BY PERRY LEFKO
sportsnet.ca
Yes, Ultimate Fighting Championship hyperkinetic ring announcer Bruce Buffer, whose calling card is. "It's time!" took the stage on Friday at a Fan Expo at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto in advance of Saturday's UFC 129 card at the Rogers Centre.
And, if his command of the crowd of some 300 is anything like the card, which will have a record UFC crowd of 55,000 and millions more watching on pay-per-view TV, expect electric energy.
He was in his element in the one-hour question and answer period, offering equal parts of humour, sincerity and, even, a little bit of salesmanship, both for the card and some of his own entrepreneurial endeavours, such as a personal clothing line and his memoirs, which will be released in the fall of 2012.
Dressed in a metallic grey suit that will be similar to a signature line of custom-made suits that will be available beginning in July for only $350, and looking tanned and fit, the 53-year-old Tulsa native had the crowd hanging on his every word.
"It's going to be crazy," he said of Saturday night. "I've had nights - and I expect this to happen Saturday night - where the card in my hand is actually waving from all the energy coming in. It's amazing. I expect that kind of activity on Saturday night."
When asked if he's ever been so excited for an event, he replied: "I'm excited for every event. I've been part of a lot of exciting events, but Saturday is going to be history being made. Saturday night is truly going to be one of the most exciting things I've ever experienced, and I thank the Canadian fans for allowing me to come to Toronto. I can't thank you guys enough."
While he said the show is about the fighters and not about him, he has become an integral part of the show because of his personality and Bufferisms. He revealed that he came up with "It's time!" for the main event after fine tuning the opening of the card with the line "it's time to begin the Ultimate Fighting Championship."
"Every day I wake up I look in the mirror and I say to myself, 'It's time.' The reason for that is I believe we're only as good as today. I'm not one of those people who say 'last year I caught a fish this big or I surfed a wave 20 feet or something. It's a matter of what I do today. Everything else is a pleasurable memory. So when you see the main event and I go 'It's time!' it's because these guys have trained for like eight weeks and you've just sat there and watched 5½ hours of great UFC fights, but now it all comes down to this one defining moment. It's time, baby. Let's get this thing going. That's the whole emphasis behind it and it's sort of taken off now."
He said he has about three or four products that will be unveiled soon with the slogan "It's time!"
Of course the first question he was asked was whether he planned to do a 360 spin. He routinely does a 180 as he turns to announce each of the fighters, but the 360 happens only rarely.
"I told you when I did the 360 at UFC 100, it was retired, one in, one out," Buffer said. "I got air born on the 360. But if you remember the last time Georges St-Pierre fought (in UFC 124), I stepped back and I spotted it like a 320, got down into a dip and came back, so that's as close as I come.
"The thing is, I never rehearse. I never plan anything. I feel the energy from you. I walk into the Octagon and let it go. And that's the way it works for me because I work purely from passion.
"When I did that 360, I set a bar and everybody wants me to go above the bar. Remember guys, I'm not a gymnast. I'm an announcer. So, let's just say you never know. But I will tell you the 720 is possible."
Buffer was coy when asked whom he expects to win the feature bout between welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and challenger Jake Shields.
"The best answer I can give you is personally I don't have a bias," he responded. "I don't pick winners. On paper, we know GSP has the advantage. You cannot count out Jake Shields. The man hasn't lost in six years and 15 defences. Georges St-Pierre is one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in the world. I'm just expecting a great fight, both for myself as a fan first, and for you the fans, and again I have to say, may the best man win."
He said he doesn't bet on fights, principally because he wants to be equal to both fighters, but also because of the lack of value.
"I don't get excited about putting $100 down on the favourite to win $40," he said.
He wasn't necessarily alluding to St-Pierre, who oddsmakers have listed as the prohibitive favourite such that you need to bet $40 to win $10.
He was told that Randy Couture is a 3-1 favourite to beat Lyoto Machida, to which he replied: "Randy's 3-1 over Lyoto Machida? I can't bet against my man Randy and I can't bet against my man Lyoto. It's confusion for me when it comes to betting against fighters."
Buffer was asked whom his parents loved more, him or his brother, Michael, the boxing announcer who patented the phrase "Let's get ready to rumble!" He mentioned his mother, who was his biggest fan, died three years ago, and that he owed a lot to his father, Dave. He wears an octagon ring with his father's name to honour him.
"My dad was mixture of John Wayne, Steve McQueen and Errol Flynn all rolled up into one. He was a really tough guy," Buffer noted. "He taught me how to fight literally when I was four years old. He taught me street-fighting techniques."
He added that he and his brother are half-brothers, but that they only met 24 years ago when he saw him on TV and searched him out.
"Then I became his manager four years later and I trademarked that five-word phrase and developed his career into where it is today," he said. "The bottom line is, I grew up with my parents (and) they like me more, what can I tell you?" he added with a laugh. "We all love Michael. Michael is great."
| UFC 129 Sportsnet/sportsnet.ca schedule | |||
| What? | When? | Where? | |
| 'Super 7' special presentation (replay) | Friday, 3 p.m. ET | UFC live stream | |
| UFC 129 weigh-ins (replay) | Friday, 4 p.m. ET | UFC live stream | |
| UFC 129 live results | Saturday, 6 p.m. ET | Fight card | |
| Prelims on Facebook | Saturday, 6-8 p.m. ET | ||
| UFC Connected pre-fight special | Saturday, 7-8 p.m. ET | Sportsnet/sportsnet.ca | |
| Prelims on Sportsnet | Saturday, 8-9 p.m. ET | Sportsnet | |
| UFC 129 main card (PPV) | Saturday, 9 p.m. ET | Pay-per-view | |
| UFC Connected post-fight special | Saturday, 12-12:30 a.m. ET | Sportsnet/sportsnet.ca | |
| Post-fight press conference | Saturday, 1:15 a.m. ET (approx.) | UFC live stream | |
"I love announcing Randy because there's so much meat in his announcement, 'the two-time, the former, the former, the former, the former, the former...' It's so much fun to announce Randy. Then you've got Chuck Liddell. I always love announcing Chuck. (Rampage) Jackson, B.J. Penn and, of course, the great Canadian Georges St-Pierre. I'm going to go off big-time Saturday night."
He does the Buffer Bow in honour of Couture, which he may be doing for the final time if, indeed, Couture retires. UFC president Dana White said he's heard Couture talk of retiring before.
"Quite frankly Randy is so deserving of it he's the only one fighter I do it before," Buffer said. "Yeah, it's going to be an emotional evening. But one thing I know is you never say never. You never know. But he's got so much going on in his movie career and all his businesses; it's definitely going to be an emotional moment. Being an Italian and the emotional guy I am, I wouldn't be surprised if a tear comes out of my eye at the end. We'll see. One of the greatest ever, right?"
He wouldn't compare Couture to Brett Favre and his repeated comebacks.
"When it comes to Brett Favre and the NFL, he should have just stayed retired obviously," Buffer said. "He came back and screwed that up. You're dealing with fighters and they have to make decisions. It is hard, and as much as (Couture) doesn't want to retire he is going to retire. How many wars does Randy have left in him at 48, 49 years old? I really would like to see Randy go out in glory and at the top of his career, and he's got so much going for him unlike (many fighters) who don't prepare for post-fighting. But Randy's future is golden. He's very smart, very cerebral in his approach. He's prepared himself for his retirement. Trust me; the hardest person it's going to be for is Randy."
When asked if he fancied any of the sexy ring girls, he brought out the expression "you don't eat where you work." He noted that he considers sexy ring girl Arianny Celeste, who posed nude, like a sister.
"I had a hard time even looking at Playboy for about two months, to be honest with you," he said. "They're all fantastic girls. We're friends. I stopped dating anybody in the areas that I worked. Do I think about it? I'm only human, right."
Buffer did an autograph signing afterward and one fan, Jessica Cameron, wore a T-shirt that read 'Mrs. Buffer' on the front and 'It's time' on the back. She and her boyfriend drove seven hours from Timmins to see Buffer's address to the fans.
"I just made a joke one night about how sexy Bruce Buffer was, and it was just something that went a little too far so now I'm Mrs. Buffer back home," she said. "When UFC's on they know I'm watching just for Mr. Buffer. We made the shirt just for today. We went to the UFC in Montreal and I met Sam Stout, Mark Hominick and I didn't even care. I just wanted to meet Bruce Buffer and I never found him. Now that we're here, that was my mission - to find Bruce Buffer."
While she missed the Q&A, she made it just in time to get his autograph, one of the last ones in fact.
"I just stood there and waited and tried to get his attention. He just said, 'Oh my God, where's my camera?'"
You might say; it was 'Jessica's time!'
