime.

Are they? Because I think they’re picked by Gary Shaw. As is, no one seemed to have huge problems when they worked PRIDE events. Now suddenly that the veneer of “MEGA SHOW” has disappeared, people see Quadros and Ranallo for what they are.

But is there really that much missing from the telecast with them?

They are told to and do what they are told. Understate a steroid case? How about ignore completely? No one else exists by UFC except when they need to build someone’s credibility. Goldberg is among the best PBP guys in MMA, but given the competition, does that mean anything? There’s only one network with its own announce team/production crew, and its HDNet, and oddly, they might do the best job of anyone.

Honestly, I do not.

Burkman/Swick is a glorified KOTC main event. I know you think differently because they were on a reality show, but you look at where they are in the 170 picture and its undeniably true. Now, you’d be upset if HBO demanded a better fight than that?

HBO messes up boxing by allowing rematches at odd weights and not for titles (Pavlik/Taylor II), and various other garbage.

You obviously don’t understand HBO’s connection with boxing. They can’t force Pavlik/Taylor II to not happen at 166. Its not their call. If they don’t televise it, Showtime or Top Rank will do it themselves.

This entire argument is hilarious. You guys are arguing that the UFC intentionally doesn’t want ESPN to control matchmaking because ESPN will allow bad fights (????). Meanwhile, the UFC is allowed by Spike to essentially televise whatever the hell it wants. That means the UFC can put on mediocre cards like the last UFN with no one at the network complaining about the talent level put on TV or the matchmaking. Uh….