The Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, Louisiana was a far cry from Chicago Stadium during the Bulls’ first three championship seasons; frankly, it was a far cry from Yokohama Arena in Japan, the site of Mike Goldberg’s first UFC commentating gig in December of 1997. So to the new face on the team, UFC 16 in March of 1998 was a bit of a reality check.
“At that point, I wasn’t really sure what it was supposed to be,” recalls Goldberg. “I was just the new guy, but it definitely made it very apparent in the early days that it was a cult sport. There was a small, very loyal group of fans, but in 3,000 seat venues, we were giving away a lot of seats. Yet the people who were there were always very passionate and there was always a buzz.”
And looking back now, they were good times. There wasn’t the worldwide media attention, packed 20,000 seat arenas, or consistent television exposure that the UFC routinely has today. It was just the fighters and a small group of diehards who believed that someday everyone would love the sport just like they did.
“When you talk about putting it into perspective, I will tell you that when we first did a show in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (UFC 21 in 1999), I thought we had hit the big time,” laughs Goldberg. “We stayed at a normal hotel - it wasn’t a motel - you were actually downtown, and there was a steakhouse across the street. That’s where we were many years ago, and (UFC color commentator) Joe (Rogan) and I have laughed about it before. I don’t forget flying into Houston and then driving to Lake Charles, Louisiana and the only restaurant there was the Cracker Barrel.”
Yet despite the good times, the fact is that the UFC was in trouble at that time. It wasn’t on cable television, it was being attacked by politicians, and had yet to find the formula that was going to take it to the next level. Enter Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta and their friend Dana White, who took over the UFC in 2001. But would they be able to right the ship? Goldberg got his answer the first time he was in the room with them.
“They flew a bunch of us – SEG employees – into Las Vegas and we went to one of the Fertittas’ favorite Italian restaurants and we were in a back room,” he said. “You saw the passion and enthusiasm of Lorenzo and Frank and what they were gonna do with this, and when they opened it up to questions, I just asked ‘Will we ever be on a billboard in Vegas?’”
The answer from Lorenzo Fertitta was instant.
“Absolutely.”
Goldberg smiles.
“Then a few years later, we’re on buildings in Manchester in the UK. That to me was the turning point, just knowing that these guys knew how to get things done, and they had a big vision and big goals for this.”
And through it all, Goldberg has been one of the constants, one of the few play-by-play men who can be seen as synonymous with a sport. When you think MMA broadcasting, you think Mike Goldberg, and while he’s certainly known for some of his catch phrases like “And here we go…” or “And it is all over…” he believes that what has gotten him to this point is what he doesn’t say.
“By the time I had gotten into the UFC, I had been fortunate to have done a bunch of different cool games,” he explains. “I had been on the sidelines for the Chicago Bulls’ first three world titles, I covered the ALCS with the Chicago White Sox, I had covered a couple of Final Fours in college basketball, and I had done five or six hundred games in the NHL, including some Game Sevens that had gone into overtime, so to a certain degree, I had been there in other sports. And over the years, as I tried to improve as a broadcaster, I always remember the old adage that the guys who let the game breathe are the guys that are the best – Jim Nance, Dick Enberg, Brent Musburger. You compliment what that game is at the time, but the easiest game to call is the Super Bowl that goes down to the last drive because you lay out and you let it happen. And I will tell you that Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva (at UFC 79), there were minutes and minutes of consistent time when Joe and I just didn’t say anything because it was such a moment that I knew ‘don’t get caught up in the moment and make it about you trying to talk over the crowd.’ If the crowd is that loud that you can’t hear yourself, let it breathe. There have been times when I wasn’t that experienced and I probably overtalked in some great situations in sports earlier as a broadcaster, but the one thing I have been able to do in the UFC – and I hope people would agree – is that I’ve known when to get out of the way and let the moment be the moment.”
On Saturday’s UFC 100 card, there will probably be more such moments, and there’s no one more honored to be a part of them than Mike Goldberg. And considering where he’s been in his sports broadcasting career that’s saying a lot.
“I just worked on the show with the top 100 fights in UFC history and to think about the fact that I’ve probably called 90% of those fights, it’s pretty cool to be part of all those great moments,” he said. “And the thing is, I was around with Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, the great Duke teams - I’ve been around some pretty cool stuff - and now I can say that I’ve been equally excited by the legends that have been created in the Octagon. That means a lot to me, and it means a lot more when I realize what these guys mean to the fans out there.”
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