Bruce Buffer
| Bruce Buffer | |
|---|---|
|
Bruce Buffer at UFC 73 | |
| Born |
May 21, 1957 Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Voice of the Octagon |
| Occupation | UFC Announcer |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Known for | "It's Time!" catchphrase, The Buffer 180°, The Buffer 360°, The Buffer Bow (specifically for Randy Couture) |
| Title |
2nd degree black belt in tang soo do blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu |
| Website | BufferZone.net |
Bruce Anthony Buffer (born May 21, 1957) is the official Octagon announcer for UFC events. On UFC broadcasts, he is introduced as the "Veteran Voice of the Octagon". He is the half brother of the well-known boxing and professional wrestling ring announcer Michael Buffer, and is the President and CEO of their company "The Buffer Partnership". Both Michael and Bruce are grandsons of late boxer Johnny Buff. Buffer holds a black belt in Tang Soo Do and has fought as a kickboxer.[1]
Early life and martial arts
Buffer was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His mother, Connie, is of Italian descent.[2] He first ventured into martial arts when he was thirteen years old and living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, studying judo and achieving the rank of green belt. He moved to Malibu, California with his family at the age of fifteen and befriended two Chuck Norris students who got him into tang soo do in which he currently holds a second degree black belt. He later began kickboxing in his twenties but was forced to give the sport up at the age of thirty two when doctors ordered him to stop sparring after suffering his second concussion.[3]
Buffer always begins each PPV with the phrase "Ladies and gentlemen, we...are...live!" Before each main event Buffer proclaims, "This is the main event of the evening," followed by "This is the moment you've all been waiting for," and finally, "It's time!" before introducing the final two fighters. His phrases are chimed in a similar fashion to his half-brother Michael's phrase "Let's get ready to rumble!".
Along with his consistently, perfectly coiffed mane of glorious hair, the reigning, defending, undisputed champion of UFC Announcing is known to be a professional level surfer and gifted in the use of his unique catch phrases. Buffer has a signature move, which he has called the "Buffer 180"[4] where he motions directly across the Octagon before quickly spinning 180° and pointing to the corner being introduced. Buffer performs 45° and 90° turns before most fights, but reserves the "Buffer 180" for main events and co-main events. At UFC 100, after months of encouragement from Joe Rogan,[5] Buffer performed a "Buffer 360" during his introduction of Frank Mir v. Brock Lesnar.[6] Buffer vowed he would never do the "Buffer 360" again. Regardless of this vow, he's stated on his radio show on the Sherdog Radio Network, that he might perform the 360 in "the spur of the moment." He also performs the "Buffer Bow" exclusively for Randy Couture, in which he bends down as a knight would to a king in the accolade.[7]
Notable appearances outside UFC
Buffer has announced many other MMA promotions internationally including K-1 events and also the 2008 Joel Casamayor vs. Michael Katsidis boxing event on HBO. He also announces for the ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club) submission wrestling tournament held every two years around the world.
Buffer is a very well known and world rated poker player on the professional circuit. He has appeared on ESPN's World Series of Poker Main Event show playing World Champion Chris Moneymaker at the televised table in 2007 and made the Final Table of the World Poker Tour, in the Season 3 Invitational at the Commerce Casino, where he placed 6th. He appeared on an MMA versus poker pro match during the sixth season of the NBC show Poker After Dark along with Strikeforce Fighter Dan Henderson and UFC Fighter Randy Couture. Outlasting both his aforementioned MMA peers as well as pros Erick Lindgren and Patrik Antonius, Buffer finished second in that contest, losing in heads-up play to Howard Lederer. At the World Series of Poker 2010 main event final table Bruce Buffer was given the honor to start the final table with the poker phrase "Shuffle up and deal!" As of September 2010, the Luxor Las Vegas has named their Poker room after Bruce Buffer.
Buffer has appeared on some TV shows. First as a child actor on Adam 12. On Friends, his appearance was in Season 3 Episode 24 "The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion". On the HBO series Entourage, he appeared in the episode entitled "Gotcha!", announcing an exhibition fight for Chuck Liddell's charity. On March 20, 2012 Bruce was featured on the Comedy Central show Tosh.0. Buffer appeared as himself in the 2015 film Hot Tub Time Machine 2.
He is also the official announcer for the World Series of Beer Pong.[8]
Most recently Bruce has broken into the world of competitive arm wrestling announcing for The Ultimate Armwrestling League for their UAL 5 Ultimate Match Up in Orange County, California on November 2, 2013.
Radio
Bruce Buffer is the host of his own radio show, "It's TIME!", featured on the Sherdog Radio Network. He frequently interviews guests, both inside and outside of the Mixed Martial Arts world. The show features a segment entitled "The Buffer 180°," when people call in either to talk about MMA or ask Buffer for his advice on certain topics. The show is co-hosted by TJ De Santis.
On September 2, 2014, the podcast version of It's Time debuted on PodcastOne. On January 27, 2015, the final show was uploaded, in which Buffer and de Santis compared their leaving to an amicable breakup of a fun relationship, saying the show would more permanently "marry" a new distributor by the next week.[9]
References
- ↑ The voice of the octagon - Boxing - Yahoo! Sports
- ↑ http://fightcreature.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/its-time-my-360-view-of-the-ufc.pdf
- ↑ Buffer missed announcing two events in 17 years
- ↑ MMAMemories.com interview, March 26, 2008.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKIw_HrGiHY
- ↑ Alvarez, B. (2009-07-11). "Ongoing main card UFC play-by-play". F4Wonline.com. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
- ↑ La Monica, Mark (13 May 2013). "Q&A: UFC announcer Bruce Buffer". Newsday. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ↑ Bottoms up! Beer pong world champions net $50,000 at the Flamingo
- ↑ It's Time, from PodcastOne