The Chris Cuomo Project - Bruce Buffer

Episode Date: July 4, 2023

Bruce Buffer (Octagon Announcer, Ultimate Fighting Championship) joins Chris Cuomo to discuss his 27 years of announcing for the UFC, his personal background in martial arts and experience training with Chuck Norris’ fighting partners, how mixed martial arts fighting has evolved since its early days as a spectacle and how it’s safer than boxing, his relationship with his brother, “Let’s Get Ready To Rumble” boxing announcer Michael Buffer, and much more. Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just two words will tell you exactly who I'm talking about, if you know anything, when it comes to the UFC. It's time. Man, those words have launched a million memories for me and the people closest to me. UFC all begins when it's a major event with a man named Bruce Buffer. Hey, I'm Chris Cuomo. I'm really pumped for this episode of the Chris Cuomo Project. I love making introductions for you to people who I believe shape the world around us, whether it's how we think about things or how we live or how we experience. And Bruce Buffer is exactly that for me and legions of fans all over the country of mixed martial arts,

because he is the voice of the octagon. And it's more than just being an announcer with a fancy jacket and the man can dress. I don't talk to him about it because as you know, the hell do I know about dressing? But the energy and the kind of imprimatur, the stamp of this is it, it's time, here's the big event. This is what we've been talking about.

This is what we've been waiting for. He just personifies all of that. And what's so interesting is what's not known about him and his connection to the man who made famous, really for my generation, the idea of announcing before an event at all remember don't let's get rid of and if you're in a taxi cab in new york city for safety uh and that was amazing michael buffer what's their relationship how it happened a lot of surprises but they're

also very different even though they're in the kind of same space. And there are lots of things, even if you're a UFC fan, you did not know about this guy, but you will now. Bruce Buffer, it's time. Look, no shame in my game. I've been using AG1 for over five years.

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Check it out. We don't fake the funk here, and here's the real talk. We don't fake the funk here, and here's the real talk. Over 40 years of age, 52% of us experience some kind of ED between the ages of 40 and 70. I know it's taboo, it's embarrassing, but it shouldn't be. Thankfully, we now have HIMS, and it's changing the vibe by providing affordable access to ED treatment, and it's all online. HIMS is changing men's health care. Why? Because it's giving you access to affordable and discreet sexual health treatments, and you do it right from your couch. HIMS provides access to clinically proven generic alternatives to Viagra or Cialis or whatever. And it's up to like 95% cheaper.

And there are options as low as two bucks a dose. HIMS has hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers. So if ED is getting you down, it's time to pick it up. Start your free online visit today at HIMS.com slash CCP. H-I-M-S dot com slash CCP. And you will get personalized ED treatment options. HIMS.com slash CCP.

Prescriptions, you need an online consultation with a healthcare provider. And they will determine if appropriate. Restrictions apply. You see the website. You'll get details and important safety information. You're going to need a subscription. It's required. Plus, the price is going to vary based on product and subscription plan. Bruce Buffer, what a personal pleasure for me and a gift to the audience. I am so happy to have you and I promise I will never use your signature line on you the way everybody else who interviews you does.

No problem, Chris. You've got carte blanche right now, so it's okay, my friend. A pleasure to be on the show. I've been a fan for a long time, and what can I say? I've been looking forward to this very much. Love the gift that you have given to me and my family and the family that I choose, my buddies who get together for the UFC events. It is part of my, literally my lifestyle, my culture, and you are such a huge part of it. How cognizant are you of what a piece of culture you've become with the dominance of MMA? Well, first off, thank you for your kind words. Appreciate them very much. Chris, all I can tell

you is that I love what I do. I'm very passionate about what I do. I've been the Octagon announcer now for over 27 years, as of February of this year. And I knew back when the UFC started the spectacle that it was, which went to a mainstream sport, but I knew back then that it was going to become the biggest thing in fighting sports, if not one of the biggest sports watched in the world as it went from spectacle to sport and refined. I always like to say in answer to your question, the show is not about me. It's about the fighters and it's about the fans watching. I just go in and do my part, Chris. And my job is to go in there and elevate the fans, elevate you watching at home,

especially elevate the fighters beyond the moment that they're at, the moment they walk in the octagon and take them to that next level, giving them every ounce of passion, every ounce of emotion, my voice power, everything I can do. And that's why you see that I move so much. I'm just very passionate about what I do. And it's been an honor and a humble privilege every day I wake up and I have the voice of the octagon on my chest and I can wake up with pride and say, hey, I'm the voice of the octagon. It's an amazing feeling.

It's an amazing thing to be part of this rocket ship that's going uphill at full speed. And I've got a first class seat. And if I can just add one more thing in my long-winded answer to you, every night I walk in that octagon for 27 years is my night to prove to you, the fans, Dana White, the powers that be, my family, myself, and the fighters that I deserve this job. So you'll never hear me talk about doing a 360, UFC 100, or doing this to that. I'll talk to you about what I did last Saturday, and I'll talk to you about what I do on June 3rd when I walk out of that octagon again. It's just the way I have to keep that

passion rolling for myself to keep doing what I do after celebrating my birthday and realizing I have another year of life to do this all over again. Happy birthday, brother. Uh, and nobody else, uh, can do it. And when somebody else does do it, you know, in some of the other lesser events, it's fine, but you're synonymous with it just as your brother became synonymous with the, you know, the big boxing events. And I think it's so cool, the whole family story, and we'll get into it. But, you know, I'll share with you. So, you know, I don't know, but it was a long time ago. And you come out and you're bouncing around the octagon.

out and you're bouncing around the octagon and a friend of mine we're like talking about your jacket and we're like here's captain fancy uh with his jacket and one of the guys is like yeah it's funny i wonder why they never have like fighters i guess this is kind of like the vegas component and you know we all have these now so every question is a Google away, right? And one of my buddies is like, oh, Buffer is a fighter. He's judo and he was in Chuck Norris' school. And we're like, get out. And we started watching it. It was so funny how it created a whole new dimension of appreciation for why you're there and why it matters so much to you. And it's not a secret and you don't make it a secret, but it's not a very well-known thing about you. I'm sure a lot of UFC fans who are watching this right now

will be like, oh, I didn't know that he was so closely connected. And you fought and were serious about practice well into your 30s, right? Yeah, I first started at martial arts at 12 in Philadelphia. I studied judo and I achieved a green belt in judo. And then my family up to move to Malibu, California from Philadelphia, which was kind of like culture shock when I was 15. And I started surfing very heavily and I was still training.

But I met two of Chuck Norris's fighting partners and his black belts. And I started training with them in the art of Tang Soo Do, which was Chuck's first art. He started in the Air Force in Korea. And it's a Korean art. Basically, the other art is Taekwondo. And all we used to do as a kid is we surfed and we trained martial arts. We surfed, we fought, we trained. We surfed, we fought, we trained. And you would think in Malibu, it was like, oh, who fights in Malibu? Well, you know what? In the surf culture, there's a lot of fighting that goes on.

As I always say, being ground and pounded or ground and pounding someone on a mat is a little bit different than being ground and pounded or ground and pounding somebody on the beach in the sand, you know? So like most of us in our childhood, we go through our experiences and all. And I studied traditional martial arts and a number of different arts, mainly Tuxedo. And I competed in some of the tournaments like the internationals in Long Beach and such. But with my actual experience with real fighting, I wanted to fight for real. And that's when I entered the world of kickboxing. I wanted to get in. I wanted to train. I wanted to either get knocked out, knocked up, or knock somebody out, whatever. I wanted to get in i wanted to train i wanted to either get knocked out knocked up or

knock somebody out whatever i wanted to do it for real and i trained very heavily for like 10 plus years sparring every week doing everything that people do the train seriously and i wanted to have one professional fight i wanted to go and just have one fight i had some connections at the forum here in la and i trained and trained I got concussed like twice during my training, probably more, you know, over the period of time that I studied. And my doctor looked at me and he said, are you doing this to make money? And I said, no, I got businesses. I do just fine.

He said, then stop. Okay. Because everything you're going through right now from the headaches to this, to that, the other, because of the concussion you had, it's going to get worse as you keep going. You have to keep doing this. So train, train, train, but the concussion you had, it's going to get worse as you keep going, if you keep doing this. So train, train, train, but no more fighting. Stop. So I basically said that was it.

You know, I'll say what I really have to do it and just train to stay in shape. Good for you. I was so surprised by it when I first learned, but I wanted people to know that to the extent, you know, because you're such a cultural figure within it, but you're not window dressing. You're a true devotee of believing about it. And as you've watched it evolve,

what is your personal position on, you know, the big controversy about MMA versus the distinct styles? You know, the originals like me who've been watching it, you know, from back in the days when Hoist Gracie just wowed all of us by taking on bigger men with his ability to get them on the ground. Do you miss style versus style? Or do you believe that this is just the natural evolution of combinations of skills in actual combat versus style and style for point fighting? in actual combat versus style and style for point fighting as, you know, Bruce Lee, which, you know, you did some Wing Chun also. That was his idea, right? That eventually you got to be able to do everything because everything can be done to you. Absolutely. Which is where the term mixed martial arts comes from. And back in the beginning, basically it was blood sport. You remember John

Claude Van Damme. His movie came out. I forget the year it came out. So when the UFC first came on the scene, it was style versus style. And when Hoyce Gracie walked out of UFC 1, took on everybody and won, I actually knew he was going to win. And I'll tell you why very briefly. When I was kickboxing in 1991, a famous director named John Milius, who wrote Apocalypse Now, Red Dawn, very, very popular director. He took me to Choices Dojo in Torrance. And he said, Bruce, I know you're training kickboxing, you do all these martial arts, but you need to train jujitsu.

I said, well, I've done some jujitsu. He goes, no, you've never trained Gracie jujitsu, right? So I went to the host Gracie gym in Torrance and out comes this thin, tall kid. Name is Hoyes. He says, hi, my name is Hoyes. Come with me. He takes me into one of his padded rooms. You know, they always had the Gracie challenge back then. Uh-huh.

And he closed the door and it's just him and me. And he looks at me, he goes, I understand you're a kickboxer. Come at me. Take my head off. Right? I said, do you want me to put on some gloves? He goes, no, let's just do this. Okay. I was game.

I went at him. I would say 45 seconds, give or take later, I'm on the ground. He's got me in a side choke. He's choking me out. He goes, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, right? So I tap. He got underneath my punches, took me down, made me tap.

He gets up in the guard, straightens out his gi, and he looked at me and goes, see? Isn't it nice not to get hit in the face, right? And I said, okay. There's a lot of training, even though every street fight I was ever in always goes to the ground at some point. Right. But there's other ways to deal with it when you're in the street. And then when he walked out in 1993 at the first UFC with his hands on the back of his brothers walking out, I looked at everybody I was watching the show with and I said, see that guy, he's going to beat everybody. Right. And that's where jiu-jitsu became the prominent style.

And in the times when it was expected, when it was style versus style, people began to realize that you needed to learn jiu-jitsu. You needed to learn wrestling, which most people consider wrestling the most solid-based and mixed martial arts there is. And it was about six or seven years later that the famous Olympian commentator that we had back then, Jeff Blatnick, and Big John McCarthy, the term mixed martial arts came out.

And that's when it became mixed martial arts. And everybody realized it's not just style versus style. These are mixed martial artists. You have to know everything, the full realm. And like Bruce Lee says, you know, you have to be like water or whatever comes at you. And that's the name of the game. So it's an evolutionary process that we've all seen, which I take great pride in being part of. I know it's frustrating for some people who are purists. I remember when Mark Coleman burst onto the scene and he seemed

so unskilled, certainly as a striker, but it didn't matter because he could take a punch and he was going to get a hand on you. And when he did, you were going to go on the ground. And obviously he was one of the early adapters of the ground and pound and yet- And the head butt.

Oh yeah, oh yeah. We had to take that out of the game, thanks to that guy. But what we see now though, it is always interesting to me how I have to remind myself and others that somebody is an amazing grappler or a former Olympian or an All-American because there is such a tendency to want to take somebody's head off. a little bit of hardwired instinct, but also just a real understanding of basics of human dynamics, that if you can hit me on the button, you will knock me out. And that's probably the straightest line to victory. And that's why there's such an overweighted significance towards striking, even among brilliant grapplers. Well, absolutely.

Because listen, strikers come in and you notice when I introduced the fighter, I'll say he's a Muay Thai kickboxer. You know, he's a striker. Or I'll say he's a mixed martial artist. That's the bios they write down to say what their styles are. And with a striker coming in, let's take some of the prominent boxers, even if it's some of the great boxers like Mike Tyson, right? When the boxer steps in that octagon, a champion boxer,

they are probably going to lose 99.9% of the time. Champion UFC fighter steps in the square ring, square circle of boxing with the Marcus of Queensborough rules to weapons, they are probably going to lose 99.9% of the time. It's apples and oranges, two different styles. But once that striker's taken down, if they don't know how to do a sprawl to a takedown, if they don't know how to handle themselves

on the ground in the takedown, they're toast, more likely than not. Yeah, I mean, we've seen it time and time again. Who did Randy Couture fight? Was it Burbick? Who did he fight who was a famous boxer? Oh, James Toney. James Toney, that's right.

I remember that one. I lost some money on that one because I was like, you know, Couture's a little past prime, big fan of his. And this guy's going to touch him up and he's strong enough to keep him away from him. It was over in, you know, the fight was functionally over inside the beginning of the first round. Once he got inside Toney and grabbed him, put him up against the octagon and he put him on the ground, it was round. Once he got inside Tony and grabbed him, put him up against the octagon and he put him on the ground, it was it, it was over. And if I'm not mistaken,

Randy tapped him out with a toehold. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He flipped around on him, which I always felt he did just to prove how opposite this was of what people expected and how diverse it is. That's kind of what frustrates me a little bit. I love that the guys are getting paid.

I know it's frustrating to the ownership in UFC. But when I watch Jake Paul box with these guys, and now I know Diaz is going to do it, I'm really happy for them to get the paydays. Don't get me wrong. But it really bothers me. And not because I don't believe that this kid, Paul, knows how to use his hands and his training, but I believe that it just gives this false sense of legitimacy that, oh, I guess these guys aren't that good. And it really bothers me

because I've been doing this for so long and I understand how different it is, but I just, I hate that they go in there and they keep losing. because I've been doing this for so long, and I understand how different it is, but I just, I hate that they go in there and they keep losing. Apples and oranges, two different sports. There's a number of mixed martial artists or UFC fighters that are good boxers, from Frankie Edgar to many others that I can name that could carry themselves very strongly.

But the opponents, with all respect to Jake Paul, you know, bringing eyeballs to the sport, doing what he's doing, he's very carefully picking his opponents. Yeah. Right. Ben Askren was the first one. Pardon me, it's escaping my mind. The second fighter that he fought.

He fought the basketball guy, Nate Robinson. Nate Robinson. And then he fought like some rapper, I think, or maybe that was his brother. But then he fought a really good fighter, just, what was his name? Woodley, who was it? Tyron Woodley. Tyron Woodley was a great fighter.

I was really surprised by that one because that guy was such a good striker. But you know, they're all a little past prime. And Diaz, I mean, nobody has ever confused him with being a boxer. I mean, you know, I wouldn't want him to swing at me, but that's not what he's known for. Well, Nate's a very tough cat. There's no question. And he and his brother, Nick, they're two of a kind.

They walk to their own tune. You know, I love those guys. They're really great guys, right? But they're street, total street. And Nate throws punches in bunches. We'll see how he reacts. We'll see how he trains for this. Again, I'm not going to call it the winner.

I always say even in the UFC, may the best man win or woman win. But I'll tell you one thing. When that fight comes on, every UFC eyeball in the world, their fan is going to be tuning into that show. They're going to want to watch Nate Diaz and Jake Paul go at it. No question. And look, the monetary success is obvious and they prove it every time out. So good for them. It's one of the signature aspects of American opportunity is how to figure out how

to be an entrepreneur. Do you ever feel that you've affected a fight? Have you ever had a feeling that when you look into the eyes of the man or woman who's listening to you, that you've gotten them to a different place than they were when they came in and it wound up putting them in a position to win in a way they may not have otherwise. Well, I can't say or take credit for their win because it's the loneliest sport in the world and that's up to them. But I will say that I always look in the eye of the tiger. I block out the audience. I don't even hear them when I'm doing it. My face is, I'm completely concentrated on the individual in front of me. From the moment they walk in to where

the referee is checking them out before they step in the octagon, I have looked right there in their eyes and I can either see the lion tiger happening or i can see fear in some fighters it's amazing how you can see this um when i start announcing and i'm drawing their names or building them up i don't stand center octagon as you know i have a tendency to go over into their space yeah and they'll even want me in their space now what happened is, is that fighters like Dan Hardy and others over the years have been like this, come to me, bring it to me, give it to me. I want to hear it. They even bring their faces up face to face with me. And it's an amazing compliment to me as the announcer that doing what I do so passionately that I want to take them to the next level. And I can tell that I am taking them to that next level. Well, but you're also the legitimacy. When Bruce Buffer is giving your credentials,

you know, it reminds me of this medieval movie I saw about the guy who would come out before the jouster or the knight and like come with this very kind of pompous explanation of the guy with all these nicknames and all this other nonsense. But on an authentic level, you are the imprimatur of being in the Coliseum. This is it, the guy saying your name. And you can often see it registering on these fighters' faces, even if they're veterans, you know, where they're like, yup, this is it. This is releasing the hounds right now. This is where I go through my change right now. And it's an absolute necessity for me in terms of making it fight night.

Well, thank you. And, you know, based on what you said and an answer to your question further, I can, I don't ever want to take credit. I'm going to say it again. The show's not about me. It's about them, okay? I'm just doing my job.

But when I know that I've had an effect on them, especially the way they react to me when I'm in the octagon, I've never instigated a fist bump in my life. That's them coming at me. I've never asked them to come up to my face. That's them coming at me. When they're doing their move and they're coming into me. But after the fight, there's been many times where fighters walked up to me to thank me for taking them to that level. I can say that I've

had that effect on them because they've told me that I've had that effect on them. And just like a little kid coming up wanting to take a picture and an autograph, that's one of the greatest moments that basically fuels my fire to keep doing what I do and to keep my passion strong, that I can have that effect on the fighters like that. The Chris Cuomo Project is supported by Cozy Earth. Why? Because I like their sheets. That's why. A lot of people don't get a good night's sleep for a lot of reasons. One of the ones that you can control is bedding. One out of three of us report being sleep deprived. Okay, well, what is it? Well, it stresses all kinds of things. But the wrong sheets can make you hot, can make you cold. I'm telling you,

I don't even believe it either. But Cozy Earth sheets breathe. And here's what I love about them. Cozy Earth's best-selling sheet is a bamboo set, okay? Temperature regulating. Gets softer with every wash. I'm not kidding you, all right? Now, so if you go to CozyEarth.com and you enter the code, enter the code Chris, and you can get up to 35% off your first order. CozyEarth.com, and the code is Chris. We don't fake the funk here. And here's the real talk. Over 40 years of age, 52% of us experience some kind of ED between the ages of 40 and 70. I know it's taboo, it's embarrassing, but it shouldn't be. Thankfully, we now have HIMS, and it's changing the vibe by providing affordable access to ED treatment, and it's all online. HIMS is changing men's health care. Why? Because it's giving you

access to affordable and discreet sexual health treatments. And you do it right from your couch. HIMS provides access to clinically proven generic alternatives to Viagra or Cialis or whatever. And it's up to like 95% cheaper. And there are options as low as two bucks a dose. 95% cheaper. And their options are as low as $2 a dose. HIMS has hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers. So, if ED is getting you down,

it's time to pick it up. Start your free online visit today at HIMS.com slash CCP. H-I-M-S dot com slash CCP. And you will get personalized ED treatment options. HIMS dot com slash CCP.

Prescriptions, you need an online consultation with a healthcare provider. And they will determine if appropriate. Restrictions apply. You see the website. You'll get details and important safety information. You're going to need a subscription. It's required. Plus, price is going to vary based on product and subscription plan.

Now, the part of your personal story that I just love is, so people who know who you are, they always connect you with your brother. brother. And, you know, he of course was the really just defined the, you know, just the great element, the ingredient of the hype at the beginning of these fights with his signature line, which you helped him obviously make an intellectual property. Let's get ready to rumble. I remember when they put them in the taxi cabs, let's get ready to rumble for safety. And I was like, oh, that's so cool. But- That was one of the coolest deals I ever made, Chris. I love that because I'm Michael's manager. I remember that. I love that in New York when they put them in the taxi cabs. And let me just say one thing before we go any further. To

me, Michael Buffer is the greatest announcer of all time, right? He set the mold. I just want to say that. Well, I guess it's easier for you to say that when you're talking about your big brother. I guess that makes it easier and probably required. I don't know much about what you do. I love the sport, but I do know about how to deal with an older brother. And it's always good to let them feel that they're in the position they are warranted or not. But what I love about this story is everybody connects you to as like,

you know, almost like the Alberts, you know, Marv, you know, and Kenny and the other Alberts like, yeah, of course this was what he did. No, no, no, no, no. This was later in life. You didn't even know you were brothers. And when you kind of recognized his ascendance in boxing and you were just a fan, your father wound up connecting the dots for you. And what I don't understand as well, and I'd love your take if you're comfortable with it. Sure. So it's obvious to me why, yeah, you would want to meet him. You were a fan. This was cool. He's a big deal. But tell me about the reception, because this could have been, and I'm sure it was emotionally complicated for your brother, because this was a dad that he hadn't seen since he was very, very young and raised by other people with a different name until he went into the service. And they told him he had to use buffer.

So what can you tell us about that? You've done your research, Chris. I love it. You know, I was watching boxing out of the womb. My dad was a huge boxing fan. And, you know, our Saturday nights, our Sundays, Tuesday night fights ever, you know, steak and potatoes to watch boxing and just get around the TV and have a great time. In the late 80s, when Mike Tyson was bringing boxing back with his fame and everything, and boxing became, again, the water cooler conversation on a Monday the way the UFC is today. the water cooler conversation on the Monday, the way the UFC is today.

Out came this very debonair, James Bond-looking individual, dressed to the nines, handsome as handsome can be, saying the let's get ready to rumble. And we all became fans, and he became as famous, if not more famous, than the boxers. But I was stunned when his name came kind of around on the screen and it said Michael Boffer. In my early years, my first company when I was 19 and then through my 20s and early 30s, I owned telemarketing companies, right? Legal telemarketing, not Wolf of Wall Street telemarketing.

So with that being said, I saw every phone book in the country because we didn't have the internet back then. And naturally, I looked at the white pages to see if the name Buffer was in there. I never saw Buffer in a single book. So when I saw Buffer on the screen, I was like, Oh my God, who is this guy? Right. And something went off inside me. And I called Bob Arum's offices, Don King's offices, found us some tidbits about it. Time passed and everybody came up to me over time as he became more famous

saying, Hey, is that your brother? That guy that goes, let's get ready to rumble. And I said, no, my brother's Brian. He was my full brother that I grew up with my entire life. So long story cut short, as you mentioned about my dad, we were on a road trip up to San Francisco. And I said, dad, do you have any idea who this guy is? Everybody just keeps coming up to me. I'm giving you a very short story.

And I got this, oh, I think that's your brother. What? I'm like 28 years old. I go, what are you talking about? Son, I never told you, you know, I was married briefly during World War II before I went overseas. I came back, a divorce ensued, a son was born. And I think the last time my dad saw my brother Michael was when he was like two and a half. And it's just one of those stories that happened, Chris.

Yeah. And then Michael was doing a show here at the Reseded country club uh which is no longer in existence where they had these great small fights the Goosen brothers used to put on all the time and Michael was doing it and my brother Brian and I pushed my father to call the venue and say call call leave the message you know my dad called Michael called back they got together for lunch turned out to be his son, you know? And it was a matter of a couple weeks later, we all met for dinner at a restaurant I'll never forget. It was called La Terrasse in West LA. And in walks Michael as we're sitting at the table.

And I'm a big fan. And now I'm realizing this is my blood walking in. And I don't think I can put into words the feeling that overcame me at that moment. But the beauty of it is, like you pointed out, it could have been a positive or negative experience, but it turned out to be completely positive. We all got along great. And it was just the beginning, as Humphrey Borger said, you know, the beginning of a beautiful relationship, right? It just kept growing and growing. And I would travel the country with the businesses I owned, you know, going to New York, coming back, stopping at Vegas, going to the fights.

Mike and I go out together, spend time together, getting to know each other better. But I had an epiphany at, in 1992, when Riddick Bowe fought Evander Holyfield at the very first fight of Thomas and Mac. And I watched everybody going crazy, you know, from Hulk Hogan to movie stars like Nicholson and all jumping out of their seats with, let's get ready to rumble or showing all this thing. And, and I thought, wow, Michael hasn't made a t-shirt or hat, um, got him to trademark it, but not trademark fully where it was protected. And I started doing my research. And one of the things that really drove me was I learned that Pat Riley had three had trademarked three Pete. Yeah. And it was an article how he made like a million and a half dollars of merchandise or something like that, which fueled my business fire even more.

And I just met with Michael and basically just said, you know, I'd love to make you richer and more, in so many words, richer and more famous than you ever dreamed. Hopefully myself in the process. We need to trademark this phrase properly. I'm going to sell my companies. I'll quit with the money I have in the bank. I was totally burned out on what I was doing, even though I was making great money and living a wonderful lifestyle. But sometimes you got to roll the dice, right? That's what entrepreneurs do.

So I said, I'm going to sell the company. I want to build this brand. I want to build your career, but I need to be your manager and your partner, you know, and together we'll build this. And he looked and I said, I see you in the MBA course. I see you doing this movies, TV toys. I went home that night from that fight. I wrote three pages of notes. My hand wouldn't stop on what I could do. It was like, I'm just looking at my hands, just going like this. And it just kept taking over with my entrepreneurial spirit. And Michael looked at me and he said, well, how are you going to do all that? I said, I really don't know. I said, but if I'm going to give all this up, I'm going to make it happen. And then I just went to work. You know, I would travel the country, going to shows, shaking hands, taking names, going to trade shows, going to Kinko's, making, I could show you one of them, but it used to cost me $15 back in like 95, give or take, to make these promo kits that I would make for Michael, you know, to put them all together. And I would go to the trade shows and hand them out.

You need to do this with Let's Get Ready to Rumble. This toy would be great with Let's Get Ready to Rumble, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And within a year, I had our first product out, which is a talking key chain and a talking coffee mug, right? And you drink and go, let's get ready to rumble, right? And that was the beginning of it. And I started booking him for other events out of the base of his fame, which was the HBO boxing ring, because everything is a base you build from. And it just kept expanding and expanding, Chris. I love what you guys built together, which is huge. And then, so you're a businessman, you're doing well, you bond with your brother, you do what absolutely today would be a no brainer, which was build the brand. Okay. Now that's all we talk

about, but you were an early adapter, obviously good for you and him um then explain how you decide to try to do the same thing that he does well when we started together i was so fascinated with how wonderful his job was traveling the world obviously meeting wonderful people living this amazing lifestyle and i thought you know michael i'd love to do this but also i'd like to announce, right? Because I'd done motivational speaking. I was just speaking in front of people with my businesses, getting people motivated and all. I've been a motivator. I've tried to motivate people my whole life. And he said, you know, there's really no money in it.

I'm the only one making any money out of it. You know, I'm doing 100 or plus shows or whatever a year. It would also be, we agreed it was a confliction of interests. And so that went out the door. That wasn't going to happen. And I said, that's okay. Something will come along, right? And in 1993, when the UFC came along, it became the fastest growing pay-per-view on TV.

My job as Michael's manager was to get him into every single big thing happening outside of boxing to do his thing and bring let's get ready to rumble into it so i made a deal with the ufc and i had michael announce ufc six seven and ultimate ultimate yeah three shows a three fight deal when we went to casper wyoming for ufc six uh the owner robert meyer was at the time before daniel white took it over he said okay when you go into the octagon we want you to say if it's not in the octagon, it's not real, right? Well, Michael had this huge contract with WCW Wrestling, which was a thing and still is with WWE. And at that time, you know, they wanted you to think they wanted Hulk Hogan to punch you 20 times in the face that it was real. With all respect, I have so much respect for wrestlers, what they do and everything, all the respect in the world. But it is called sports entertainment. Right.

So I knew for some reason on Monday I'd get a call. So I got a call from WCW. They said, what are you doing having Michael do the UFC? They were upset that he set the line that he's doing UFC. And I said, look, his contract allows him to do it. Well, you need to make a choice. It's either us or UFC, right? And Michael was so busy at the time,

he probably couldn't have grown with so busy at the time, he probably couldn't have grown with the UFC at the rate that they grew. So I had him finish his three fight deal. And then I called the owner, Robert, and I said, listen, I want to be the announcer. Let me grow as the octagon announcer. I will help you build this brand with my media contacts that you don't have. I will work incessantly outside of just announcing to help build a brand in any way I can help. And it fell on deaf fears, right? It was like, oh, okay. You know, it didn't happen. So I got a videotape from a fighter named Scott Ferrazzo in Minnesota who was perfect for them. 6'1", hands down to his ankles, 340 pounds, you know, a total striker, brawler, the whole bit. And I sent the videotape to him and I got him into UFC 8 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, February 16th, 1996.

And I went down as his manager and I put my tuxedo in the bag and I called the owner. I said, listen, I'm coming down. I got my tuxedo. Let me announce the prelims. Let me show you what I got, which he allowed me to do. And I did that. Again, it fell on deaf ears. I didn't get called back. Six months later, I get a call. We'd like you to be in Dothan, Alabama in two days. Uh, the announcer can't work the show. We want you to announce the entire show.

And man, it was like Rocky went off in my head, you know, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done, I'm going through that the whole bit, get down Dothan, Alabama, do the job, come back. Thought I did a good job. I looked at it now. I'm kind of like, no, no, no, no, no. But you know, there's an evolutionary process

to everything. Sure. And I thought, okay, great. Now it's time to get hired to be the announcer. Well, that again, didn't happen. I was stopping in New York when I was in there. I'd go have drinks. I'd, I'd meet him at the offices. I want to be the announcer. I want to be the announcer. I kept saying it. Give me the job. They hire somebody else, right? And then they brought back another announcer. So then what happened, this was the turning point. I got a call from the owner and he said, listen, we're doing a TV show called Friends. It was their second season. There's an episode called the, we're doing the ultimate fighting champion, right? The announcer is a voiceover, but they want to have a real announcer

and they want to send somebody over to your house to pick up audio and video. So one of my brothers sent a run over to my house. I got a call at six o'clock that night on Monday. Listen, we want you to co-star as yourself on Friends, the biggest comedy on TV. And need to be on the set tomorrow to rehearse. We'll film on Wednesday. So I called the owner of Rubbermire. I said, listen, I need to meet with

you during lunch tomorrow on the set, right? I met with them. This was after a year and a half plus of trying to get the job. And I come from the school, you don't get the job unless you ask for the job. And I said to him, Robert, I'm going to ask you one more time. I feel like I'm waiting to be asked to the prom and nobody's asking me to go to the prom. I want to be the octagon announcer. I want to grow with you, build my, build my announcing career, but I will help you build this brand. You know, I've got media contacts you don't have. Let me work with you in a capacity far beyond just the announcer, but I want this job. I'm a big poker player. It was the best poker hand I ever played in my life. And we agreed to it. And it was from

that point forward that I announced every single show until there's been so many shows that we have a backup announcer that fills in for me for seven, eight shows a year, does a very fine job, perfect to come in. And it's been an amazing, amazing ride. I could tell you so much, Chris. I probably forgot more than I can remember, but I could tell you so much. It's just so much talk about this thing we've been on for five hours.

Well, this doesn't have to be the only time we talk, my brother. Of course. That's the nice thing about me controlling my own content. So do you have other capacities within the organization behind the scenes, or do you stick to just what we see you do in the ring now? I strictly stick to my wheelhouse. My other capacities are what I do on my own to promote the UFC to my different avenue channels, whether it's an interview with you or other areas, the articles and all the type stuff.

But my main announcer is I have nothing to do with who fights. I have nothing to do with anything. I just go in and I'm the voice of the octagon announcer. And that's strictly what I do. And I walk around as an ambassador for the UFC. Would you want to do anything else? No, I like it just like this. I'm so busy with all my other businesses and ventures, managing my brother's career and everything else I do. I'm fine with this because I honestly don't have the time to devote to something else. I could. I mean, I would love to sit down and be a muse and a counsel to some of the fighters on how to handle themselves and their career and out of the octagon and stuff, which I do on my own through the relationships that I have with the fighters themselves.

But, no, I'm very happy just maintaining my octagon and ostrich role. How often does your brother say, yeah, I know what you did? I know that you moved me out of UFC. I didn't move him out. You hatched the big plan of you took the next one. I know what you did. I know what you did, little brother. No, it wasn't like that.

Michael was, listen, when Michael stopped announcing to UFC, we talked about it. And it was almost like a blessing. You know, he told me, go for it. You know, make it happen. So he was very, very, very supportive of the whole thing. You have a very different style. How helpful was he to you in figuring out how to do this? Because you were a motivational speaker and you understand, you know, corporate vocabulary and connecting with

people, but this is showmanship. Yeah. I, people say I'm an announcer. I like to say that I'm a performer and announcer. Michael was very helpful in one respect. I said, Michael, what advice can you give me? He said, the best advice I can give you is watch yourself on videotape and learn from that. And then just, just grow with it, you know? And like I said, it was an evolutionary process. Even my trademark, it's time, which I say at the main events of every single fight, I was never phrase driven. Everybody back then, and even now to a point, you know, copies the great Michael Buffer and you know how he does his thing. I never wanted to be Frank Sinatra Jr. I wanted to be Bruce Buffer. And I told myself that if in the first two years or so, if I don't create a style that I'm recognized for as myself, that I'm not just going to do this job

to get a ticket to a fight and announce. I want to make sure that I'm passionate, happy with what I'm doing, and I'm being recognized as Bruce Buffer. Did you come up with it's time? Yes, I did. Not that it's most, I mean, it's a somewhat generic phrase, but even before I ever used the octagon, my thing was, if I'm shaving in the morning, you know, getting ready for my day, I would like, it's time. It's time to be the best I can be. It's time to be, to tackle this day, right? And I figured, okay, at the moment, some six, seven years, I don't know exactly that I started saying it, which was after Dana White took over the show. I thought, okay, people in the audience, people on TV, they've been watching the show now for five hours. It's the main event. The fighters

have been training for eight to 10 weeks. It all culminates into this one grand moment. This is what it's all about. This is the moment we've all been waiting for. It's time, right? So that's why- That's why it works, by the way. And how you say it. Same thing with your brother. You know, Rumble, he didn't obviously invent that, but it's how he said it. It's also who was saying it. You know, they, as you use the word debonair, it's perfect for your brother. And it was also perfect for how they always wanted boxing to be perceived, you know, as the sweet science, you know, even though it is obviously violence. And I often feel that your style is more suited to MMA. You're not your brother.

And there is an exuberance to the way you do it, where your brother is much more stayed in how he does it. But I think that that's very befitting the different sports also. You know, you are much more MMA than he, but it's the way, you know, the way he, you know, his, uh, obviously, uh, beautiful voice, but the way he drew out rumble is, you know, that expectation of it and the elevation and your it's time is that that's true because we're always waiting, especially with the UFC, with the PP pay-per-view events, they're so late so often. But you're struggling to control whatever your habits are so that you can stay awake

and watch the fight. God forbid you fall asleep and then somebody's going to tell you about it. And you're trying to watch it the next morning, but everybody's ruined it for you. Especially on the East Coast. It works perfectly, the way you draw out the its. And I love it, and I know other people do. While I have you, let me ask you something, though, that I always have to answer. I am not a martial artist guy. I've done a lot of work within it and in stand-up fighting, but I am

a self-defense guy. And I've been studying it for a long time. And my brother, Andrew, is a boxer. and I've been studying it for a long time. And my brother, Andrew, is a boxer and he often will remark to me that I'm just a dirty fighter. And I say, that's an oxymoron. I am not here to beat you on points. I'm here to disappear you as a threat in my life. You know, that's very different.

You're here to survive. You know, rules, you know, rules are for the weak when it comes to self-defense. So I still love it, but I do have to deal with the criticism of it's too violent. My father, may he rest in peace, loved boxing, was against and rejected early entreaties from the UFC because he believed it was too bloody and violent. And I remember the change with my brother who obviously changed the relationship with UFC in the state. And I remember him trying to

communicate to my dad who was not a fighter that they're bleeding more because they don't have the gloves on, but they're not taking the blows that, you know, the thick tongue that we came to associate with boxing is obviously from repetitive stress. It's from all of the blows that they take. And how do you communicate that to people when they say, no, it's too violent. There's too much blood and gore. It's worse than boxing. What do you say? Well, to a large extent, many people will tell you that it's actually safe in the boxing, in respect. I mean, I'm going to point out two things here. In boxing, which I love in all respect, you're right, Chris.

There's the head trauma in the training. There's the constant sparring. Not that UFC fighters and MMA fighters don't spar. But the option is to hit your opponent, knock him down, give him 10 seconds to get back up, to knock him down again, if not to knock him completely out. In the UFC, when the knockouts happen, they're pretty quick. As a result, the referees are trained as referees of boxing are for safety to stop that fight. Right? We don't have a 10 count in the UFC.

The fighter's down. He can't fight anymore. Stop the fight. We don't have a 10 count in the UFC. The fighter's down. He can't fight anymore. Stop the fight. We don't want to see him get hurt. There was also a time in boxing, and I don't know if it's still true now, when there were five or more deaths a year in boxing, right? And in the UFC, if I'm correct in this, I think there's been, well, there's been no deaths in the UFC.

There's sure there's been, you know, some broken bones and broken egos and stuff like that. But there's only been, to my knowledge, two deaths in the sport of mixed martial arts in the whole time this has been around. And it was due to one in Russia and one somewhere else. And it was due to poor medicals or whatever the situation was. So that statistic alone shows you a difference in the danger. Now, it is fighting. It is dangerous. It is bloody. I mean, things happen, but I think the way the sport is designed, yes. Is it dangerous? Yes. Is it safe for the boxing to a large respect? Probably so. But again, they're just two

different sports, right? Oh, absolutely. My new answer is, and I'm not suggesting it for you. Your answer is good. Here's my new one that I say. And I say this with so many different manifestations of violence that I see in our society. You know, my wife often jokes that I'm the best traveled, least cultured person you'll ever meet. And I really have been a lot of places, almost always for the worst of reasons. We are a uniquely violent culture. And that is my answer to people is that, okay, yeah, this is an obviously violent sport. Okay. Right. This is who we are. This is why it's the most popular sport of its kind. This is why it has all but erased boxing. okay? And you need to see that. We don't idolize scientists, you know,

the way they do in Europe. We idolize The Rock, and not because he's a great actor, but because he's built like a brick shithouse, and that is what we put on a pedestal. We're like turkeys, you know? The men have to puff up and be big. Otherwise, they don't seem to have the same value of power. We like racing because of crashes. We like football, not soccer, because we want the high-speed contact. We watch baseball for home runs. We watch basketball to see massive individuals

dunk the ball and we get bored when we don't because the women's game is way more skilled and we won't watch it the same way. This is who we are. And we have more violence in our society. We see people hurting each other a hundred different ways. This is who we are. So what I say to them is when you say,

oh, this is too violent, I say, compared to what, our movies? Yeah. Our video games? The way we talk to each other, especially on social media, you're worried about this, where there are actually rules

and the people hug each other at the end of it and not the fact that I've got some bag of hair attacking me on Twitter every five minutes about what he wants to do to me and my family. That's my new answer. That like, you know, my friend, do not treat the symptom. If you have a problem of who we are and how we are, go to the why. Don't go to how we live it out. No, you're right in what you're saying. You know, Dana White said one thing a long time ago, he's fighting's in our DNA. He goes, you can have four corners. You have a baseball game, a tennis match and bowling on each three corners, but a fight breaks out on the fourth corner. Everybody's going to run to the fourth corner to watch the

fight. The bottom line in the UFC is again, when it's gone from spectacle to sport is what you're looking at men and women, both that come in, these are truly the highest skilled fighting athletes in the world. I had Charles Barkley. It took me almost two years to get him to go to an event. He finally went to an event. The next day I saw him in the gym, he goes, Buff, those are the most highly skilled conditioned athletes I've ever seen. Oh, yeah. And that was his reaction right away. You need to appreciate, for people that don't understand, it's more than just fighting and all that. Yes, it's all about that.

But these are highly skilled martial artists that have taken years and years of training to be able to be adept, to do all these different styles, to have an answer for every single thing that's thrown at them. It's almost like they're supermen and superwomen. And again, I'm not taking anything away from the world of boxing. I love boxing. I have so much respect for boxing. I grew up on it. Again, apples and oranges. I've been respected at the UFC. These

athletes, you have to realize the skill factor to learn what they do. When they go to the ground, as you know, I mean, you've got to move your hips a certain way i mean there's so much technique involved oh absolutely i and you know people don't get it because they don't do it they also don't understand the human limitation of fatigue i joke with my son he's 17 you know he's like tarzan and he'll see people up against the cage he'll be like oh why

are they just standing there i said they're not standing there and i'll like mash people up against the cage. He'll be like, oh, why are they just standing there? I say, they're not standing there. And I'll like mash them up against the wall and I'll say, try to move. And remember, every time you move, I may take what you're doing and lift you up and dump you on your head. So you want to stop that from happening also. And so there's a learning curve, but that's okay because you don't have to work

to make people interested in mixed martial arts because it's already huge. And my other point that I'll make to people about the violence of it is, listen to the veterans who do so much of the analysis. Listen to how they speak and articulate themselves with dozens and dozens of fights under their belt versus boxers.

And then tell me that you think they're taking the same kind of brain trauma that the boxers are. But anyway, look, Bruce, this was a vanity project for me getting to talk to you, mainly just to say, thank you. You've made so many phenomenal memories for me and my buddies at my house, which is absolutely, you know,

the closest to a happy place I have is having family around, watching a big event. And for me, there's no bigger event than when it comes to the UFC. I love watching the cards. I love what you guys are doing with it. I love the talent around it. Even Rogan, I like, even though he takes shots at me all the time. I really, I enjoy his work there with Cormier, who just seems like a great guy. He's a great commentator. And John Anika is also like a nice commentator. And Anika's a really good pro,

motivates the conversations, knows good spacing as a broadcaster, definitely has my appreciation. But, you know, you are a household name for a reason, Bruce Buffer. Thank you, sir. I love your story. I love your story. I love your success.

And I really appreciate the memories that you've helped me make with the people I care about. Thank you so much, Chris. Your words just, I can't thank you enough. It's so kind. Thank you so much. Sincerely, I take those all to heart. That is one of the signature blessings of having this podcast. I get to talk to people who matter to me and hopefully have new layers and levels of relevance to you.

The guy is definitely a household name and a culture figure. And, you know, uncommonly, for good reason. Because these days we seem to know way too much about people for the wrong reasons. So I hope you appreciated that a little bit of an understanding of a man who helps make moments for so many in this country around a signature of our culture, which is the Hurt Game. Thank you so much for subscribing, following, wearing your independence as a free agent. You know how I feel about that.

I believe that people leaving the parties is the key to us getting to more practical politics, less toxicity. Let's keep the fighting in the octagon where it belongs and not at our expense in our government. All right, I'll see you at News Nation, 8 and 11 P Eastern. Thank you for giving it a chance. Thank you for giving me a chance here. Please take care of yourself and take care of those you care about.