GLORY kickboxing began airing on ESPN platforms one year ago this month, and while they've continued to have play-by-play and color commentary covered with Mauro Ranallo (U.S. shows), Ron Kruck (international shows), and "Bazooka Joe" Valtellini, a growing need for a back stage reporter has remained.
Kruck had handled that role previously, but shifted to his play-by-play duties. SiriusXM and MMAFighting's Luke Thomas held the role for several events while the promotion aired on Spike TV, but did not return after GLORY 19. And GLORY ring girl Clark Gilmer held it for all of one event, as did former WWE wrestler Bill Goldberg, but both failed to lock it up.
At GLORY 30, Todd Grisham became the next man to step into that revolving door, trying to fill the vacancy, and after leaving a big impression that night, it's been smooth sailing at each GLORY event ever since.
"I really enjoy doing it," Grisham told MMAmania.com recently. "Once I heard that GLORY signed a deal with ESPN--because I work at ESPN--I immediately reached out to GLORY and to ESPN and said, 'Hey, can I work for these guys since it's airing on our network?' I've been presented some opportunities in the past where ESPN told me I couldn't do it because, you know? But now that it's an ESPN property, they are like 'sure.' And [GLORY CEO] Jon J. Franklin is a super great guy, he was like 'come on board,' and it's been great."
Said Franklin: "We are looking forward to having Todd take on more and more action with GLORY."
Grisham has provided a much needed shot in the arm to GLORY broadcasts since jumping on board for GLORY 30 this past May in Los Angeles, Calif. He's done a great job of putting his particular stamp on backstage coverage and post-fight interviews, and he's also added a level of cachet to the role that was sorely lacking in recent months.
"So I hoped, and at least my selling point to GLORY mainly was, 'look, I've been at ESPN for five years and most people recognize me from ESPN,'" Grisham explained. "So to have an ESPN guy on your show makes it feel more ESPNish, if that's … I don't know if legitimacy is the word. I'm not that big of a star or anything, but it's an ESPN program and they are behind it."
Grisham, 40, was a commentator for WWE from 2004-2011 before getting hired at ESPN. The Hattiesburg, Miss. native has covered boxing, MMA, and hosted Sportscenter while at ESPN, among other duties. He's well versed in all phases of the game, and revealed to MMAMania that his role with GLORY will soon be expanding as soon as GLORY 35, which takes place on Saturday (November 5, 2016) in Nice, France.
"In France, I will be calling the [GLORY 35] Superfight Series, play-by-play," Grisham said. "So Ron Kruck is going to be doing GLORY 35 and I'll be doing Superfight Series. I'll be dabbling in everything. I like that. It's like being a five-tool player in baseball: gotta catch, gotta hit, gotta run, and I like to do everything. It's a lot of fun."
A die hard Atlanta Falcons fan, Grisham recalled his roots of getting acquainted with the fight game back in the late 90s.
"I was at UFC 14 in 1997," he said. "So I've always been a lifelong fan of UFC. I've called world title fights in boxing. I worked for WWE for eight years, probably called a thousand wrestling matches. And I've seen kickboxing just kind of in passing, but the first even I ever went to, GLORY 30, just seeing it live--and the crowd wasn't even that great--to me it's just so awesome. I fell in love with it immediately and I've gotten really deep into it, and they've expanded my role and it's something that I've just … We hear all the horror stories about boxing dying. Whether that's true or not, it's not what it used to be. I feel like GLORY, once people taste it and like it, I think it's going to be huge."
Kickboxing on ESPN dates back to the 80's with the network being a home for Professional Karate Association (PKA), which featured fighters like Bill "Superfoot" Wallace, Dennis "The Terminator" Alexio, and Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. But now with GLORY, ESPN currently carries a much different and far more exciting sport.
"I remember when you had to kick eight times [per round] and they'd be flipping the card in the corner," said Grisham, recalling what he remembers about the early days of the sport. "Well know it seems like with kicks, they almost need to have them punch more. It's a lot more well-rounded now and a lot more--I don't know if violent is the world--but a lot more exciting as I think back to those days. I don't remember them that clearly. But when watching it was 'eh that's ok.' Now I feel like it is a completely different sport."
A prime example of what you get with Grisham behind the mic took place at GLORY 33 this past September. While interviewing current Heavyweight champion, Rico Verhoeven, who had just defended his title against Anderson Silva, Grisham mentioned "Chopper" Chi Lewis-Parry, who had fought earlier in the night. Lewis-Parry is known for constantly talking trash about the champion, so Grisham invited him in the ring for a little back and forth with Verhoeven. It was a spontaneous moment that broke away from the mold of a traditional post-fight interview, and it got people talking.
"To me no matter what sport it is, it's all about stars," Grisham said. "So people who are watching GLORY, that was our first live broadcast on ESPN2, it came off a college football game, and we got a pretty massive rating. People don't know who these guys are if they are watching the first time. So it's all about story lines and building stars. So hopefully people that watched that, you planted a seed in the back of their brain, 'hey, I want to see these two guys fight whenever that happens.'"
GLORY 35 will be Grisham's sixth GLORY event. He says he hopes to "have an even bigger role next year," and can't help but express his adulation for the promotion as well as the sport of kickboxing.
"Like I said, I really love it and I think that once people watch it--I mean you watch it--I mean … Even … I was talking to Chael Sonnen, we do UFC segments together on Sportscenter, and I would ask him about it," Grisham said. "He's like, 'every fighter loves GLORY. They just love it and they haven't understood why it hasn't caught on.' When I was covering UFC. There would be people saying, 'That's too violent. I don't like when they go on the ground smashing each other in the face.'
"The knockout ratio is high, so yes, GLORY is violent, not quite as violent as the UFC and it's the standup game. When you watch a lot of jiu-jitsu like you and I have, you appreciate what they are doing down there, but if you don't know what it is you are like, 'stand these guys up. They are just rolling around on the ground for five minutes.' I think GLORY is that perfect in-between of boxing and UFC that a lot of people will really grasp onto and enjoy."
Since coming to terms on a multi-year deal with ESPN last February, the "Worldwide Leader in Sports" has slowly been doing more and more in terms of GLORY being shown across the brand. There have been knockouts that made the Sportscenter "Top 10" list, and they've also had Grisham broadcasting on location in several Sportscenter segments to promote upcoming GLORY fight cards.
GLORY has been steadily building momentum on ESPN. Now that a year has passed, Grisham was asked if he thinks the network is willing to go all in and really get behind the promotion to make a huge push for the future.
"I think the big rating [GLORY 33 had 517,000 views] we had will help. It's just tough to get air time during football season. I know January we are doing an event in LA [GLORY 37] and hopefully we can get that on live. But I just know after every card you'll see two or three or the knockouts on the Sportscenter Top 10. All the time, guys come up to me and go, 'I haven't heard of this thing, but it's awesome. When is the next one on?' That's inside ESPN people that are saying that to me. Hopefully that carries over into the general public as well. So once you get everyone familiar with it at ESPN, that knows what it can bring with the highlight-reel knockouts, that's what people want to see, especially with this generation we have now with GIFS and 10-second Vines. It's the perfect sport."