Overall other than the last fight it was a pretty decent show. Things I liked about the production:
Drugged out pun machine Mauro wasnāt a step up lol
Me when the anchor asked the little mermaid ātell us what these fighters are feeling making that walk into the cageā:
He moved into doing boxing commentary after PRIDE. Heās not my favourite commentatorā¦ I canāt stand commentator that shout constantly.
Highlights are up!
???
Buffer is hilarious.
Rogan is fine.
JP is a retard.
The first fight Iāve called right in like a decade.
Whoād have thunk!
Apparently we have different taste in annoying retards.
Do you genuinely find Mauro less annoying on the mic than Joe? Or just like neither?
Iām no fan of Mauro either but I donāt find him nearly as annoying as Rogan.
All these guys are relics of the dark ages of mma when they either couldnāt afford professional caliber announcers or professionals didnāt want anything to do with it.
Iād like to see mma finally dump these d-listers and get announcing that is more like boxing and other major sports where the announcers are not just hype-men for the product but objective and honest observers. I miss guys like Larry merchantās adversarial but honest takes. He was the voice of the fans and not the promoters.
I know there was a lot of hate for merchant but he would at least tell it like it is. If a fight sucked heād say it and if a guy played it safe heād call him on it in the post fight. Heād never act like Rogan and DC and try to tell us that a crappy snorefest wmma fight was some high level exciting banger.
Merchant and Lampley could be annoying at times but I grew to like them. Although Lampley would get a bit too emotional at times.
Are you talking play by play, color, both?
Itās an incredibly specialized skill set to commentate. You canāt fly in Gus Johnson or whoever to replace a Rogan.
Shit on Joe all you want, I hate a lot of his takes too, but that guy has watched and understood 1000x the amount of martial arts any broadcast journalism graduate has. The idea that you can just fly in a real professional to replace him is crazy.
Iām a black belt, retired fighter, active coach, and have watched more grappling, kickboxing, wrestling, and MMA than 99% of even combat sports fans, and Iām barely qualified to give an opinion on whatās going on in fights.
Itās not boxing. The amount of technical knowledge you have to have to relay the story unfolding to the crowd is exponentially larger.
Are you a boxing fan?
I get your point and itās valid but mma is about 30 years old now and itās matured beyond the niche faze. Itās a billion dollar business now and there has to be people who have the personality, mike skills, and technical knowledge to outperform a hyperbolic drugged out carnival barker like Rogan who gets as much wrong as right. Often I mute UFCās because I canāt take anymore of the biased, over hyped, and dishonest commentary.
At times I wish both MMA and boxing had a sound option for no commentary. The current boxing commentator Adam Smith is the worst fucking commentator Iāve ever heard in any sport. Heās intolerable. I was just bitching yesterday about him in the boxing thread. All he does is shout and gets so excited it seems he often reaches sexual climax before the first bell has rung. It was listening to him that actually made me dislike Ranallo less.
Yeah, I forgot it. Ironic because I did a boxing commentary gig last night lol.
Youāre never in the boxing thread? Do you watch the big fights?
Yes but months after they happen usually. Boxing does not excite me the same way the others do, and its rate of evolution is so much slower now that I donāt feel compelled as a coach or commentator that Iām failing if I donāt stay on top of it like BJJ or MMA.
Yeah, this I get.
Mauro was doing a lot of all of these last night though.
And regardless of Joeās supposed expertise heās also the same guy who cried interviewing rousey and said she would be beating men in her weight class in the ufc. Heās constantly screaming āheās out!ā or āheās hurt!ā and similar crap when neither has actually happened. Then DC will chime in āHeās hurt bad Joe!ā. Itās painful to listen to. It would be like if every time a batter made decent contact the announcer would scream āitās outa here!ā And the gaslighting on wmma has gotten to be too much. Itās bad enough we have to sit through it but then to told that we are being treated to an athletic contest worthy of the gods of Olympus is a step too far.
But yeah Mauro is pretty annoying as well. Iām sure if I heard as much of him as I do of Rogan/DC heād be equally as annoying
