Veteran MMA commentator, Mike Goldberg, has noticed the differences in UFC’s broadcasts since he was unceremoniously released from the promotion in early 2017.
Goldberg was approaching 20 years of service for the company before his sudden departure. Six months later, Bellator signed him.
Goldberg admitted that UFC broadcasts are “different” now that he is gone and he insisted that he would do everything that he could to make Bellator “the best TV broadcast in MMA.”
“It’s different, and I’m a competitor, let’s just say that,” Goldberg told Ariel Helwani on the latest episode of The MMA Hour.
“I will do everything in my power to make sure that Bellator has the best TV broadcast in MMA. And that’s not being disrespectful to anybody. Jon Anik is my buddy. He never did anything to me and I never did anything to him.
“Those guy are my friends, but at the end of the day it’s competition. We’re all trying to get ratings and Bellator’s ratings are going up — we know what’s happening on the other side (UFC).”
Goldberg claimed that some elements of the UFC’s recent broadcasts have not been as “exciting as it could be”.
“I just want to do what I do, so do I see things that make me go, ‘Wow, that was really interesting. That was really not as exciting as it could be.’
“It’s just moments,” he explained. “It’s not anybody’s fault and don’t get me wrong, people have been saying things about me for 100 years and I’ve made my mistakes. I’d like to remind people that my blooper real is maybe 15 or 20 minutes long. I was probably on the air for two million minutes though, so that’s pretty good, right? But I do watch it and I see the difference.”