Things weren’t exactly smooth sailing for Mike Goldberg before signing with Bellator.
The long-time voice of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was axed somewhat abruptly as 2016 came to a close. His last call was at UFC 207, which saw the likely demise of former women’s bantamweight ruler Ronda Rousey.
Many felt Goldberg would find work quickly. Fans called for a move to Bellator, but play-by-play (PBP) commentator Sean Grande was considered to be a solid fit with the promotion. The doors didn’t open up until Grande’s workload became too great to stick with Bellator.
Tomorrow night (June 24), Goldberg will make his Bellator debut. He’ll serve as the PBP commentator for Bellator 180, while Mauro Ranallo gets the call for Bellator NYC. Goldberg will serve as a host at the desk for Bellator NYC.
During a recent appearance on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour,” Goldberg admitted that the past six months have been rough:
“The last six months were as difficult as any period of my life. And it was professional, wasn’t personal, but it was as difficult as any six months in my life. And it’s weird, though, because what was difficult was that everybody that I spoke to said ‘oh, it’s a no brainer, you’re gonna be great with us, it’s a no brainer, let’s make it happen.’”
The new co-voice of Bellator said patience was the key to getting back in the thick of things.
“When you’re dealing with big corporations and there’s a lot of moving parts, ‘let’s make this happen’ in February or March, in the corporate world, happens in June. And in my world, in that time, you just want to have it, you just want that text or email or that call to say ‘hey, Goldie, you’re back in the game.’”
