Right About Now with Ryan Alford - SPECIAL EPISODE RERELEASE: Bruce Buffer - International Sports and Entertainment Host, UFC Octagon Announcer
Episode Date: July 26, 2022In this episode, host Ryan Alford talks with International Sports/Entertainment Host, UFC Octagon Announcer, Motivational Speaker, Bruce Buffer!Bruce talks about his experiences as the "Voice of the O...ctagon" and the meteoric rise of the UFC. He shares the defining moment when he said that “The UFC is now mainstream.” Ryan and Bruce also discuss the culture of the UFC, shocking moments that have come his way as an announcer and during a fight. Ryan and Bruce dissects about the business happening inside and outside of the octagon, the UFC's culture, ‘Millions’ e-commerce, his offers outside of the UFC, and more… Learn more about Bruce Buffer http://brucebuffer.com/. Follow his Instagram @brucebufferufc and Twitter @brucebuffer. You can also check Millions Ecommerce https://millions.co/ . If you enjoyed this episode of The Radcast, let us know by visiting our website www.theradcast.com. Check out www.theradicalformula.com Like, Share and Subscribe on our YouTube account https://bit.ly/3iHGk44 or leave us a review on Apple Podcast. Be sure to keep up with all that’s radical from @ryanalford @radical_results @the.rad.cast If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE. Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding. Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford.
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Hey guys, Ryan Alford here, host of the Radcast. I hope you'll enjoy today's episode. We're actually
revisiting a few episodes from the past because what happens is we like to bump up some of our
past episodes to the top of the feed that we feel like are really valuable. This episode with Bruce
Buffer was killer. Bruce was so insightful on his history with the UFC, his growth, the path to get to success. And he talked
really succinctly and interestingly about marketing, especially his It's Time brand.
And some of those things have actually come to fruition, which we thought would be cool to revisit
a lot of things that Bruce talked about and that these products are now on the market.
Bruce was so insightful on everything that he's done in marketing, social media, in and out of the octagon.
Really enjoyed this episode.
We wanted to bring it back as one of our best of,
so I hope you enjoy it.
You know where to find us, theradcast.com.
I hope you enjoy today's episode with Bruce Buffer,
voice of the octagon.
And now, it's time for the Radcast with Ryan Alford.
You're listening to the Radcast.
If it's radical, we cover it.
Here's your host, Ryan Alford.
Hey guys, what's up?
Welcome to the latest edition of the Radcast.
It's Radical today, folks. I'm joined by the voice of the Octagon, Bruce Buffer.
What's up, Bruce?
Hi, how are you? Everything good?
Everything's great, man. Appreciate you coming on.
No problem.
I know you're a busy man, and there's no better catchphrase than,
it's time, you know?
I say it every day I wake up, man.
It's time to have the best day that I can.
It is.
It is.
Man, you got your hands in so much now, which I want to get into.
And I love the T-shirt.
Like, where did it's time come from?
I want to know where that came from.
Let's start there.
Well, you know, when I started in the UFC announcing,
and I've been managing my brother, Michael Buffer,
you know, the legendary greatest announcer of all time,
let's get ready to rumble.
We met late in life.
And when we did, I owned two companies.
I had my first company when I was 19.
I've been an entrepreneur ever since.
I've owned a variety of companies, a couple failures here and there,
but most all successes, you know, I'm proud to say.
And when I met him, knowing that he was the announcer,
he was and everything else, we eventually, I sold two companies,
became his manager, managing his career and everything.
I wanted to announce back then we agreed I wouldn't do boxing,
and I said something would come along, and and boom this is a very short version and boom the UFC came along and I
worked my way into the UFC but I never wanted to be Frank Sinatra jr. I never wanted to be
not no respect to Frank Sinatra jr. but I I wanted to create my own style I wanted to grow with the
UFC to help market the brand being the marketing and branding person they am first and foremost
before I do anything else and I I told him, I said,
I need to grow with you as the announcer,
but I didn't think I needed a catchphrase. I'm not catchphrase driven.
I was more like, it's not what I say, it's how I say it.
So it wasn't until about seven years later that his time came about.
Everybody always was going, let's get ready. Let's do this.
They all wanted to be Michael.
I just didn't want to come across like that.
I told myself if in three years I could build my own identity,
my own style, I would continue.
If not, I would quit because I just didn't want to be that way.
So every day I wake up, and I was kidding before, but I'm serious,
I look in the mirror and go, it's time.
It's time to have the best day that I can possibly have.
So I used to open the show saying, it's time. It's time to have the best day that I can possibly have. So I used to open the show saying,
it's time to begin the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
And then Dana White and the Fertittas bought the show.
Dana and I met.
He said, I don't want you doing that at the front anymore,
top of the show.
And I said, fine.
But then I got down to the main event,
and I realized, hey, everybody's sitting here for five hours
watching the show.
The main event's about to start.
The fighter's been training six to eight weeks for the biggest moment in their lives.
This is definitely its time.
This is its time.
This is when it's going to happen.
And I started incorporating it in.
And gradually over time, it developed to the style that I do it now, whether I'm jumping
or doing whatever.
I never know physically what I'm going to do until I do it because I never rehearse.
Never.
I feel the energy of the crowd.
I just let it fly. But when I was
in Brazil and 20,000 Portuguese
speaking people said, it's time with me,
I knew
right then it hit.
And that's when I started building it up.
And then eventually over the last
15 plus years since then,
I've developed into products
and many things happening worldwide.
And now as time has taken on a very individual branding of itself.
And I plan on reaching a billion dollars in sales with its time, whether it's sales of other, not in my pocket, you know, sales of other companies, everything.
As I achieved over a half billion dollars in sales with Let's Get Ready to Rumble.
But I love my brother, but I'm a competitor and i'm going to
come in first i love it i love it did you see i mean the ufc has had this meteoric rise in last
10 plus years but like did you see that coming i knew from the very first day i got involved
it was going to be the biggest thing in fighting sports.
You know, when you're in business, you need to be able to hopefully recognize the brand, recognize the future.
I always think three steps ahead in life, like chess.
I'd apply that to every aspect of business and any business I've owned or been involved in.
Because to me, all business is the same.
It's just the product that's different.
But you've got to recognize what has the chance to be the big hit.
I knew that was going to be with Let's Get Ready to Rumble. I got contacted by another company
called Party Poker back when poker was not even as popular as today, who wanted me to be part of
it. One of the things I regret, I didn't grab that opportunity back then because I realized
online poker was going to explode. And I'm a big part of poker myself in my private life.
But when the UFC came on, yes, it was raw. It was a spectacle. It needed
refinement, but I decided to stick with it, make the short money back then that I made,
lose money going on trips, everything I could do realizing that if I stuck with this,
because consistency is a key in business that I knew it would all pay off. And I have a simple
theory and that's whenever I do business of any kind, I have a three foot theory. Everybody around
me be happy, healthy, and prosperous.
You know, my goal is to help everybody around me get there
because then it all comes back to me.
So unselfishly, I've been just dedicating my life to the UFC
for over 25 years as of February.
What's the, you know, it might be a cliche,
but what's the most memorable moment for you, you know, like as an announcers or like,
it could be a fight. I mean, there's been so many memorable fights now. Uh, but what is your most
like memorable in ring moment now or not out of the ring, you know, announcing or, or either
25 years, I have so many memorable moments there's no one that I'll stand
I can just give you samples and examples of many
whether it's pulling off a 360 move
in front of Brock Lesnar or UFC 100
after being egged on by Joe Rogan
in the internet for 6 plus months
and realizing
after trying it in my room 3 times
before I went down to the arena and slipping on the carpet
twice that I might not pull it off
but when I turned out of the corner of Frank mirror to go to face Brock Lesnar, I realized
if I didn't pull the three 60 and not just casual, I'd jump up and spin around and do it. Um, that
I would be the, um, as I termed the bitch of the internet on Monday would have torn me apart.
So that was one, but you know, there's, there's just so many there, you know, when Dana White
and the Fertitta brothers took over the UFC andc and you know we had this amazing dinner together and we all met and
um then you go back to the uh tough finale the ultimate fighter with um with forrest griffin
stephen bonner you know one of the most amazing fights and amazing moments in ufc history
where at that point we continued on going upward like a rocket ship
where I have a first-class seat and it's still going that way.
But that night we drew 15-share max or 12-share max on the final event,
and you realize at that point that we made Spike and Spike made us,
Spike TV, who we were with back then.
There's all these memorable moments.
But you know what?
The moments to me that are most important
is when I get the relationships I have with the fighters and the fans and the respect
factor between us or to have a guy like Antonio Nogueira during one of his last fights in Brazil
come back to me after his fight, just bleeding and wounded and said, you just must understand
your introduction. It took me to another level, you know?
And it's like, life's not about the paycheck.
I'll be the first one to cash that damn paycheck
on a Monday at the bank.
Trust me, I'm first in line.
I'll be there, okay?
But I'm not in it for the paycheck
as much as I am in it for the paycheck.
What you're talking about is what life is all about,
these experiences.
And I always tell people when I do my branding
and marketing, you know, motivational speeches or whatever,
one key thing in business is find out what you're passionate about.
And if you can learn how to monetize it,
you're not really working, you're living a lifestyle.
And I call my life by design.
It's just like my new company, Millions.co,
where we're branding athletes and everything.
This is my Millions.co t-shirt.
It's Buff Life with capital B, which means be.
It's real simple. Be. Be who you are. Be be the best you can be that's all you can do whether you're first second or third if
you're the best you can be then you're winning and that's what i'm all about what's interesting
uh bruce is you know whether you know it or not like i i have watched you on usc and things like
that but the emotion and like you wear it on your sleeve. Like I got to know you more,
obviously studying up for this podcast and all that.
But like, and I love Michael,
but like I have always seen this emotion
in the way you enter the ring and all that.
And I'm like, there's something deeper here with you,
with this.
And I think you just distilled it really well.
And I think it shines in a lot of what you
do. And I want to give you kudos for that. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. You know,
a writer once said that Michael's like a fine bottle of Bordeaux, right? But I'm like a fine
bottle of puncher's chance. Okay. I get out there and again, it's you, you hit it on the head. Um,
I'm, I attack it with passion. I get back to passion. It's one of my key words, whether it's
my feelings for my family, a girlfriend or life and business. Okay. I approach everything with
passion that way in business. If I get knocked down, I get, I stand up and like Rocky said,
I move forward and punch harder than ever because you believe in yourself. The moment I can't
announce the way I want to announce, if I have to start phoning it in, I'm going to retire.
I'm done.
Okay.
Every night I walk out there, it's time to be the best I can be.
I was out last Saturday night.
I'm going in the octagon again Saturday night.
I've been doing this for over 25 years.
I have to prove to myself come Saturday night that I deserve this job.
And it's that kind of hunger and that kind of passion that I've kept doing what I'm doing.
I'm 64 now and I won't stop.
I stay in shape.
I do everything I can because I train and I get ready for these shows like a fighter.
The moment I can't enjoy that progression, that evolutionary process, like I said, I'm done.
It's time for me to find another, get up from the table and find another poker game.
Go put my chips somewhere else.
Well, it shows.
But how would you define the culture of the UFC?
You know, I mean, it's raw, but like, is there, what are those,
what are the words or the descriptions that come to mind when you talk about the UFC?
You know, there is a UFC lifestyle and fans live a UFC lifestyle,
whether they're, you know, wearing the merch and all that.
But I've got to look at the fans to answer that question
because the reason we are where we are is because of the fans.
Aside from all the work and the great mastery of Maverick marketing
and management that Dana White and his team do,
but the fans have kept us alive, and it's just gotten bigger and bigger and bigger.
And aside from the younger demographic of the 18 to 34, we have the widest demographic,
I think, of most sports, whether it's female or male.
You know, I can just say again, it's like a lifestyle for these people.
They have their first show.
They want to see the next one.
They want to see the progression.
Granted, there's a lot more shows now.
It's hard to keep track of all the fighters.
But they're so interested in what they have for breakfast, what they do in their private lives.
Once you can lock people in like that, then you've got a successful audience that's going to be a dedicated audience.
They'll be consistently watching you forever.
Not just as happens in boxing now, which I love and I grew up in and I participated in.
The bottom line is, is that
the younger demographic is dying off in boxing.
Yes.
The Logan and Jake Paul fights are bringing him back in.
But are they consistently going to watch other boxers or they're just going to wait for their
influencers, you know, but at least young eyeballs are coming into the sport.
The UFC is just capturing and holding people.
Yeah, definitely.
Yeah.
Let's face it.
In COVID, we were the first sport to come back.
Yes, you were.
And it's really blown up as a result.
Yeah.
I mean, I want to transition to some of the businesses and it's time and all those things.
But before we go there, kind of not closing the book, but what's it like working with Dana?
It's great.
You know, I mean, Dana and I knew each other before he took over the UFC.
He called me when he bought it.
He was managing Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz back then.
And the previous owner called me up, Robert Myers, said I have good news and bad news.
The bad news, I sold the UFC.
The good news, I sold it to Dana White and the Fertitta brothers.
And they want to keep you and John McCarthy.
Everybody else is going.
Great.
So, Dana, we get along really well. Um, we're friends, we're brothers in arms. Uh, he's a maverick. Uh, he's
nonstop. You got to really appreciate a man who's worth probably a half billion or more dollars and
still has the passion to do everything he, he needs to do to keep this going. Cause he could
easily back off and live in one of his many homes and do whatever he wants.
It's a rare breed.
There's very few mavericks in life.
I consider myself a maverick in business.
But you've got to look at Dana, and you look at the Vince McMahons,
and you look at whether you agree with him or not,
the Don Kings of this world.
It takes people like this to keep these kind of things alive.
And it's perfect.
You know, what works well.
And Dana is very generous.
Yeah, but you don't and very loyal.
But if you're on his bad side, you're screwed.
Okay.
Yeah.
Like you don't want that switch flipping.
No, no.
Well, that's never going to happen between us.
Not between you.
But we probably throw a few punches at each other and have a beer afterwards. flipping no no well that's never going to happen between us not between you but uh we'd probably
throw a few punches at each other and have a beer afterwards what's the what's the business of mma
like now like both for you and in general i mean i guess i mean both inside and outside of the ring
you know like we discussed like ufc and mma you know announcing for you you and being the voice of the octagon is so small to what you're doing now.
It's just such a mega business, right?
Yeah, you're talking about my business?
Yeah, both that and just the business of mixed martial arts now.
I think people see the fighting and they see it and they get the pay-per-view and all that, but it's a big business.
A big business.
It's a billion-dollar business.
I mean, you're talking about a company in UFC that sold for $4.2 billion,
the highest price ever paid for a sports franchise in the United States.
If that doesn't speak volumes, I don't know what does.
Yeah.
And then you've got to look at it from a standpoint.
For me personally, the octagon is my base.
When I teach people about branding and business, you always have to have a base to work from.
Forget about selling something 150 miles away from your base.
Sell within a mile of your base.
If everybody's your customer, you're a multimillionaire.
You have to assume that attitude.
So the octagon's my base.
It's established over 25 years.
All the other business ventures I have, I'm building out of the base.
I did the same thing managing my brother's career.
HBO Rocks and Ring was his base.
We built the movies, the TV, the products, everything, which is what I'm doing too.
Neither one of us ever crossing over against each other unless we work with each other.
But the rules of business are very simple.
So when you have a King Kong gorilla like the UFC as your base,
unless you're doing something wrong or you don't know what your brand is all about, there's no reason but to move forward and keep branding and building yourself.
And that's one of the reasons I started the company Millions.co because I'm trying to teach athletes in all sports how to brand themselves.
You don't have to have a million, two million followers to be the top athlete in your sport to be able to brand yourself and monetize yourself even when you're starting out.
But people don't realize that.
This is one of the ways, even though I'll make whatever I make out of this and all that, that's all great.
I'm really doing this as a pay-it-forward thing to help athletes.
I see too many athletes losing opportunities to make money and expand their careers because they don't have proper management or they don't know what to do themselves.
And that's why I started Millions.co.
Sorry if I segued there for a second.
No, I love it.
I want to build on that,
but I think you nailed it.
And, you know, owning an agency,
working with brands,
the hardest thing to do is to create attention.
And you, like you said,
you have this base with all this built-in attention
and all these fighters have all this built-in attention and leveraging that appropriately into all the other channels is where
the opportunity's at. And, you know, so few people, I don't know why that's hard to grasp,
but that's that brands and businesses spend millions and millions of dollars to create
attention. And the UFC gives you a platform to do that so then you leverage off of that.
Well, leverage works in different ways.
And what you're saying, too, is like,
of course you have, you watch the Super Bowl, right?
Now, I've had a Super Bowl commercial.
I was in a Budweiser commercial, okay?
Bucket list fulfilled.
How many times have you watched a commercial
on the Super Bowl where people have spent
millions of dollars and it's over
and you're like, what was that all about?
That's called ego advertising.
I can't believe on the highest levels that this still happens.
So, yeah, no, when you've got the UFC behind you,
when I appear for the Las Vegas Raiders,
which is the new thing I started this year, okay,
it's not about the UFC, it's about me appearing for the Raiders.
But in respect to the UFC,
they have to realize that I just gave them a million-dollar commercial because I've been told I'm one of the three faces of the UFC with Dana and Joe Rogan, let's say.
Right. Aside from all the amazing fighters we have who come and go as champions do.
But we're constant. We're consistent.
So I'll laugh and giggle with Dana and say, hey, I just gave you a million dollar commercial.
Time to renegotiate.
It's true.
You got to use the powers that you have. Don't be cocky. hey, I just gave you a million-dollar commercial. Time to renegotiate. It's true.
You've got to use the powers that you have.
Don't be cocky.
Just be real and go for it.
Have you had offers outside of the UFC?
Oh, God, yeah.
I've had people throw buckets of money at me.
But you're loyal.
Loyal.
Honestly, you don't leave the NFL to join the CFL.
All respect to the CFL.
Right, Bellator is down there, all respect to Scott Coker.
Scott's a great guy.
I've worked with Scott.
I did K-1 fights for him.
But, you know, they're like catching fighters dropping out of the octagon,
falling into the Bellator ring.
With all respect to Bellator, it does a fine job.
Here's the simple thing.
Success breeds competition, and competition breeds success.
You want other people to be successful. But the UFC is the rocket ship. The flames are coming and everybody's following their path. Right. And I'm very lucky again to have a first class seat on
that rocket ship. Don't forget where you came from and what got you there. I've seen many people get
cocky and make that mistake and leave and they're done. Their, their relevancy is gone in six months. Let's talk about some of the products coming out. I know you've only got a few more
minutes. Um, you go ahead. I got, I got, I got 10 more minutes. Sweet. Um, let's talk about,
um, it's time, the brand, the, the, the components that are coming out. We've talked about million
some, um, I'm excited as an energy drink guy uh you know i was watching your podcast last week and
i'm like all right when's it coming to the u.s talk about that deal well i spent almost two years
on this it's the it's time energy drink yes never thought i'd have my face on a can
so what this is is basically i don't drink energy drinks i might have to sip one once in a while and
i'm just exhausted at a show or something for the main event or whatever but i'm so full of energy
it's not an issue but one of the reasons i don't drink energy drinks is because they're crap
no offense yeah monster red bull big few successes right but they're full of taurine they're full of
stuff that's so bad for you and people are swallowing this down along with five hour energy shots. Like it's candy. Like
it's, I mean, when you, when I see advertising, we're five hour, any shot, all respect to you
guys, please don't get upset with me, but you're telling people to have breakfast. Are you kidding
me? Right. If I'm going to drink an energy drink, I want it to be full of vitamins and minerals.
Okay. So we made this with athletes in mind. It's purely natural. Yes, there's 200 milligrams of caffeine from a natural source of caffeine in this.
We've got wolfberry extract, amino acids, vitamins, minerals.
This is a nutritional drink with no crash.
It'll perk you up with no crash.
We're actually dealing with USADA.
Jeff and Viscay put me in contact with another company that's going to go after our barrels and batches and give a stamp of approval where this can be drunk, right?
So I, energy drinks is a huge seller. People are looking for them all over. But if I'm going to be
in this business, I'm going to have the best product out there. And that's exactly what we
created. So I just launched it in the UK on a private launch, excuse me, a soft launch.
My company's from the UK that's making it, and we're distributing out all over the world.
We're going to have four distribution centers alone in the United States because the demand's going to be that big, and it's going to be everywhere.
So the response has been tremendous.
We've got five different flavors coming out, but it's also going to eventually go into a line of another 50 products.
I'm going to have pre-workout and post-workout and nutritional products and everything.
But slow organic development is the way I build business.
And this is going to be the first one out of the gate, followed by other products I'll load the pipeline with.
And I'm very excited because the response has been tremendous and the critiques have been tremendous, positive.
It's great. I can't wait to get my hands on it.
So November will be in the U.S. Where will we be able to find it? We're going to get my hands on it is uh so november will be in the u.s
where we'll be able to find it it would be it we're going to launch it first on amazon okay
and so then uh the retail stores will be coming afterwards um what i would say is follow me on
instagram at bruce buffer ufc i make all my announcements there sweet i love that so it's
times coming out like we're gonna have pre-workworkouts, we're going to have all that stuff.
Obviously, you're the face of it with your trademark.
Any other influencers or people that are going to be involved
that we might know from UFC or otherwise?
Or is this a sole venture with just, you know,
like behind-the-scenes business partners?
No, there'll be other people involved.
I just can't name who they are yet.
I don't talk about anything unless the deal is signed on the dotted line.
But I've got, I believe I have access to some of the most amazing
influencers from Logan Paul to you name it, my buddy and stuff like that. If there's a business
deal where money changes hands and things are proper, but there's one rule I have,
if they don't like the product, they don't get the money, period.
I like it. I like it. What do you, I mean, what is the Bruce Buffer personal brand? You know,
you talked about social media. You've obviously embraced that with all the channels and platforms.
Like, is there a strategy or something as far as how you go at it with like continuing that you
obviously have the base platform of attention, uh, and you're, you're knowing there, but like,
how do you approach social media from a marketing perspective?
You know, I try, I put it out on social media, but I don't want to be like every post that I'm showing for something I'm showing because I mix
it up. You know, I give examples of my personal life and things that I do and obviously UFC,
but it's a timely factor. I'm going to put things out that are pertinent and make a point,
but I don't want to over, I've learned a long time ago, marketing five words of air,
let's get ready to rumble, which could have easily become, where's the beef? Show me
the money. You know, had a Sandy Warhol 15 minutes and died out. Saturation, avoiding saturation is
key, knowing how to do it so people don't get sick of hearing it. And that's why I come out
with a variety of different products because it's time is such a strong, somewhat generic statement that I own,
you know, in respect to where I own in trademark wise that I don't want to abuse it. I want to
build it. So it's careful marketing, careful, consistent marketing. If that answers your
question. It does. It does. What do you think is people get to know you and see that? What do you
think? Like the most surprising aspect, maybe it is like, you know, you see that. What do you think like the most surprising aspect maybe it is?
Like, you know, you're intense in the ring.
And then I'm sensing this, I don't know, this real empathy and real caring notion
that it's been both refreshing and surprising.
I mean, is that something that a lot of people may not know or understand about you?
I appreciate your kind words.
You know, I think because I walk out in the tuxedo and I've got the jewelry and all that stuff,
you know, my show, walk in the phone booth and go out to the Octagon, you know,
out of the phone booth dressed as the Octagon announcer.
But that's still me.
That's me.
You know, I walk with a swagger, you know.
You know, a lot of people do.
And I might be misinterpreted as being, you know, because I represent, I'm so strong in my beliefs.
Maybe not cocky, but just a little overconfident or whatever.
But I'm really humble.
I treat everybody around me with respect.
I treat people the way I want to be treated.
I believe we're all created equal.
I just like to be that way with everybody. You know,
it's real simple. I don't like cocky people. I don't like arrogant people and I don't like
assholes. Okay. And you put 10 men in a room, you know, you're going to get three of them that are
going to fit that mold. So I'll deal with the other seven, you know, it's real simple. And I
don't like liars, you know, I'm very honest and everything. I can sell an air conditioner to an
Eskimo, but I'm not going to lie about it. I mean, how vested do you get? Like it always, I don't know, separating because there's such
intensity with the fighting and you're in the ring and you're calling it and you get so intense
with the fighters, but like, is it hard to separate? I mean, do you, you go into it with
favorites and things like that? Or do you just, are you turning all that off to be you?
Yeah, it's a, it's a good question. Um, I'm an equal opportunity announcer. Okay. I don't bet the fights. I don't go in like, Oh geez, I got five grand on BJ Penn. I think I better give him
a big, a big boost here. No, it's not like that. These warriors, male and female deserve every
ounce of energy I can give them. It's my job to enhance the moment for them and enhance the moment for the fans.
The show is not about me.
It's about them.
I know what it's like to bang.
I've fought a lot of my life.
I was never a pro.
I've fought on the beach.
I've fought in the ring.
I've fought in the match.
You name it.
I've fought in back alleys.
The bottom line is I understand the mentality of a fighter.
I've been around fighters longer than the UFC has been in existence
because I've been around boxing and my own past history in fighting.
So I understand the fighter mentality.
That intensity, that passion I'm throwing forward
is because I'm introducing the fighters the way I would want to be introduced
if I was fighting because I want you to get me ready to go.
These guys are like, and women are like,
Kentucky Derby horses in the cage or in that gate before that gate opens.
And my job is to get them frothing at the mouth and blowing snot like crazy.
So when that door opens, they just go for it.
It's real simple.
I love it.
I love it.
I just, I don't know.
I still go back to that.
Like, but you watch every fight, right?
Especially the main events.
You're ringside watching every moment.
Octagon side.
The octagon side, sorry.
Getting my rings, my octagons.
They called me the ring announcer for about six years,
and immediately I kept telling everybody until Dan said,
guys, will you get this straight?
I'm the octagon announcer.
This is not a ring.
I'm trying to teach my five-year-old what
an octagon is right now but uh no but your your octagon side and you're watching this like
i don't know i think of like these these shocking moments and i'm thinking like well you know and
i've i've never been to you i've been to boxing matches i have never been blessed the i've been
a ton of octagon in South Carolina.
But we have fighters.
We have the Wonder Boy is from right here in the upstate of South Carolina.
He's a good man.
Steven's a good man.
Yeah.
So he's been great to follow. But I think of the shocking moments, you know,
like when Ronda Rousey lost the first time or like not the first time.
I guess it was the first time. But, like, are those as shocking for you as they are for us?
Or again, is it, are you still like in the zone?
No, I'm a fan first and an announcer second, you know, I mean,
there's plenty of shots of me, like when Connor knocked out Jose Aldo in 21 seconds
or whatever it was and everybody focused and it made social media all over
because my face was like you know
like that and suddenly it's like you know you always got to remember there's a camera on you
somewhere but you know what I go in and do my job but I have a right to enjoy those fights like
anybody else you know yeah I know where's it all going for you Bruce I mean you know sounds like
it's times about to rise like a meteor, but where does the future hold for Bruce?
I have bucket lists yet to be fulfilled.
I've got a number of TV commercials.
I've got a motion picture project in the works right now that I can't talk about, not necessarily starring and producing.
I'm always working on something, and what I'm trying to do is mainly it's real simple. I want to keep my, my business plan on the passionate mode that it is with everything fitting perfectly. And I just want
to make sure that everything I build is enough to take care of my family for their rest of their
lives and their kids. And I've got two, uh, Godson and nephew. I'm not married. I've never been
married. I've almost been divorced twice, but my ex-girlfriend from 27 years ago is my partner, Kristen. And she dealt with your company and she's absolutely
amazing. We are a two-person army here doing more business than most small to mid-sized
corporations. But I'm godfather to her kids. I want to make sure nobody that I love and know
has anything to worry about. And when I go, I just want to make sure everybody's taken care of and that I leave this legacy and a number of businesses that still could be running.
And just everybody thinks that, hey, I was a good guy and I did the best I could to make everybody happy, including myself.
Again, I'm real simple.
I'm real simple.
But I'm like a great white shark swimming.
You know, I love what I do.
I'll never stop.
I'll be in the octagon for another 10 years until physically I can't do what I do.
I love it, man.
Is it too much to ask for it's time for the Radcast?
Or is that too cliche and we don't do that?
It's not too cliche.
I just paid a shitload of money for it.
But you know what?
I'll do it for you.
All right.
What is it again?
The Radcast.
It's time for the Radcast.
Or Ryan or whatever.
I don't care.
I just want to go tell my friends that I talked to Bruce Brever,
and he did It's Time for us.
I'll be happy.
And now, it's time for the Radcast with Ryan Alford.
Oh, my God.
I think I have chills, Mike. I'm like, Oh, my God.
I think I have chills, Mike.
I'm like, oh, my God.
Is my mic falling over?
I still get them, too.
This is the other thing.
Ryan, when my hair stops rising up when I do my thing,
then maybe I shouldn't do my thing anymore.
Dude, I'm telling you.
Bruce, I can't be more thankful for your graciousness with the time.
Was a fan before, huge fan now.
I think everyone listening is going to be more,
and I think we're all going to be clamoring for an energy drink come November.
Well, when you do that, try to mix it with the finest Kentucky bourbon in the market.
If I can just give one product, I'm so proud of this, Ryan.
Yes.
Puncher's Chance is my bourbon I came out with the end of last year.
It's all about how one punch can change your life.
It's everything I'm all about, but it is the sweet nectar of the bourbon gods.
We've won six gold medal awards, three for the best tasting bourbon, three for the best bottle design.
And as a craft distributor, we're the fastest selling, highest rate of bourbon in America today.
So this can be, this is awesome.
You can go to wolfdistilleryspirits.com.
You can buy it online or we're in stores,
not in every state now,
but all across the country.
And it's just one of my favorite things to do.
And the last thing is at my website,
brucebuffer.com,
or of course I'm on Cameo, but the whole business of,
of championship introductions, birthdays, birth of babies, business videos, whatever
has grown during COVID. Like there's no tomorrow. And I, we get Chris and I get a lot of pleasure
out of doing the weddings and the champ intros, the thank you notes we get from people. Um,
it just brings tears to our eyes. We're making so many people happy. And I give partial proceeds to animal, military and children charities because you got
to pay things forward. You got to pay things forward. I love that. You beat me to it. You
are the world's best marketer because that's usually the last thing I say. Thank you. And
then I go, where can we keep up with everything? And Bruce, you're ahead of me, man. You are the
world's greatest marketer. I don't know about the greatest, but I'll put myself up there.
I know.
I love it.
Only because of proof.
It's one thing to talk about things and talk about them, but it's about did you do it?
That's the key.
All right.
Show me the proof.
Yeah.
Everybody get out there.
Check out Puncher's Chance.
Was it Puncher's Chance?
There it is.
Puncher's Chance. Go to is. Puncher's chance.
Go to BruceBuffer.com.
Follow everything that Bruce is up to.
Hell of a guy and a legend in the octagon.
Thank you so much, Ryan.
I appreciate it very much.
Thank you so much.
I'm Ryan Alford, the host of the Radcast.
You know where to find us.
We're at the Radcast.com.
Search for Bruce Buffer.
Search for puncher's chance.
All the highlights from today's episode
will be there loaded live and keep up with everything with ryan alford i'm all verified
on all the platforms we'll see you next time on the radcast