Issue 082
December 2011
A member of the pre-Zuffa UFC commentary team, super heavyweight Olympic wrestling champion Jeff Blatnick was an MMA pioneer without ever competing in the Octagon
Jeff Blatnick is a big man in every sense of the word. A former super heavyweight Olympic wrestler, his large achievements on the mat are matched by the major role he played in the development of modern-day mixed martial arts.
LEADING MAN
Jeff Blatnick
Former UFC commentator
Blatnick first got on board with MMA as a commentator with the Ultimate Fighting Championship back in the early days: “I got a call to do UFC 4, which was in December 1994 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There was a guy called Dan Severn, whose nickname was ‘The Beast,’ who was going to enter it. He was a high-level wrestler and we’d both competed on the junior world team. I got the call because there was a top-notch wrestler getting involved and they wanted someone who knew wrestling.”
To say that Jeff knows wrestling is an understatement. An NCAA Division II national champion, he qualified for the US team for the 1980 Moscow Olympics but missed out as his nation boycotted the event as a protest against the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. Despite being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1982 (he had his appendix and spleen removed and underwent regular radiation therapy to keep the cancer in remission) Jeff battled on and won the hearts of America when he took a gold medal at the Los Angeles games in 1984.
Signing with the UFC also coincided with a shift in the sport of MMA led by Severn. “He was a pioneer. The notoriety he got right away from coming in and finishing second to Royce (Gracie, at UFC 4 in 1994) indicated you need a grappling background to succeed in MMA. I’ve got nothing against jiu-jitsu, but it seems that wrestling has done better than jiu-jitsu in terms of overall champions over the duration of time the UFC has been around. The biggest reason for this is the takedowns. Wrestlers have the ability to decide where the fight takes place.”
As the style-versus-style ethos of the early UFCs and other pioneering organizations began to develop into what we now recognize as MMA, it became clear that wrestling was an essential weapon in every fighter’s arsenal. Blatnick became an integral part of the UFC broadcasts and he was on the spot for integral events in the sport, such as UFC 12.
“When Niagara Falls got canceled, New York changed its stance on MMA without anything happening to truly make it change its mind, that show was canceled but the event did not get canceled. The previous owner, Bob Meyrowitz of SEG, went ahead and rented a 757 plane, packed everybody up in it and in one night we flew to Dothan, Alabama, set up shop and ran the event the following day.”
The pre-Zuffa era is often characterized as a wild, outlaw time. While Blatnick speaks highly of the advances made by Dana White and the Fertittas, he points out that the previous management of the UFC deserves some credit. “I think people harp on the old company a lot,” states Jeff, “saying they didn’t know what they were doing and the sport was too brutal, but everything that MMA is today evolved out of that company. The rules that MMA is guided by now came from that company. At this point now, the rules haven’t changed much. There’s been talk about judges and some other things but the rules are down tight. The tweaks that are needed are more in training officials.”
Jeff was part of the group that helped set the UFC on the road to adopting the Unified Rules, the regulations used in the UFC the majority of the mixed martial arts world conforms to. As the UFC commissioner and president of the Mixed Martial Arts Council, he was in the meetings that thrashed out the details and transformed the UFC from a cable TV spectacle to a bona fide sport with weight classes and a functioning set of rules.
Although he left his employment with the UFC a decade ago, Jeff is often Octagon-side at their events as a commission-appointed judge. He has watched all the greats and holds one fighter in particularly high esteem. “Randy Couture is one of my heroes. I’ve wrestled with Randy. We’ve sparred before, back in Olympic training camps. Most people can’t even consider doing what he does. He’s a freak. He is ‘Captain America.’ That title fits him.”
With his experience of competing at elite level against the giants, Blatnick is well placed to offer an opinion on the fighters in the upper echelons of the heavyweight division. Not surprisingly, he appreciates the talent of fellow wrestlers Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin and when the talk turns to the current champ, Jeff can’t hide his admiration.
“Cain Velasquez impresses me. He has to rely on conditioning and speed and he’s got good hands. He’s smaller – he’s the David among Goliaths. He’s got a great work ethic. I was a guy who relied on conditioning. Right away, I love a guy who says, ‘I’m going to go out there and put myself in pain because I know when I put myself in pain the other guy is going to suffer.’”
Away from MMA, Blatnick still works as a sports announcer, calling the NCAA wrestling championships on ESPN and working as a sought-after motivational speaker. Apart from his wealth of experience in combat sports, he has inspired many with his struggles against cancer. After his Olympic triumph, the disease returned and Jeff underwent chemotherapy. He carries a positive attitude into every task and feels he still has plenty to give to MMA.
“I’d love to work for the company (UFC) again. I’ve got a lot of experience in the sport, particularly around the rules and working with commissions. If my lot is to be a judge the rest of my life, so be it. It’s a great sport and I’m very happy to have had the opportunity to help develop it. I’m very much a fan and I’ll keep watching.”
