WWE Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross is widely considered a legend amongst wrestling and MMA fans. His Oklahoma brand of play-by-play is second to none, but it’s his vast experience of excellence, that truly defines the man affectionately known as “J.R.”.
Ross recently added a new gig to his already long list of accomplishments: MMA play-by-play announcer. He did so on Oct. 3, alongside UFC veteran Chael Sonnen, for BattleGrounds MMA: O.N.E.
Ross joined me on UFC Central Radio and offered his overall thoughts on the new experience.Full interview
“After broadcasting for as many years as I have, it was fun to do something different. It was the excitement of the unknown, so to speak.”
I was lucky enough to join Ross and Sonnen during the pay-per-view broadcast as the backstage reporter, and looking back on the experience, it was the cherry on top of the proverbial cake. Throughout fight week, Sonnen and I — along with the many members of the production staff — were often left in stitches as Ross recounted stories of his days in professional wrestling. His narratives included a mixture of concise truisms and diatribes that had you on the edge of your seat, petrified to miss a punchline if the story was coming to a climatic end. At times, the ending of one story was a segue to another, and another, eventually forcing you to look for a tissue to wipe the tears of laughter from your eyes.
It was the subliminal anecdotes that kept me on high alert, most notably when we were interviewing the athletes, gathering nuggets of intriguing personal information for the broadcast, alongside two-time Emmy Award winner Adam Geller.
Chael sat back and absorbed the answers from the fighters like a sponge, every so often asking a question or two of his own, just to see where their heads were at. I would throw in a few curve balls as well, to garner a sense of what made each fighter tick.
Then there was “Good Ol’ J.R.”
His no-BS approach and realness would send the room into a state of shock. At one point, he told local fighter, Trey Houston (a geophysicist), that he was likely being considered “cannon fodder” by the promoter, media and other fighters. That was Ross’ response after asking Houston his original question: “What the hell are you doing here?”
We arrived to the conclusion that Houston was the best story heading into the one-night, eight-man elimination tournament: a local boy who was very well educated, yet a massive underdog that was being fed to the MMA lions.
I have made no secret over the years that one of my biggest priorities is to tell each fighter’s individual story. It was one of our main goals on UFC Central. While fans would rip Brock Lesnar, I would smile ear to ear. They would hate on Sonnen because of his outlandish pre-fight hype and I would take note. People would stop me at my local grocery store or when I’d be pumping gas, to inform me that “GSP is boring” and “can’t finish a fight.” Today, they ask me if I know whether he’s coming back or not.
When I brought up Conor McGregor’s name in the meeting, it was safe to say the decision was unanimous: the Irish featherweight is the (un)official torch bearer as the UFC’s best seller/marketer of his own bouts.
I had to dig deeper into this topic with J.R., a man who knows a thing or two about building brands, stars and — dare I say it — superstars. Think about it: Ross is the man who introduced the world to the likes of “Stone Cold Steve Austin” and “The Rock” — two men he helped build and cultivate into what eventually became household names.
Ross made it clear to Austin, The Rock and to many of the fighters we interviewed before the BattleGrounds MMA PPV — it’s important to make some noise.
But what does that really mean? Is there a science to it? Is it real? Is it fake?
Ross told me this on the radio show: “The bottom line is that they have to learn to sell themselves and their fights. They have to become marketers as well as fighters. You know, the MMA world doesn’t need any mutes, people who don’t speak or can’t speak. They don’t need to be a pro wrestling promo guy, but they need to be themselves, and confident in what they’re doing, and try and help sell their event. That’s what I was trying to get to (in the meeting). All of them can’t be Chael Sonnen, but they can all be themselves, and all think of better ways to sell their fights.”
In fact, as J.R. told the cast of characters last week, “It’s what puts the cheese on your Whopper.”