Issue 023
March 2007
There are certain personalities in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) that everyone recognises. One man who simply cannot escape your attention is the “Voice of the Octagon”, Bruce Buffer. What you may not know though is that behind the suit, the rousing introductions and the easy smile is a businessman and entrepreneur who has done much to help the sport of MMA along.
Entrenched in the worlds of mixed martial arts and boxing, Bruce is both brother to and manager of boxing’s legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer, he of the ‘Let’s Get Ready to Rumble’ trademark catchphrase. With his time away from the Octagon spent managing his numerous business interests through his sports and promotions company Buffer Enterprises and managing his brother Michael’s career, Bruce lives a life that revolves around combat sports.
He has worked with the UFC since 1996, going way back to UFC 8 in Puerto Rico. “I brought a fighter down there I was managing called Scott ‘The Pitbull’ Ferrozzo. I basically persuaded Robert Meyrowitz, who was owner of the UFC at that time, into letting me announce the preliminaries. I walked out and called the first three fights of the evening, I think there was eleven thousand people in the arena.”
He is quick to point out he did not want to simply copy his brother or cash in on his reputation to become a ring announcer, but was keen to develop his own status within the sport. “[Michael’s] very respectful of my role in the UFC. I’m very respectful of him and I’m not trying to emulate my brother or copy him. I feel that I have my own distinct style, which I take great pride in.” Buoyed by the experience and inspired by his success in the cage, he would go on to develop his own inimitable style and carve himself a niche within the world of MMA. “Right around UFC 13 I co-starred as myself with Big John McCarthy and Tank Abbott in a TV show called Friends. I made a joke to the owner, ‘see, now you have to use me the rest of the time!’ But that’s why Warner Bros called me, they wanted the real announcer for the show.”
So what is it like to be stood in front of a giant crowd, with the entire focus of the arena upon you? “To be able to be inside that Octagon is incredible, when I call the fight, it’s me, the referee and the two fighters. I think if a fan could stand behind me and feel the sound waves and the excitement that is coming at you from 15,000, and I’ve performed in front of as many as 45,000 fans in Japan, there’s nothing like it! I think if I put that on Ebay and auctioned it off, some rich fan would pay twenty thousand dollars for it!”
Having been involved with the UFC since the mid-nineties, Buffer has seen plenty of change. Not only has he been on the inside to witness its takeover and development by current owners Zuffa, but he has also seen the massive rise in popularity it has achieved, and he loves it. “I couldn’t be more excited. Basically years ago when I started [in MMA], my job outside of announcing was as a marketer and manager. Having that kind of foresight, when the UFC started making changes beyond the initial spectacle that it was, I knew at that point it was going to be the largest thing in fighting sports, especially as boxing started hitting its downward spiral.”
Don’t think that he simply saw an opportunity to jump on a bandwagon as it passed by, as with his industry experience and insight, he was able to make an informed and intelligent decision as to how things might pan out, as he explains; “Basically all businesses are the same, it’s just the product that’s different, and everything works in cycles. If you take the three combat sports that are similar in the way they’re marketed, that would be boxing, wrestling, and UFC (as it was years ago). The strategy for both boxing and wrestling was free TV, free TV, free TV, pay per view. Once the UFC managed to establish itself in that realm [of free TV], which would be Spike TV three years ago, and it built the personalities, created interest from the fans, when they established that, then people wanted to watch. What happened in wrestling and in boxing in recent years, even though they still do well, is that they’re in a mid-to-low cycle point, because there’s no personalities really driving the sport”
The UFC, with a combination of perfect timing, sharp business acumen and a cast of strong characters was a success story waiting to happen. “Especially since the internet entered the picture, which attracts the key 18-34 demographic, that’s where everybody wants to sell a product to. That’s where the UFC is overpowering boxing and the wrestling industry.”
You may not even realise it, but Buffer has had done more than his share to help the growth of the sport. “I like to say that I work both in front and behind the camera,” he says. “The UFC to me is my passion and my favourite thing out of all I do in business. I put on the tuxedo, walk out at the start of the show and assume the role of the “Voice of the Octagon”, and I’m having one hell of a lot of fun.
“My passion level is so high for this sport, I have done a lot outside to promote the sport without ever asking for a dollar. In the past I would use my media contacts, up until the time that they [the UFC] became so big as they are today. Before they were on TV, I would do things like when I was being interviewed by the Best Damn Sports Show, I brought Tito Ortiz on with me. It was there that I talked to the producers and said ‘Why don’t you show the UFC live?’ They said ‘that’s a great idea, how do we do it?’ and I said I’d set up a call with Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta. That led to UFC 37.5 being shown and that was the first time a UFC fight was shown live on free TV.”
“I congratulate and thank Dana White and Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta for their incredible achievements and all they have accomplished to make the UFC what it is today in the mainstream sports world. They and their exceptional marketing team took over from the previous owners and really pushed to get the UFC more and more exposure until the current levels which fans now enjoy. Predictably, Buffer classes himself as one of the biggest fans of them all! “I am a huge fan of the sport, when that arena has fifteen thousand and one people in it [if you were to say] ‘whoever is the biggest fan raise your hand’, my hand is raised higher than anyone else’s.”
At times the story of the man behind the microphone can read like that of a movie pitch, and one such chapter of that story is how he was reunited with his brother Michael. “We’re long lost half brothers. I saw him on television and searched him out and found out that he was my brother. We have the same father, so we’re half brothers.”
Ever the keen businessman, Bruce saw a prime opportunity to further his family by marketing his brother’s famous catchphrase. “It was about four years into our growing relationship that a light bulb went off in my head. When I watched the way people react when he went into his ‘Let’s Get Ready to Rumble’ phrase, they just went crazy. I went back to my hotel room, and I thought about my future. I owned two businesses at the time and was doing quite well for myself but I wasn’t passionate about it. I decided to sell both companies and devote my business life to making Michael more famous and richer than he ever dreamed, and of course myself in the process. The trademark today from toys, video games and licensing, we’ve done retail sales of well over 400million dollars in products that are branded with ‘Ready to Rumble’.”
With potentially as many as 25 or more UFC dates in his calendar for 2007 and a number of new business ventures to support, you may be forgiven for thinking that Buffer is spreading himself too thin. Not so, as he remains as focussed and as committed as ever to his job with the UFC. “I consider myself to be a loyal teammate and a family member [of the UFC]. I have many other projects that I’m working on now, and am always working on my brother’s career. I’m at a point in my life that I only like to do what I’m passionate about. Once I lose the passion, that’ll be the day that I step down.”
