The rumors, at least half of them, were indeed true.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White today confirmed a recent report (via ENTimports.com) during a media scrum that long-time play-by-play man Mike Goldberg will fulfill his Octagon-side duties for the promotion one final time at this Friday’s (Dec. 30, 2016) UFC 207 pay-per-view (PPV) event in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Indeed, Goldberg is "stepping down" after a 19-year run with the biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) company in three days when Ronda Rousey returns to face women’s Bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes in "Sin City." No replacement was (or has been) named to replace Goldberg alongside Joe Rogan during major pay-per-view (PPV) events.
The rumor mill was churning recently, suggesting that Goldie's time was limited with UFC, with White claiming he had a "dream team" in the works involving Rogan and a mysterious partner to be announced sometime in 2017.
The new regime, which is lead by WME-IMG’s Ari Emmanuel, has pretty much cleaned house since taking over the company earlier this year following a massive $4 billion transaction to acquire the promotion. Not even UFC Hall of Famers and living legends were spared, as Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes were also let go.
Goldie now joins longtime matchmaker Joe Silva and public relations guru Dave Sholler as top-level employees who have cut ties with the promotion. As for Rogan, he recently inked a one-year extension with the company, which means he’ll still be at the commentating table for the foreseeable future.