Issue 211

November 2024

John Gooden’s voice has become as much a part of MMA as the UFC fights themselves. While he is celebrated for his sharp analysis and passion for MMA, he offers more than just commentary—he delivers insight and education with every call. In this interview, we dive into his journey, his views on MMA’s evolution, and what keeps him dedicated to the sport and its fans.

You’ve celebrated ten years with the UFC. Did you think you’d make it this far?

No, not in a million years. I never got into commentary to get to the UFC. It’s all been very natural in its progression, so to reach a milestone like that is quite something, and I received a nice message from somebody quite senior that said, ‘Here’s to the next ten!’ All being well, and I don’t say anything too outlandish, I might even get to twenty years…how about that?

How did you get started in commentary?

My coach ran a show here in Watford called KO MMA, and there was a female reporter who came to the event from LA Muscle TV to work as a presenter, and she didn’t really know much about the sport. It wasn’t her fault, but I really didn’t like the way it all turned out. I was cornering a bunch of our guys at the event and I went and watched the show back afterwards. I then said to my coach, ‘Hey, you don’t know this about me, but once upon a time, I tried to become a TV presenter, and I think I could do a better job than she did.’ He said, ‘Well, I don’t think I’ve got much pull with LA Muscle TV, but I was thinking of putting some cameras on the cage at our next show and hiring some commentators. Would you be interested?’ I agreed straight away. Ironically, I had been at the BBC a few years beforehand, and they had a commentary apprenticeship scheme, and at the time I ignored it. For me, commentary was old men you didn’t get to see, stuck behind a microphone, but the UFC is certainly different to that! And I just wanted to get involved in MMA in any way possible, and look where I’ve ended up.

How long did it take to make it to the UFC?

From that first show, I commentated on until I began with the UFC. It only took about five years, which isn’t that long when you consider that the UFC really is the pinnacle of our sport. But I think it’s important to point out that I wasn’t only commentating. Even before I began calling fights, I was writing for MMA media outlets. I eventually became a board member at Safe MMA. To be honest, at that point, I was happy to throw my hat in the ring in any way possible to help the sport grow. MMA really was a passion of mine, and I honestly had no real ambition of making the sport my full-time job, but once I began calling fights with KO MMA, I would dive into doing my research.

I would look at the fight card, see multiple names from one gym, then go along to that gym and ask the coach if I could step on the mat to train. I’d train with these guys and girls and get to feel what it’s like to be on the mats with them. We would shoot the shit on the mats afterward, and I’d get to learn their stories. Then I could bring something unique to the commentary because this was before people had YouTube channels, Instagram accounts, and all that kind of stuff, so it was almost like proper journalism in a way. It just felt very natural.

While doing this kind of ‘research tour,’ I met Graham Boylan at the MMA Clinic, and he offered me the commentary job for a show he was running. He then took over at Cage Warriors, and suddenly, I was commentating for them, for Shock and Awe, and a bunch of other promotions. I guess I was just the most active guy on the scene at the right moment when the UFC were looking to expand internationally. I made a couple of calls to people I knew who were working at the UFC at the time because, by that point, I’d decided that I did want to work full-time in mixed martial arts, and after a screen-testing process, I got the seal of approval.

Was moving from the regional scene to the UFC a challenge? 

It was a massive leap, no question! I was nowhere near ready for it. This is no disrespect to any of the promotions I’d worked with before, but the regional shows were essentially podcasting around a fight because you don’t have any strict format or running orders that are in place to meet broadcasting guidelines (although I had a taste of that with Cage Warriors eventually) but you would generally just keep talking while on air. Whereas with the UFC, you have to meet 8-second counts, 10-second counts, 5-second counts and so on.

Having someone giving you a lot of direction in your ear is something you have to get used to in professional broadcasting, and it isn’t for everyone. Some people really struggle. Thankfully, it hasn’t been too much of an issue for me. But I think the level of power and intensity that’s required in one’s voice to maintain a UFC broadcast over five or seven hours is challenging. No real breaks, and you just have to go for it, following a formatted schedule with a lot of scriptwriting, so you’re pulling at a lot of different threads at the same time, which is testing both your creativity and your stamina as a broadcaster.

And, of course, the amount of eyeballs on you. I remember when a few people would say some nice things online about a Cage Warriors broadcast, and I would dive into the forums looking for that stuff, but you kind of don’t want to do that with a UFC broadcast because you’ll definitely find someone who isn’t a big fan of your work. So all of those things combined take a little bit of getting used to.

It’s only now, ten years into my UFC tenure, that I feel fully settled. The last six months or so, I’ve felt the most comfortable on the mic. Even in the last few years, I’ve had some pretty hairy moments, a lot of anxiety, and a lot of internal conflict. Maybe that’s mostly to do with my personality type, but I’m pleased that I’m in the position I’m in now.

What is your preparation process like before commentating at a UFC event?

I’ve really refined my preparation process over the years, and now that I’ve become so much busier in other areas. I don’t spend quite as much time researching for a card as far out from the date of the event. I kind of distill everything. At the beginning of fight week, I’ll really start diving into my fighter research. I typically don’t get handed the program elements that will be on display on fight night until about ten days out, so there’s not much that I can really prepare for outside of researching the fighters themselves. That involves a bit of tape study, some Instagram stalking, reaching out to coaches and the athletes, going back over any written reports, watching interviews…just consuming as much as I can over the whole fight card.

And then, closer to the show, once I receive those broadcast elements, it’s time to start that scriptwriting process and build out what we call our format. My job with the UFC is more varied than any of the other commentators because I produce, too. So I go into fight week early, and I sit down with the fighters. Those pre-fight interviews that people have become used to seeing where they do their bit of ‘smack talk’ with the orange lights behind them? On the European shows, it’s usually me asking the fighters those questions, so I generally have to prepare for that stuff, too.

Then we have the fighter meetings. I’m always on the lookout for more info on these guys. I rarely ‘down tools’ during fight week. If I see a fighter in the hotel elevator, in the gym, out in the street, I’m trying to just gather as much information as I can from them. On Thursdays, we start having some production meetings, Friday is weigh-in day. I typically have to MC the official weigh-in ceremony. Later that day, I’ll go down to the ceremonial weigh-in, and we sometimes have to do a live show around that. On Saturday, I’ll still be finalizing my notes when I get up that morning keep gathering information until the last moment. Then it’s time to get into the booth, have rehearsals, and enjoy the fights!

What is the most memorable fight you’ve called?

I’ll give you a couple of obscure ones. Frank Camacho fought Damien Brown (in Australia in 2017). That was an absolute barnburner! I really enjoyed meeting Frank, he was a very happy-go-lucky kind of guy, but the way that he fought was so ferocious. He and Damien had a big ding-dong that night.

Then there’s Paul Felder and Dan Hooker, main event in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2020. Obviously, Paul’s a broadcast partner of mine and a friend. He didn’t get the nod that night, but the fight that they gave us was just absolutely epic, so that was a big one. Another one that always comes to mind is Mike Davis vs Mason Jones. I think it happened on Fight Island during the prelims, and it was just an incredible fight. I’m such a big fan of both of those guys.

Another one that’s probably slightly more obvious is Michael Bisping vs Anderson Silva. That was fairly early in my UFC career. Michael, of course, being the guy from the UK, the first UK champion and so on. I trained with some guys who used to travel up to the Wolf’s Lair for sparring sessions, and I remember waiting for them to come back so I could ask them, ‘What’s it like throwing hands with Michael Bisping?’ And I used to absolutely adore Anderson Silva’s style. I used to try to hit the bag like him, never successfully, I might add! So, to watch those guys going at it, along with the drama that happened inside the Octagon. Just to be a part of that one was very special!

Does commentating on your friend’s fights make it hard to remain impartial?

I just think it comes fairly naturally. When I was on the way up in my commentary career, the scene in the UK is so small, and I commentated on a couple of my coaches and a bunch of team-mates, so I have quite a bit of experience with this kind of thing. And there’ll always be people saying that I’ve been biased. For the fight between Dan Hooker and Paul Felder, I got both ends of the stick. I had people telling me it was disgusting that I was commentating so negatively toward a friend, and then, for the other side, I was biased. So that probably means I got it pretty right, I suppose!

I’m so dialed in when I’m commentating. Of course, you get caught up in the emotion of the situation sometimes. You can get caught out on the broadcast because you can’t predict how long a fight is going to last. If you knew for certain it was going to be fifteen minutes, you would try to do seven-and-a-half minutes either way, wouldn’t you? But I can be most of the way down the rabbit hole, telling the story of one fighter, and then the fight ends suddenly, and I never get the chance to speak about the other fighter. I can really feel that sometimes when we’re talking about a fighter, and I realize, ‘We’ve done almost a full round here, and we haven’t given any focus to the opponent yet,’ so I’m always aware of that, and it’s something the producers are aware of. Every now and then, they’ll get in our ears and steer us toward talking about the fighter in the opposite corner.

You mentioned receiving criticism on social media. How do you handle things like that?

I really didn’t handle it very well at the beginning. I remember the very first time I appeared on screen for BT Sport back in 2013. I did a Q&A for the UFC, and I was asked if I’d like to stay around and watch the fights from the Octagon side, or if I wanted to go down to the BT studios in London and be part of the broadcast. I chose the latter, and I was told I’d just be on screen at the beginning and the end of the show. But it didn’t play out that way. I ended up having to be on screen a lot. I was used at every opportunity: during the walkouts while the results were being read. They really tore up the playbook of how things are usually done and tried to put their stamp on the production.

People hadn’t a clue who I was, and I very quickly learned that MMA fans and UFC fans are two entirely different groups of people. And, of course, the way I dress, wearing a bowtie, meant I was easy fodder! I remember the reaction online. I’d never felt anything like it before. People came at me with death threats, and I was shaking. I had no idea I needed to be prepared for something like that. That was a very steep learning curve, and it scared me a little bit. As time passes, you have to realize that you’re not going to please everyone. I genuinely would like to, but it’s just not feasible.

How do you keep a balance between talking to the more knowledgeable and the casual ones?

I think it’s important to layer things. If a co-commentator is referring to a kimura, when it comes to my turn to speak, I might refer to it as a ‘shoulder lock.’ If there is a complex situation unfolding in the cage, then I might ask the guys next to me on the desk to elaborate. Then, I’ll try to break that down into more simple terms. But I also think that it’s nice to pay homage to some of the Japanese names, some of the wrestling terminology because those guys have served their time as fans too. You have to try to get the blend right, and you definitely can’t go super-deep into the weeds with the technical stuff.

I’ve done some grappling commentary, and there’s nothing but technical jargon and geeky grappling terms, which I struggle to keep up with. In comparison to MMA, that’s quite a different kind of broadcast. I’m there primarily for the storytelling. I’ll leave the technical stuff to my co-commentators. It’s difficult for a play-by-play guy unless you’re really well-versed and up to date on all of the new techniques and terminology then you kind of are better off sitting back.

How has the rise of social media affected your interaction with fans?

I think the rise of MMA and the digital age have gone hand in hand. I think both the UFC and Pride leveraged it very well, and if it wasn’t for social media, the sport wouldn’t be where it is today. So, it’s important to embrace it whether you’re a fighter or any other member of the MMA community. It’s been wonderful for me in terms of building a network, I’ve got a lot of ‘digital friends,’ people who I can go ask questions to and get some feedback from. There’s a support system out there, too, and it’s nice to know that people recognize your efforts. I don’t think I’m the greatest commentator in the world, but I also don’t think that I’m terrible and need to be put in the bin, so sometimes social media is good for balancing out your feedback in that way.

It’s a great tool that enables you to reach people in a very easy way. I’m a little bit ‘old school’ and in order to reach people before you’d have to travel to see them and it was quite time-consuming. Nowadays, I can sit at home, record some stuff, put it out to the world, and it will be seen by far more people, so it’s great in that sense. As a storyteller who likes to ‘bang the drum’ about mixed martial arts, social media is a very good vehicle that enables me to share the stories of the wonderful athletes that we have in the sport.

What tips and advice would you give to aspiring commentators?

 Start at the bottom. Tread all of the boards. Make your mistakes. Find your voice. You can take your time doing that with the smaller audiences and build from there. You could be thrust into a situation like I was where I got horrendous feedback, and it almost put me off for life. Thankfully, I stayed the course! Work really hard. Be nice to people because, as a commentator, you’re going to have to draw from a lot of different people and places when you’re compiling the necessary research to bring to the microphone, so it's important to look after everyone around you.

And enjoy it! It’s one of the most privileged positions to be in. Yes, it can get a little bit gnarly at times, and people will bestow their opinion on you, but if you fully believe that you’re doing the right thing for the right reasons, then keep on going. We need more voices in this sport, so let’s hear ya!

What has been the key to your success?

The key to my success has been my overall passion for martial arts. I’ve been on the mats since I was seven years old. I have the highest respect for all of the men and women who are out there competing or stepping into the cage. It’s not an easy thing to do. I’m also pretty experienced commercially in life, I’ve done a lot of different jobs, and I think that’s helped me in many ways. I know how to communicate with a wide range of people from a lot of different cultures and backgrounds and I believe that’s helped me gain some respect and some friendships that have supported the work that I’ve done.