Buffer - Its time!: my 360-degree view of the ufc

Copyright 2013 by Bruce Buffer

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Crown Archetype, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com

Crown Archetype with colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Buffer, Bruce.
Its time! : my 360 view of the UFC / Bruce Buffer.
1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Mixed martial arts. 2. UFC (Mixed martial arts event).
3. Buffer, Bruce. 4. SportscastersUnited States. I. Title.
GV1102.7.M59B84 2012
796.8dc23

eISBN: 978-0-307-95393-3

Jacket design by Michael Nagin
Jacket photograph by Kenneth Cappello

v3.1

To my father, Joseph Buffer,
my mother, Constance Buffer,
my brother Brian Buffer,
this book is lovingly dedicated.
With you at my side, I learned to live and love, laugh and cry, fight and win.
Throughout life I have strived to honor you with my presence and passion.
Now I honor you with my words.

And to my brother Michael Buffer:
Thank you for believing in my dreams, as I believed in yours, during our historic journey into the world of sports and
entertainment together!

Like everyone else on the planet, I was looking forward to UFC 129 in April 2011. It was, just from the looks of it, a phenomenal card. You had the great Randy Couture taking on the much younger Lyoto Machida. And the bout everyone in two nations was sitting tight for was the main event: Georges St-Pierre taking on a contender from the U.S.A., Jake Shields.

Well, of course that bout was going to attract attention. We were playing in the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Canadians snapped up the tickets as soon as they went on sale, giving the organization its biggest sellout crowd in UFC history, in North American history. Everyone, from Dana White down to the freshest newbie, was looking forward to it.

But for me, a funny thing happened on the way to Toronto.

About a week before the fight, I was playing at a two-day poker tournament at the Hustler Casino in Gardena, California, the one owned by the famous magazine mogul Larry Flynt, and fortune was spinning her wheel in my favor. I was up a few thousand dollars in tournament winnings and had high hopes Id finish with a title.

But as I was walking around the casino, I rolled my ankle when I stepped on an uneven spot in the carpet. I didnt think much of it because it used to happen all the time in my kickboxing days. Youd roll your ankle, youd regain your balance, and maybe youd get a little sprain that youd walk off in a few minutes or so.

But that day, for some reason, it didnt play that way at all.

By the end of the evening, the ankle was hugely swollen and I couldnt stand on my leg. The next morning, during a break in the action, I rushed to the doctor. He drew blood, not water, out of the ankle. Not a good sign. Id obviously traumatized the joint. That afternoon, there I was, showing up at the Hustler Casino walking with a cane. But okay. No big deal. I returned to the tables and finished third out of 1,500 poker players and walked away with $30,000.

That was a fantastic win, so I was not about to let a little ankle injury throw me off my game. Clearly I still had it. Luck was spinning in my favor again. Look, I always tell people today, I wasnt born on the twenty-first of May for nothing. Twenty-one is the sign of blackjack, one of my best games, and 21 will always be my lucky number.

For the next few days, I did everything I could to get that ankle back in shape. I would not, under any circumstances, walk into the Octagon with that cane. This was going to be the UFCs hugest night yet. Ive worked fifteen years to get where I am tonight, I told myself, and now I cant put weight on my leg. Maybe thats not a big deal for most fight announcers. My brother, Michael Buffer, can stand in the center of a boxing ring without moving a finger and entrance a crowd. Hes debonair and stylish, with those drop-dead good looks. His voice, his image, and his signature line, Lets Get Ready to Rumble, are known and recognized all over the world.

But thats not my style. Ive taken my work in another direction. More than eighteen years ago Michael and I took a gamble on each other. I signed on to become his manager and business partner, and set out to do what many people told me was impossible: I took his voice, already famous in the world of boxing, and solidified his signature catchphrase into a solidly protected federal trademark that has grossed more than $400 million in retail sales from the licensed products and ventures we developed and created. Yes, $400 million.

Along the way, I was able to carve out a niche for myself. Im known for being the most physical, the most intense announcer the sport of mixed martial arts has ever seen. To do what I do, to absorb all the energy of the fans and channel it into a 180 or, God help us, a 360, I need to be at the top of my game. The tiniest injury can easily derail me. So I nursed that ankle as best I could. Babied it. Iced it. Worked out carefully at the gym. Then I got my stuff together for the flight to Toronto.

That night, I called about six hours of fights. Then came the main event. GSP and Shields were in the Octagon, and the place was going wild. The Canadians were out of their minds.

I took the microphone in hand and said:

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THIS IS THE MAIN EVENT OF THE EVENING!

The crowd screamed.

I love it when the crowd is pumped and each new fight builds to a crescendo of raw energy. Its my job to radiate that excitement back to the crowd, to take what theyve given me and pay it all back in homage to the two warriors who have trained weeks to get here.

When Im in the Octagon, I speak from the heart. My heart, and yours.

My message to the fighters is simple: We honor you! We pay tribute to you. You deserve every ounce of recognition for being here, and Im going to give the raw power of my voice, my lungs, my physical energy, and my passion to get you ready for this match.

GSP and Shields were loosening up.

I held up my cards and marched through the names of the judges and referee and sponsors

AND NOW, THIS IS THE MOMENT YOUVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR

I spun into a 360-degree turn and roared like a lion:

IIIIIIIIIIIIITS TIMMMMMMMMMMMMME!!!!!!!!!!

The audience went wild.

I did a three-foot aerial jump. I hit the ground, whipped off a lightning-fast 180-degree turn, and locked eyes with Jake Shields as I read his name and credentials.

Then I did an aerial 180, and as I landed, I yelled:

FIGHTING

I had never done this before off the ground, and it went perfectly.

FIGHTING OUT OF THE RED CORNER!

I stalked over to Georges and locked eyes with him.

THE REIGNING, DEFENDING UNDISPUTED UFC WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD.

GEORGES

I thrust my body at him.

RUSH

Getting into the spirit of things, Georges lunged at me.

I leaped back as I roared

ST-PIERRE!

But as I leaped back, my foot wobbled and I felt a searing pain in my right knee.