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Bellator MMA is no stranger to scooping up former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) all stars, though admittedly, most of them have been mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters.
Not this time.
Bellator president Scott Coker today announced that former UFC play-by-play man Mike Goldberg will join the televised broadcast team for the upcoming Bellator MMA extravaganza on June 24.
Joining Goldie will be veteran combat sports commentator Mauro Ranallo, best known for his work under the PRIDE and Strikeforce banners, the latter of which was also under Coker.
Specific roles (blow-by-blow, color commentary, etc.) have yet to be determined.
"Mike Goldberg and Mauro Ranallo are two of the best in our business and I couldn't be happier about them joining the Bellator family," Coker said. "In addition to June 24, we look forward to working together to make future Spike broadcasts even more exciting for our fans as we add further depth to an already-exceptional broadcast team."
If you haven’t been taking Bellator seriously ... now might be a good time to start.
June 24 marks what is widely-considered Bellator MMA’s most ambitious fight card to date, which airs on both Spike TV and pay-per-view (PPV), and features the likes of Chael Sonnen, Wanderlei Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, and Matt Mitrione, among others.
See that fight card and line up here.
“The addition of highly-regarded announcers Mauro and Mike to our fantastic lineup of broadcasters, and our first-rate production led by Scott Fishman, further demonstrates our commitment MMA fans and expanding the global Bellator brand,” added Spike SVP, Sports and Specials Jon Slusser.
Goldberg was released by UFC last January while Ranallo — previously employed by WWE as a pro wrestling announcer -- abruptly parted ways with Vince McMahon and Co. just last month.
Bellator did some spring cleaning of its own, recently saying goodbye to Sean Grande.
Times, they are a-changin’ ...
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