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Bruce Buffer has become part of the tapestry of a UFC fight night experience whether watching live inside the venue or on television worldwide. His catchphrase, “It’s Time!”, has become iconic. It’s difficult to imagine a UFC pay-per-view event without Buffer’s voice, but landing the job took some tenacity.
Feb. 16 marked Buffer’s 29th year behind the microphone. He looked back on his career and how he initially secured the position with the fight promotion during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.
“I went to UFC 6 in Casper, Wyoming and I had my brother announce the first one and that was the debut of ‘Tank’ Abbott. And I knew that was my world the moment I saw it,” Buffer said. “I had my brother announce three of the UFCs. Then I had to pull him because of the WCW wrestling he was involved with got so big.
“We only had a three-fight contract. During that time, at UFC 6, we were having dinner with Robert Meyrowitz, the owner of SEG, and they said, ‘Michael, when you go out in the octagon you need to say, if it’s not in the octagon, it’s not real.’ Right? I knew that as soon as he said that I was going to get a call from the people that I was dealing with at WCW wrestling on a Monday. Which they did. They called me on Monday. They said, ‘What are you doing having Michael do this rap in so many words that they said.
“I said, look. I have a contract. He’s allowed to do it. He’s got a three fight deal. I want him to finish the deal. Michael could not have continued anyway. He was so busy doing everything else I had him in. And then I thought, this is my world. Let me work my way into this. It took me a year and a half to convince the UFC to let me become the announcer.”
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Buffer managed Scott Ferrozzo at the time. Ferrozzo made his octagon debut at UFC 8 on Feb. 16, 1996 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. During the negotiations, Buffer pitched the idea of becoming the octagon announcer.
“I sent his tape off to Meyrowitz and Meyrowitz said, ‘Yeah, let’s get him in.’ So I went down as his manager but I didn’t want to manage fighters. I did this as a ploy on my part because after stopping in New York and asking for the job and calling him up saying you need me. I have the media contacts you don’t have. I’ll help you build this brand. I’m a brand builder. I’ll do everything I can outside of being the announcer but I need to grow with you as the announcer to make that happen. It just all fell on deaf ears.”
Bruce Buffer Made UFC Announcing Debut at UFC 8
With Ferrozzo on the fight card, Buffer traveled to Puerto Rico and brought his tuxedo with him. His persistence paid off.
“I brought him (Ferrozzo) down. I called up Meyrowitz and said, ‘Robert, I’m bringing my tuxedo in my bag. Let me announce the prelims. Let me show you what I’ve got.’ The night before the show he said, you know what, you can announce the prelims. That’s exactly what I wanted to do. That’s the only reason I went down there,” Buffer explained.
“I thought, okay. Good. Now they’ll call me back. I kept calling. I said, can I announce the next one? They go, No. No. We’re good. We’re good,” he continued.
Prior to UFC 10, Buffer got the call to announce the event after being passed over for UFC 9.
“I’m down in Alabama in two days. I announced UFC 10. I think I do a good job, and all of a sudden no call. The hire somebody else, a friend of the producer,” Buffer said. ”
Bruce Buffer’s big UFC break came through an episode of “Friends”
In the mid 90’s, there wasn’t a bigger show in TV than “Friends.” The show did an episode titled “The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion” during its third season. Buffer appeared as himself in the episode and leveraged that into a permanent position as the ‘Voice of the Octagon.’
“They they call me and said, ‘Listen, we’re doing a show called Friends and we’re doing the Ultimate Fighting Champion is the title of the episode…’ They have a voice over but they wanted the real announcer, so Warner Brothers sent a runner down to my house to get audio and tape. And they hired me to co-star as myself on Friends. I thought, okay. This is it,” Buffer said.
“I saw Robert Meyrowitz on the set. I said, listen, we’ve go to meet at lunch. I’ve got to talk to you. I met with him and I hit him right in the face with it. This was the last time I was going to ask. I said, Robert, I’m co-staring as myself in the biggest comedy on TV which is the biggest publicity you’ve ever had for the UFC. I’m going to ask you one more time. I feel like a girl waiting to be asked to the prom and nobody is asking me to the prom. Let me be the octagon announcer to grow with you and help you build this brand with whatever I can bring to the table. I don’t want anything for that. I just want to be the announcer with you at the show. It’s the best poker hand I have played. That’s where we made the deal, and from that point on, I continue to announce the UFC.”
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